Assemblymember Roger Hernández (D – West Covina) announced today that AB 34 passed the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife on a completely partisan 10-5 vote. AB 34 establishes Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz (La Paz) in Kern County as a state historic landmark. La Paz is the burial site and the home of Civil Rights Leader Cesar E. Chavez.
President Obama declared La Paz a National Historic Landmark on October 8, 2012. The designation honoring a Latino is the first since the 1700s.
“It is very unfortunate that today’s committee vote did not receive the proper support from ALL members of the Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee. This vote sends the wrong message to Californians, when all Republicans unanimously voted no on AB 34. California should have been at the forefront of designating La Paz, the burial and home of the great Civil Rights leader Cesar E. Chavez, many years ago. AB 34 corrects that wrong by properly honoring the work of a Latino leader which pushed for justice, dignity and job protection for farm workers.” stated Hernández.
AB 34 also addresses the deficit of recognizing the contributions from the Chicano/Latino community and other people of color in California history. According to the California Research Bureau, of the 1,920 sites recognized by the California’s Office of Historic Preservation’s website with descriptive information available: 0.2% designations were associated with the labor movement; 0.9% were associated with the civil rights; and 7.2% were associated with modern history.
“Future generations look to us to lead by example and honor those which helped shape history, locally and nationally. We seek to ensure that La Paz receives the proper recognition on the state level, especially since the federal government has designated the site as a U.S. National Historic Landmark,” said Hernández.
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