by Salome Eguizabal
Several organizations and distinguished scholars have added their voices to the Defend the Honor campaign to press the Public Broadcasting Service and Ken Burns to disclose what additional footage has been 5included in his World War II documentary.
This, they say, is essential for them to evaluate the TV documentary’s representation of Latinos.
The first episode in the series of seven programs is scheduled to air Sept. 23, coinciding with Hispanic Heritage month.
Eleven Latino organizations and 52 individuals— 18 of whom hold Ph.D.s—released a public statement Aug. 20 emphasizing that the issue is far from resolved and they will continue pressing for a solution The campaign expects the list of supporters to grow in the upcoming weeks.
The list includes prominent Latino figures such as author Sandra Cisneros, former FCC commissioner Gloria Tristani and former California Congressman Esteban Torres.
Besides requesting a meeting with PBS and Ken Burns to discuss the new material, the advocates are demanding an explanation as to how the network plans to incorporate Latino perspectives in future projects.
Burns’ documentary initially excluded any mention of Hispanic participation in the war.
In response to constant public pressure, Burns says he has added 28 minutes to the series, featuring interviews with two Hispanics Marines and one Native American.
“We want to see how the Latino experience is depicted,” Gus Chávez, co-chair of the Defend the Honor campaign, told Weekly Report. “We do not know how an add-on piece of less than 25 minutes of footage covering Latinos can be representative.”
Burns said in early May he would include the additional footage following talks with the American Gl Forum and the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility. The Forum chapter in San Antonio now has joined with the Defend the Honor campaign.
“Ken Burns cannot choose to make a secret deal with only two of the many Latino groups that were involved in discussion with him and PBS, and then claim that the matter is resolved,” stated Marta Garcia, a co-founder of Defend the Honor.
Jess Quintero, president of the Hispanic War Veterans of America—another advocacy group in the forefront of this issue— told Weekly Report that PBS’s World War II project has so far failed Hispanic and Native American veterans.
“We feel that by not including the contributions of Latinos and Native Americans, Mr. Burns and PBS are practicing media exclusion,” said Quintero, adding that, “We are intent on continuing to press the issue even after the so-called documentary airs.”
Quintero called on PBS in the future to: 1) Make a commitment to projects that are inclusive and equal, 2) to tell the truth, and 3) to implement review boards to assess the fairness and inclusion of their planned programming.
“If the history of the United States is to be told’ let it be told inclusively of those Hispanic and Native American warriors who fought so bravely,” Quintero said.
Other advocates expressed the hope that regardless of how the current issue with “The War” concludes, the Latino protests over exclusion will force PBS to adhere to better standards for future projects.
“PBS will never again exclude Latinos when it comes to making programming of this magnitude because they continue to be criticized by the Latino community at large,” Chávez said. “This has become the core issue of the year.”
Chávez said Defend the Honor continues to write letters to companies that are promoting the documentary.
“We want to let them know what they’re being accomplices to.”
Hispanic Link.
