Tarrant County residents thanked commissioners Tuesday for keeping the county’s Cesar Chavez holiday and asked them to never reconsider it again.
Commissioners were set to choose between two new paid county holiday schedules on Tuesday. One would keep Cesar Chavez Day on March 31, a holiday the county has recognized since the early 2000s. The other would have swapped Cesar Chavez Day for Veterans Day.
After a protest outside the county’s administration building in downtown Fort Worth Monday, the county scrapped the Veterans Day proposal. Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday morning to approve the one remaining holiday schedule and keep Cesar Chavez Day.
Community activist Alexander Montalvo demanded to know who proposed Veterans Day as an alternative to Cesar Chavez Day.
“This deliberate attack on the Latino community, by members of this court, is a disgrace,” he told commissioners Tuesday.
Commissioners did not explain from the dais. When asked about where the proposal came from, Tarrant County spokesperson Bill Hanna referred questions to commissioners.
A Navy veteran and migrant farmworker, Chavez became an organizer who advocated for better conditions for agricultural laborers. Alongside fellow activist Dolores Huerta, he founded the United Farm Workers, which remains the country’s largest farm worker union, according to UFW’s website.
He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.
Arturo Montoya told commissioners he couldn’t believe the county was thinking about getting rid of Cesar Chavez Day. He called Chavez “our Martin Luther King.”
“That’s a slap in the face to us,” he said.
Montoya asked commissioners to be more transparent and to bring proposals like this to the Hispanic community before they vote.
Tarrant was the second county in Texas to approve a Cesar Chavez holiday, behind El Paso, according to a Dallas Morning News article from 2000.
Richard Gonzales was the one who petitioned commissioners for the holiday. He told the News at the time he was “elated” by Tarrant County’s decision.
"This is a far-sighted move that makes us trend-setters for the rest of the counties,” he said.
Gonzales was also at Commissioners Court on Tuesday, where he remembered going to commissioners, asking for the holiday and being met with enthusiasm for his idea.
“I remind you, this was back in the year 2000,” he said. “When we had people with an open mind, with a perspective of the future, well-aware that we lived in a multicultural environment.”
Gonzales pointed out Tarrant County is now about 30% Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census. Hispanic Texans now make up the biggest demographic group in the state.
He asked commissioners to be just as open-minded as their predecessors 24 years ago.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on X @MirandaRSuarez.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
