Farmworker Union Activist Dolores Huerta Wants former CA Gov. Pete Wilson Canceled

In 2020, following the destructive George Floyd protests, the statue of former California Governor Pete Wilson was removed from Horton Plaza in San Diego following vandalism threats and calls for removal by activists.

Horton Walk officials, concerned that violent activists would destroy the statue similar to other vandalism incidents, removed the statue to protect it. It was replaced two months later.

The statue was originally installed on private land in 2007 to honor the now-retired California Governor.

It’s Déjà vu all over again – activists are calling for the removal of Wilson’s statue again, and now have the support of notorious farm labor union activist Dolores Huerta, the San Diego Union Tribune reports.

Darling of the left and an openly socialist admirer of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Huerta has said publicly she believes that “Republicans hate Latinos.” Huerta encourages illegal immigrants to join with labor unions in agitating against their employers. She is an honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America and has praised dictator Chavez in 2006 for his policies in Venezuela, also asked, “why can’t we do that here in the United States?” the Blaze reported.

Wilson, who also served as U.S. Senator and Mayor of San Diego, was targeted by Hispanic and LGBT activists over his support for Proposition 187, a 1994 initiative passed by 60% of California voters, that would have made illegal immigrants ineligible for publicly funded social services, publicly funded health care services, and all levels of public education. Despite its passage by California voters, Prop. 187 was later ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge, and has since been used as the primary reason Hispanic immigrants in California have not supported the Republican party.

Column: The most controversial thing about Gov. Pete Wilson's statue is its dull irrelevance https://t.co/Lx3uhe6vAc

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 13, 2020

Threats to Wilson’s statue followed removal of the Christopher Columbus statue in the State Capitol Rotunda in Sacramento, and the destruction of several statues of Father Junipero Serra.

The SDUT reports:

Huerta says she’s supporting the movement. “He was not very nice to the Latino community, to put it mildly,” she said of Wilson. “He instigated a lot of hatred against undocumented people and against Hispanics in general.”

Supporters of former Gov. Wilson said in 2020 that he deserves to be honored for his decades of public service, and noted that he fought for and increased rights for many disadvantaged Californians.

“Wilson has a more than 50-year track record of helping all San Diegans and Californians of every race and creed,” a representative for Wilson said in a statement. “In his public service, he has supported policies that have greatly benefitted some of our most disadvantaged populations. His public policy record, compassion, and government successes are second to no public servant alive today. Regarding the individuals at today’s media event, it is sad that we have become a cancel culture, simply tear down, shut down or disregard. We are happy to match our 50-year record of public service to the rhetoric of ultraliberal activists.”

The SDUT reports:

Enrique Morones, who founded Gente Unida, the human rights border coalition spearheading the removal effort, has been calling for the statue’s removal before the City Council since 2007.

Now, Gente Unida is calling on San Diego Council President Sean Elo-Rivera and Councilmember Vivian Moreno as a Latina to draft a resolution to remove the statue. “Wilson’s values no longer represent our great county,” it says in a press release, adding that the statue’s removal is “long overdue.”

So now it’s “Wilson’s values no longer represent our great county?” Well, obviously his values were supported in 1987 when he was governor.

Tearing down statues is rewriting American history, and history should never be rewritten. We must learn from history. But cancel culture is the most obvious example of a closed, ignorant mind.

It turns out Gov. Wilson is rather prophetic:

Wilson has defended his support of Proposition 187, saying he would support it again in a 2017 interview with the Los Angeles Times and continuing to defend it in 2019, saying his message to the federal government had been that it needed to take illegal immigration seriously.

“What you’re going to find out is if you don’t do a better job of controlling the border, it is gonna be all over the country,” he recalled saying at the time.

Huerta claims Wilson’s statue is symbolic not of his legacy but of anti-Latino discrimination. “This racism still exists,” she said. “We’re trying to undo and overcome and get rid of it.”

Dolores Huerta has a history of race-baiting activism, even working against farm workers who did not want to be unionized – this is no different.

For more detail on Dolores Huerta’s race-baiting activism, read my article from 2015: Leftist Dolores Huerta Assails Anti-union Silvia Lopez at ALRB.