"The History Is More Complex Than the Hagiography"

"Chavez masterminded a grape boycott in which uneducated farmworkers fanned out across the country, persuaded millions of consumers to shun the fruit and forced growers to sign the first-ever labor contracts. Then he doomed the contracts by administering them poorly.
"He taught workers how to exert power, then fired leaders who rose up from the fields to use their newfound power.
"He brought the men and women who pick our fruits and vegetables into the public consciousness for the first time, then squandered that legacy for future generations."

Upon Cesar Chavez's birthday, Miriam Pawel in the Los Angeles Times calls for a more complete understanding of the labor leader.