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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
by Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez [
mailto:info@defendthehonor.org]
Defend the Honor: Weekly Update [4/1/2007]
Weekly Update
about Activities and Events Surrounding the Ken Burns PBS WWII Documentary
March 31 -- Available via email or on the website: www.defendthehonor.org
PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY
1.Letters/ResolutionsExpressing
Concern
2. Media Attention
3. Events/Major developments
SUMMARY: PBS is listening and is making an effort to come up with a
plan by April 10. Paula Kerger, president and CEO
of PBS, reached out to the Defend the Honor Campaign core group (Gus Chavez,
Angelo Falcon, Marta Garcia, Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez
and Ivan Roman). Friday morning, at a little after 10 a.m.,
Kerger and Mickey Ibarra, a Washington-based Latino
public relations consultant who has retained by PBS, and the five members of
the core group met in a conference call. Kerger
told the group: "We certainly have heard you ..
Our commitment is to serve the American people and it's something I very much
take to heart. I am hopeful that we will come back with a plan that
will tell you that we have very much heard you."
Kerger said she has met with several different
organizations, including the American GI Forum, the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus, National Council of La Raza.
Several other organizations and individuals have voiced their concerns as
well: the two Latino U.S. senators, Ken Salazar and Bob Menendez; California
Latino Assembly, from Sweetwater Union High School District, the largest
secondary school district in the State of California, and several others. She
declined to share more details, but her tone was conciliatory.
Also, the news media coverage has reached a new level, as the Associated
Press’s Suzanne Gamboa, a Washington bureau reporter, wrote a story
for the “A,” or national, wire. It was printed in newspapers across the
country.
BACKGROUND: THE WAR, a 14-hour documentary on WWII, is
scheduled to air in September on PBS. Director Ken Burns and associates took
six years to interview more than 40 individuals in four communities (Waterbury, Connecticut;
Mobile, Alabama;
Sacramento, California;
and Luverne,
Minnesota). The documentary
features individuals in those communities, with two ethnic/racial groups
given special consideration: Japanese Americans and African Americans. The
film has no reference to the Latino contribution. The documentary also has an
accompanying book and educational materials. PBS officials say,
in a news release: Serving our mission to educate and inform, PBSs goal for THE WAR is to reach into every home and
classroom -- so together we can better understand what we as a nation
experienced in those difficult years and what we as a nation
accomplished. Hundreds of concerned individuals across the country,
have contacted PBS officials, Burns production company (Florentine Films),
and sponsors, and told them that THE WAR is incomplete without the Latino
experience.
This email is part of a weekly update on the efforts to secure representation
of Latinos & Latinas of the WWII generation in THE WAR. Please see our
website at defendthehonor.org
This effort is organized by a coalition of organizations and individuals
concerned with this issue.
1. Letters/Resolutions/Press Releases
a) The Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the American GI Forum met in Washington with Paula Kerger .
Afterward, they issued this press release calling for a change in the
documentary. GI Forum National Commander Antonio Gil Morales said:
Hispanics fought and sacrificed in WWII. This incident with PBS and Ken Burns
reflects how our countrys historians have, either
by omission or neglect, excluded our accomplishments from our history books.
Our sacrifice in WWII is too important for too many people to be ignored in
this fashion.
California Congressman Joe Baca, Chair of the CHC, said: "We in
the CHC know that Hispanic Americans served proudly and honorably in World
War II, and Hispanics have been well-represented in our nations armed forces
throughout history and presently. We will continue to work with the GI
Forum and other organizations to make sure that Hispanic contributions are
portrayed accurately.
b) California Latino Legislative Caucus wrote to Kerger and suggested that she "institute an
immediate, comprehensive review of your programming and call on numerous
Latino experts in academia, journalism and the civil rights community to
ensure that this kind of incident is not repeated in the future. "
c) Sens. Ken Salazar, D-Co., and Bob Menendez,
D-NJ, wrote to Kerger and said: “As proud
Americans, we believe it is paramount that every American have
the opportunity to be exposed to those stories [of U.S. Latinos of the WWII
generation] so that they learn our nation’s full history.” Salazar and Mendendez asked that PBS provide them with the
upcoming proposal of how it would address the omission.
d) Sweetwater Union High
School District, the largest
secondary school district in the State of California. Superintendent Jesus Gandara writes: "We not only have a moral obligation
to tell the truth but a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and be proud of
the contributions made by our ancestors who not only loved this country but
who committed acts of bravery and sacrifice beyond the call of duty!"
e) Letters from individuals also continue to pour into PBS
headquarters. Among the petitioners was Juan Carlos Gonzalez, of Hutto, TX-- also beseeched Kerger to remedy the problem. Gonzalez, a veteran, whose
father, grandfather, and four great uncles were also veterans writes: "I
am not asking that my family be mentioned in any documentary, but what I am
asking and demanding is that you air a documentary that truly reflects the
cultural diversity, the contributions and the heroism that the Hispanic/Latino
community made during this very important time not only in American History,
but in World History!"
2. Media Attention
The issue was the subject of stories in several publications,
including the AP, the Albuquerque Tribune, and a Hispanic Link opinion piece
that ran on the Scripps News wire.
a) Associated Press reporter Suzanne Gamboa
wrote a story for the national wire that has been picked up in newspapers
across the country. Gamboa quoted Joe Baca, D-Calif. “We know we've always contributed not only to
World War II, but every war. But it seems like it's a typical oversight and
this is unacceptable… The line ... has been drawn. Ya
no mas. Ya Basta. (No more. Enough) You better do something. You
better change."
Also LA cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz
created two more Cucaracha cartoons this past week. See them under
“Resources” on the defendthehonor.org website.
b) Albuquerque Tribune reporter Debra Dominguez-Lund wrote a
story for Page 1 of the Thursday, March 29, 2007, issue. In it,
Dominguez-Lund quotes Juan Jose Peña, state
commander of the American GI Forum of New Mexico
and a vice chairman of the Hispano Roundtable of New Mexico: "I don't
know if Burns leaving Hispanics out was intentional or we're just invisible
to him, but the main thing is we were left out," said Peña, a Vietnam
veteran. "What we'd like to see is them hold off on broadcasting the
documentary until a segment on how Hispanics contributed to World War II is
included." See the complete story at http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/550399nm03-29-07.htm
or visit our website: defendthehonor.org
c) Jorge Mariscal, of San Diego,
wrote a column that ran in the Hispanic Link Weekly Report, and is now being
circulated on the Scripps News wire. Jorge looked up a commencement speech
Ken Burns made to Yale graduates in 2004, and noted some ironies between
those remarks and the current situation. Mariscal
closes: "Mr. Burns, the Latino community will pursue our future by
pursuing our past. Despite your obstinate refusal to recognize willful
ignorance, we are insisting that we do indeed have a past whether or not you
can see it from your isolated outpost in New England.
Our collective future will not be understood without an acknowledgement of
the service and the sacrifices that decades of Latinos have bestowed upon the
nation." For Jorge's complete column, please see: http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cm/content/view/384/159/
Or go to our website at defendthehonor.org
d) Current, a newspaper about public
television and radio, ran a page-1 story in
its
March 26, 2007, issue. Writer/senior editor Karen Everhart quoted Chon
Noriega, a UCLA film professor about the possibility
of changing the documentary. “Realistically, it’s not
that hard to change a documentary.. This is really
a referendum for Ken Burns. His actions will signal what he feels
about how important this issue is…
As someone who’s known for definitive work, it’s
worth
getting right more than meeting a certain schedule. He’s come to this
point because of a clear failure to do the research.”
For the
story, see: http://www.current.org/hi/hi0705burns-latino.shtml
Or go to
our website at defendthehonor.org
3. No major events to report… but the most important development is PBS’
statement of the past week that they have reconsidered its position and that
an announcement is forthcoming….
--30
********************************************************
Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, School of Journalism
University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station A1000
Austin, Texas, 78712
email: mrivas@mail.utexas.edu
Also: Director, U.S. Latino & Latina WWII
Oral History Project
http://utopia.utexas.edu/explore/latino/
********************************************************
Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, School of Journalism
University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station A1000
Austin, Texas, 78712
email: mrivas@mail.utexas.edu
Also: Director, U.S. Latino & Latina WWII
Oral History Project
http://utopia.utexas.edu/explore/latino/
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