In a statement on Saturday, Mr. Kennedy said the event was intended to “honor César Chavez and his close friendship with my father, my family and me, as well as his influence on our country.” In an interview on Sunday, he said he had repeatedly contacted family members in the weeks leading up to the event but had not heard about the letter until reporters called on Friday, which he said the campaign never actually received. (The letter was emailed to the campaign’s press office address on Friday, a family spokesman said.)
“Of course, if they had asked me, we would have done something different very, very easily,” Kennedy said. “If the family members had wanted us to cancel the event, it would have been easy for them to pick up the phone.”
Mr. Kennedy’s father forged a bond with Chavez in the mid-1960s when he was a senator and became the first national political figure to align himself with Chavez and the farm workers movement he worked to build. In March 1968, Robert F. Kennedy famously sat with Chavez as he ended a 25-day fast he had undertaken to, he said, atone for the violent rhetoric of some strikers.
In 1980, when Mr. Kennedy’s uncle, Ted Kennedy, sought the Democratic nomination for president, Chavez and his family – including Fernando Chavez – worked with the Kennedy family, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to mobilize Latinos Voters, Fernando Chavez and the younger Mr. Kennedy both remembered.
At Cesar Chavez’s funeral in 1993, the younger Mr. Kennedy was among the people who took turns carrying the casket. The Chávez family’s letter expressed gratitude to the pallbearers, but noted that while other elected officials and future political candidates were among them, “To our knowledge, none of them have images in their political campaign materials and promotions.” shown with the coffin. We find it offensive to use such sacred moments exclusively for political purposes.”
Source link
2024-03-31 20:45:52
www.nytimes.com