LANSING, Mich — Lansing leaders could soon revisit whether to rename Cesar Chavez Avenue in Old Town, as a city pause on action is set to expire next week.
WATCH: LANSING CONSIDERS FUTURE OF CESAR CHAVEZ AVENUE AS PAUSE NEARS END
The street, named for the late labor leader Cesar Chavez, has been at the center of renewed controversy after child sex abuse allegations surfaced against Chavez, prompting communities nationwide to remove his name from public places and events.
“I think it’s a holocaust of Chicano history,” said Dr. Ernesto Mireles, a Lansing native and communications coordinator for the Latino outreach group MI Poder. “You don’t erase 40 years of Chicano history because of [one leader's] failure.”
In March, the City of Lansing paused a recommendation to rename Cesar Chavez Avenue while the community weighed what to do next. With that pause nearing its end, a change could come soon.
WATCH: LANSING INTRODUCES RESOLUTION TO RENAME CHAVEZ AVENUE AS NEIGHBORS SOUND OFF
Mireles said the last several months have forced many people in the Chicano community to grapple with a painful contradiction: how to acknowledge Chavez’s impact on farm worker rights while confronting the seriousness of the allegations.
“Cesar messed up… I think that there are some things that are irreconcilable,” Mireles said.
Mireles said he understands why other communities have moved to remove Chavez’s name from murals, streets and schools, but worries the speed of renaming can unintentionally send a message about the value of Chicano history itself.
“What’s the lesson that we’re teaching ourselves? That our history is not important?” he said.
WATCH: LANSING MAN WHO HELPED RENAME CHAVEZ AVENUE SPEAKS OUT AHEAD OF POSSIBLE CHANGE
Chavez Avenue has long been viewed as a point of pride for Lansing’s Latino community and Mireles said any decision about the street’s future should include the people who live and work along it.
“I would say that I think the Latino community should decide what it’s renamed to,” Mireles said. “But I think the people who are here they’re the ones who should make that choice about whether or not it changes.”
WATCH: LANSING BUSINESS OWNER REACTS TO POSSIBLE NAME CHANGE OF CESAR CHAVEZ AVENUE
If Lansing does rename the street, Mireles said he believes the new name should reflect a shared value.
“Everybody wants something that touches every part of the community,” he said. “Who doesn’t want justice?”
Mireles said if he could choose the name himself, he would call it “Justicia Way”, Spanish for “Justice Way.”
Lansing City Councilmember Trini Lopez Pehlivanoglu said a city committee will most likely address the issue in July.
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