HISPANIC CONTRIBUTIONS


         

 

                            HISPANICS IN AMERICAS DEFENSE
LETTER from HISPANIC CAUCUS   -  Article M.I.A. omits Latinos  - 
PBS SCANDAL hits Newspaper    -   PBS Scandal-article  -  Update 1 April ‘07



 

 

 

To the Editor, Ken Walz-Albuquerque Journal
by :  Karen Borch, MFA Daughter of a World War II Veteran,
 March 30, 2007

Regarding the PBS Scandal-a 14 Hour
Documentary on WWII excluding Hispanics

 

 

I am writing to prove a point about racist policies and attitudes against Hispanic veterans.  The American GI Forum, a national civil right’s organization for veterans, would never have had to exist were it not for the rampant discrimination in; housing, education, employment, financial institutions, and violations of their civil rights when they came back from World War II. Founded by the first civil right’s leader in this country, Physician, Dr. Hector P. Garcia, a Mexican immigrant and a veteran, who suffered discrimination himself, this organization has continued this struggle to this day.

 

Hispanics fought in every war this country has been involved in including the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, and as a group have won more Medals of Honor than any other ethnic group. Not only are Hispanics overlooked in this exhaustive documentary, but how does Burns explain omitting the Bataan Death March, many of whom were Spanish speaking military from New Mexico?  How does he explain omitting the 44,000 Native Americans, and over 350,000 women who were active duty during WWII?  In 14 hours of filming, this cannot be written off as an oversight. It is an outrage and an insult, nothing less.  Are we not all Americans? Are we not all ONE, when fighting for this great country?  This egregious omission can and must be resolved.

 

Finally, as a formally trained artist with a Master’s degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I speak as a professional when I say IT WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH KEN BURNS’ ARTISTIC VISION TO PRODUCE AN ADDITONAL 2 HOURS OF INTERVIEWS WITH THESE FORGOTTON HEROES AND MAKE THIS DOCUMENTARY A MASTERPIECE, BECAUSE THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL IT WILL BE TRULY REPRESENTATIVE, AND FACTUALLY ACCURATE.  America deserves no less.

 

Daughter of a World War II Veteran,  Karen Borch, MFA