Imperial Valley Press Online

Professor, activist visits IVC
By VICTOR MORALES, Staff Writer

CUAUHTEMOC BELTRAN PHOTO
FROM LEFT: Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez of the University of Texas School of Journalism greets Vietnam veteran Ed Castillo of El Centro who was in the Army combat infantry, before a presentation on a Ken Burns' documentary about World War ll at Imperial Valley College on Wednesday.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007 10:52 PM PDT

The University of Texas professor who made national headlines and gave Public Broadcast System executives and filmmaker Ken Burns a public relations headache, spoke at Imperial Valley College on Wednesday.

Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, a journalism professor, forced PBS and the renowned filmmaker to reverse course in May in their plans to air what is being considered the definitive World War II documentary.

The student center at IVC was filled with students, many of whom were there to claim extra credit with no prior knowledge of the controversy Rivas-Rodriquez created in November 2006 when she launched the Defend the Honor campaign to object to the omission of Latinos and Native Americans in Burns’ film, “The War.”

“I am here for extra credit, but whatever they are talking about it sounds interesting,” said 18-year-old student Nadine Rocha of Heber.

But a minute into the discussion, Rivas-Rodriquez had their attention. Students stopped chatting, put down books and looked up. The cookie and punch table had become empty.

“Latinos in uniform coming back from the war were denied service at restaurants. There were signs reading ‘We don’t serve Mexicans or dogs,’” Rivas-Rodriquez said. “The message was you are good enough to serve and die for our country but you will still come back as second-class citizens.”

Rivas-Rodriquez and supporters claim the 14-hour series “The War,” omits the contributions of Latino and Native American veterans. Rivas-Rodriquez is the director the U.S. Latino and Latina World War II Oral History Project.

In the original version, “The War” features World War II veterans from four cities. African-American veterans and Japanese-Americans were interviewed for their roles in the war but no Latinos or Native Americans.

When Rivas-Rodriquez heard from an associate that no Latinos were in the film, she began the campaign that went all the way to the Congressional Hispanic Caucuses, threatening to review taxpayer funds going to PBS.

After initially balking at altering the film, citing artistic freedom, PBS and Burns eventually relented and announced additional footage with Latino and Native American veterans would be included.

The series airs Sunday on PBS stations.

After the discussions, Rocha said she was touched by some of the stories and images Rivas-Rodriquez presented.

“I am so glad I came because I learned a lot,” she said. “As a Latina, I know I must tell my children about our history even though it’s not in their text books.”

>> Staff Writer Victor Morales can be reached at 337-3452 or vmorales@ivpressonline.com