November 8, 2007

Taking matters into their own hands

YVETTE CABRERA
Register columnist

Ramon Diaz and three other members of the American GI Forum's Orange County chapter had one mission in mind when they headed to Los Angeles in September to picket the PBS affiliate KCET-TV.

They were going to make lots of noise and make sure that PBS heard exactly how unhappy they were with filmmaker Ken Burns and his World War II documentary "The War."

Now, you have to understand that normally these GI Forum members aren't the type to hit the picket line or cause a ruckus. You're more likely to find them on school campuses encouraging students to go to college or giving out scholarships, than protesting.

But Burns' exclusion of Latino veterans in his original version of "The War" made this veterans group so angry, they couldn't keep quiet.

So they went to Los Angeles and made their voices heard. Afterward, Diaz and other activists across the nation realized that the problem was bigger than just this single documentary.

"What we have is a pattern of excluding us," says Diaz, of San Juan Capistrano. "When people leave us out, they leave us out of history, they leave us out of books that our kids will be reading."

This larger question examining how Latinos are portrayed in history books, in the media and by society is now motivating activists like Diaz to tackle not just the exclusion of Latinos in "The War," but the exclusion of Latinos in school curricula, libraries, history books and beyond.

"I think what this issue has exposed are weaknesses in so many different areas," says Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, a lead organizer of a nationwide grass roots campaign known as Defend the Honor, which has protested "The War." "This is about the place of Latino history in our country's narrative."

The American GI Forum's Rudy Escalante chapter of Orange County is one of dozens of organizations that form part of the Defend the Honor coalition and have participated in its national survey asking members what steps they would like the coalition to take next.

Possible actions may include boycotting PBS corporate sponsors and protesting future PBS broadcasts of the "The War."

Whatever the membership decides, Rivas-Rodriguez says their activities of the past year have taught them to see the larger picture. They've expanded their goals to raise awareness about Latino contributions to the United States, she says.

For instance, she points out that not many people have heard of the forced repatriation of Mexicans and Mexican Americans (some who were U.S. citizens) from California in the 1930s. The following decade, some of these same citizens served in the U.S. military, says Rivas-Rodriguez, who is director of an oral history project compiling the histories of Latinos who served in World War II.

Burns' handling of "The War" angered activists like Diaz and Rivas-Rodriguez, but it has also been a wake up call, they say.

"If this is something that you really feel strongly about, we can no longer think that it will take care of itself. We need to take ownership and make things more equitable," says Rivas-Rodriguez, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Texas, Austin.

For their part, the Rudy Escalante chapter will be petitioning local school districts to create more inclusive curricula that cover events ranging from the 1930s repatriations to the landmark Mendez v. Westminster desegregation case here in Orange County.

They also plan to protest any efforts to place the accompanying book and DVD of "The War" in public libraries or public schools.

"Our main thrust is like our motto: 'Education is our freedom and freedom should be everybody's business,' " says Diaz, who serves as chapter secretary.

Fortunately, Diaz and Rivas-Rodriguez are not alone in their efforts to raise awareness. Here in Orange County, for the past 11 years, the group Latino Advocates for Education has paid tribute to Latino veterans via its annual Veteran's Day celebration.

This year, the group will be honoring Mexican American veterans of the Korean War. Event founder Frederick P. Aguirre has also spearheaded efforts to record the stories of veterans through his self-published books ("Freedom Is Not Free: Mexican Americans in the Korean War") and by encouraging Cal State Fullerton to compile oral histories in the book "Forgotten Patriots: Voices of World War II Mexican American Veterans of Southern California."

All of this is a step in the right direction as the community realizes that if our history is to be told, we must start by telling these stories ourselves.

For more information about Latino Advocates for Education's 11 {+t}{+h}annual Veterans Day Celebration on Saturday, November 10, go to www.latinoadvocates.org. Contact the writer at ycabrera@ocregister.com or 714-796-3649