American hero would have been 79 today.

Cesar Estrada Chavez, born March 31, 1927, near Yuma, Ariz., grew up in Arizona and when he was 11 moved to California where he went on to co-found the National Farm Workers Association, which became the United Farm Workers.

He became a potent symbol in the 1960s and 1970s of civil rights for Mexican-Americans and labor rights for the most downtrodden of workers, the migrant men and women who worked the fields.

He died on April 23, 1993, at the age of 66.

His birthday is celebrated as an official holiday in several states, including California -- where as one writer points only three birthdays are celebrated as official public holidays: Jesus Christ's, Martin Luther King Jr.'s and Chavez's.

Many cities, including Albuquerque, have renamed streets in Chavez's honor.

And numerous celebrations are planned throughout New Mexico, including the 13th annual "Recuerda a Cesar Chavez" at 11 a.m. Saturday at Martineztown Park at Edith and Roma NW, as well as a rally with speakers, food and entertainment in Civic Plaza (see Jim Belshaw's column in today's Albuquerque Journal).

The Wikipedia article on Chavez gives many of the highlights of Chavez's life, but also contains a warning that "the neutrality of this article is disputed." It's a glowing tribute to a truly larger-than-life figure and genuine role model to new generations of Latinos and Americans in general.

But there are also some questions about Chavez's legacy -- some of which are reflected on the Wikipedia's talk page.

There is a persistent rumor, for example, that Chavez wasn't too friendly to illegal immigrants -- which is ironic in view of the fact that many celebrations to honor Chavez (including one this morning in El Paso) have been expanded to protest some immigration reform legislation now before Congress that get tough on illegal immigration.

There have been allegations, for example, that Chavez and the UFW reported illegal immigrants who worked as strike-breakers or refused to join the farm workers' union to what was then called the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Ruben Navarrette Jr., whose syndicated column runs in the Journal, said as much in a column he wrote on Aug. 31, 1997, for the Arizona Republic.

The allegation is hotly disputed, needless to say.

Speaking of Navarrette, here's an article he did earlier this year on what has happened at least in part to the legacy of the UFW and Cesar Chavez. He makes reference to a four-part series that appeared in the Los Angeles Times by Miriam Pawel that casts a cold eye on the fate of the union.

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