Street signs bearing the name of the disgraced labor leader Cesar Chavez will come down this month and be replaced with ones that honor the late U.S. Army Master Sergeant Joe “Chaco” Ramirez, a Houston man who was shot and captured during the Korean War in 1950.
Ramirez deployed to Korea at age 18. He was shot five times and held as a prisoner of war by the Chinese Army for almost three years. Ramirez returned to his Magnolia Park home in 1953 and became a community activist. He died in 2020 at age 89.
At a May 27 Houston City Council meeting, when elected officials unanimously approved the renaming, Texas Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, lauded the decision and said she knew Ramirez well. Ramirez’s uncle was the late Mario Gallegos Jr., a Houston firefighter who went on to serve in the Texas House and Senate.
“It’s a great day for our community,” Alvarado said. “It’s important that we remember heroes like Chaco Ramirez for his bravery, resilience and his love for his country. After three years of being captive, he went back to enlist again. I don’t know many people who would do that.”
A Change.org petition calling for the street to be renamed in Ramirez’s honor garnered more than 600 signatures. “For many decades, Joe ‘Chaco’ Ramirez served as an advocate and guardian for our neighbors, always ensuring that no one went hungry, children had someone to look up to, and our community had a friend in its midst,” the petition states. “It was in the embrace of Magnolia Park that Joe’s dedication to service became truly evident to those fortunate enough to know him.”
The name change came about after Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with Chavez, said she’d been sexually assaulted by the labor leader decades ago.
Huerta, 95, told The New York Times she kept the matter silent for decades because of the political context, gender dynamics, and fear of damaging the cause she and Chavez worked hard to advance. She came forward when other women accused Chavez, who died in 1993, of sexual abuse.
Some have criticized Huerta for waiting decades to come forward while Chavez allegedly continued to abuse young girls in their teens. Huerta said she was an adult at the time of her two sexual encounters with Chavez in the 1960s. She claims both incidents resulted in pregnancy and she gave the children up for adoption.
Officials in Houston and other cities that have schools, streets or public buildings named after Chavez initially called for Huerta to be honored, prompting Houston Mayor John Whitmire to direct the Public Works Department in mid-April to order Dolores Huerta Boulevard signs even though a public comment period was still ongoing. Huerta later said she didn’t want anything named after her, and Houston leaders pivoted, saying they wanted to honor someone who made a local impact.
Whitmire admitted during last week’s council meeting that he was responsible for moving too swiftly to order Huerta signs because, at the time, it appeared that’s what the community and city council wanted. U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia also advocated for the change to Huerta Boulevard.
“I’m sorry that we even had to deal with the name change,” Whitmire said. “It was unfortunate. I thought, and there was a strong consensus, if y’all will recall, that we would start the process to call it Dolores Huerta to honor the victim. I’m responsible because we were on a fast track to start ordering the signs. It’s amazing how your critics take advantage of what you think at the time is smart and supported by the community and a majority of the council, if not all the council.”
The mayor added that the name change brings an end to the Cesar Chavez renaming process but it’s also “a new beginning for recognition of someone who we all swear to never forget.”
“Today is the day to honor Master Sergeant Ramirez for going through torture and fighting for his country and coming back home and being such a respected hero,” Whitmire said. “The master sergeant is not only a community hero, he’s a national hero. This is a great opportunity to recognize someone who made such a personal sacrifice for our nation and is so respected throughout the east side.”
Council Member Joaquin Martinez, who represents the Magnolia Park neighborhood, led the charge to rename the street for Ramirez, although other names, such as Houston-based immigrant rights activist Maria Jimenez, were suggested by residents.
Martinez recognized Ramirez’s family, including his son, Brigadier General Joe E. Ramirez Jr., at the May 27 council meeting. He noted that the Houston Planning Department facilitated the public comment process and reported that more than 65 percent of the renaming requests were for Ramirez. Forty-six people submitted public comments.
“I want to thank the community for being engaged, for participating in the public comment and coming to public session,” Ramirez said. “The community has spoken and overwhelmingly it is Joe E. ‘Chaco’ Ramirez that has been put before us. When you think about Magnolia Park, if you don’t know Magnolia Park, it has a rich history of military veterans. This is just another testament as to why this street name is so important to the Magnolia Park neighborhood.
Council Member Willie Davis said he served in the military alongside many “Latino brothers.”
“This is a great honor to a veteran who gave so much to us,” Davis said. “It’s impossible not to recognize the contribution. I know what it’s like. It’s not often that we get the opportunity to give recognition to veterans. Many of them are out on our streets. They’re homeless. They are trying to survive. This is a well-deserved honor to, in my opinion, a great man and a great soldier.”
Chavez is the namesake for at least eight major streets across Texas, including thoroughfares in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso. Cesar Chavez Boulevard in Houston‘s East End/Magnolia Park area used to be 67th Street and was changed to honor Chavez in 2000 at the urging of community groups.
Houston officials haven’t released a cost estimate for replacing the signs. About 38 parcels will be affected by the address change. The cost for San Antonio to rename its Cesar Chavez Boulevard is estimated at about $200,000 and affects 300 addresses. The leading proposal among San Antonio residents is to change the street name back to Durango Boulevard.
In Austin, where Chavez’s name was assigned to a long downtown corridor, city officials estimated the cost could be over $1 million. Austin is still gathering input from residents, who have pitched the name Jorge Pastore to honor a police officer who was killed in the line of duty. The Austin City Council is slated to decide on the name change in September.
Houston ISD renamed its districtwide holiday Chavez-Huerta Day to “Farmworkers Day” in March but still hasn’t voted on whether to rename Cesar E. Chavez High School, a campus near Hobby Airport where about 1,570 students are enrolled.
