Fresno supervisors say naming streets for César Chávez is ‘erasing history.’ They’re wrong | Opinion
Bob McCloskey hit the nail on the head when he addressed the Fresno County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday morning during its hour-long deliberation on opposing the city’s recent decision to rename 10.15 miles of city/county streets in honor of farmworker leader César E. Chávez.
The board acted shocked that history and culture would be erased by rebranding California Avenue, Ventura Street and Kings Canyon. It voted unanimously to oppose the Fresno City Council’s action.
César E. Chávez Boulevard — or, the preferred Avenida César E. Chávez — will officially be the roadway that is within the city limits. The current names will remain on county portions.
Supervisors Brian Pacheco and Steve Brandau, as did other speakers, touched on the historic and cultural significance of the current names.
“I am opposed to erasing one culture over another or putting one above another because we’re all equal in this country and we should do that,” said Pacheco, whose district includes southwest Fresno.
“For me, this is another example of erasing history, and I think we’ve erased already too much of our history,” said Brandau. “And I think, probably in some extreme instances, that would probably work; but not in this instance.”
Let’s see where history has been erased.
Buena Vista County is now Kern County.
San Justo is now Hollister.
San Ysidro is now Gilroy.
Río de los Americanos is now American River.
Valle de San José is now Livermore Valley.
El Alisal is now Pleasanton.
Río de San Felipe is now the Kern River.
And, let Mr. McCloskey, who lives in the recently renamed Yokuts Valley, make his point.
“The Kings Canyon area was first proposed as a national park by John Muir as early as 1891, the year after the creation of Sequoia Park,” McCloskey told the board. “It bears the name of a river that in 1805 Spanish explorers named Río de los Santos Reyes, or River of the Holy Kings. It’s named after the kings of Spain.”
Go on.
“Hello! What are you talking about when you erase culture here? And I really object to that trope.”
Please continue, sir.
“I really object to that trope. You know, Donald Trump uses erasing culture. It’s a trope. Everyone up here that says that (erasing history/culture) is using a racist trope.
“Let’s face it people, we’re not erasing anything. What we’re trying to do here is honor César Chávez,” said McCloskey.
This is a board that continues to believe that nothing should change despite a massive demographic earthquake that has taken place since Chávez died in 1993. That year, the council voted to rename those streets after the founder of the United Farm Workers only to see the mayor and council reverse course a few months later.
History and time marches on. Cities change names. Rivers change names.
The problem is that people forget Fresno, a city with a Latino majority population, does not have a single street named after a Latino.
“This will be the first time,” Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias told the board. “And negotiating the existence of Latinos in Fresno is non-negotiable for our community.”
So, what does the board action mean? Nothing, other than keeping the status quo on the street names.
Perhaps 30 years from now, a more progressive board will do what the city council did and change its mind.
Juan Esparza Loera is editor of Vida en el Valle.
