National
Hispanic Veterans Group deeply disappointed with
PBS proposal
WASHINGTON, April 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A broad coalition within
the Latino community is demanding that PBS not
broadcast "The War" documentary until the
14-hour series itself is re-opened and re-edited
with new footage to accurately reflect Hispanic
military service in WWII.
In its current form, the 14-hour series does not include the valiant and
precious contributions made by the tens of
thousands of Hispanic soldiers who fought in the
war; today's proposal by PBS does not offer
editing new, unseen, and original footage about
Latino WWII veterans and their experiences into
the original 14-hour series.
Mr. Antonio Gil Morales, national commander of the American GI Forum of
the Unites States, a congressionally-chartered
Veterans organization, has responded to the
proposal: "While we believe that this first step
by PBS is a positive one in the right direction,
it appears that our original and foremost
concern has not been addressed satisfactorily.
The community has PBS's attention and looks
forward to working with them to address the
exclusion of Latinos and the Latino experience
in 'THE WAR'."
The challenge to PBS to correct the Burns documentary is supported by a
broad coalition which includes thirty (30)
national policy organizations, including the
U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, The National
Hispanic Bar Association, The National Hispanic
Leadership Agenda, the Hispanic Association on
Corporate Responsibility, and elected officials,
including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the
Congressional Hispanic Conference and the Senate
Democratic Hispanic Task Force.
The National GI Forum had advised PBS to avoid proposals that would
involve alternatives to incorporating original
research and footage into the existing
documentary, stating that any transactional
arrangements that do not accomplish this are
"too little, too late" for the men and women who
served in the Second World War.
The coalition will issue a collective response to PBS's official reaction
to the coalition's demands after it has
thoroughly reviewed the proposal with all of the
organizations and members of Congress that have
been involved in advocating on this issue. The
Coalition's goal is to ensure that this
documentary reflects American history. The War
must include Hispanic experiences to make it a
historically accurate documentary.
