http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=76d2420ef19fbb7724c8020c5fbae68c&from=rssLatinos Omitted From Ken Burns' 'War' - A Blessing in Disguise?
New America Media, Commentary, Roberto Lovato, Posted: Sep 25, 2007
Editor's Note: Ken Burns' World War II documentary is stirring controversy because of its lack of Latino representation. But NAM contributing editor Roberto Lovato says that in the scheme of things, perhaps it is a good thing. Lovato is a writer based in New York.
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The controversy around the documentary will have done more than the documentary itself to educate the country about the more than 500,000 Latinos who enlisted during World War II. Premiering during a historical moment of unprecedented anti-immigrant, anti-Latino sentiment, "The War’s" “Oh-yeah,-Latinos-fought-too” feel will not likely inspire future PFC Peralta’s to enlist. Indeed, from the perspective of peace activists, Burns’ jerky editing of Latinos into history (i.e. even his Southwestern United States-focused “The West” documentary included only two Latino characters out of a cast of 80) may actually be a good thing.
Those who depend on war and those who advocate peace know the future of the U.S. military itself depends on the decisions of young Latinos like Peralta. As Larry Korb, former assistant secretary of defense for Manpower, Reserve Affairs, Installations and Logistics in the Reagan administration Defense Department, once told me, “Latinos are very important to the national security of the United States,” adding that, “A decrease in Latino enlistment numbers would make things very difficult for the armed forces, because they are the fastest-growing
group in the country and they have a very distinguished record of service in the military.” If he were secretary of defense, Korb would “be very worried about the possibility of decreasing Latino numbers. I’d be thinking about how to make do with smaller numbers of troops or with further lowering standards for aptitude, age, education and other factors.”
The Pentagon needs 22 percent of the Armed Forces to check off “Hispanic” on enlistment forms if it is to meet recruitment and deployment goals by 2025. As if mounting a major offensive on a domestic adversary, the Pentagon is, unlike Burns, spending millions to find out about the world of PFC Peralta: what he wears, where he hangs out, what kinds of groups he belongs to, what he reads, what he watches on TV, his grades, his dreams.
Members of the Pentagon’s many and well-funded recruiting commands are a permanent feature of urban school systems; programs like the No Child Left Behind guarantee that schools give recruiters PFC Peralta’s home phone number, address and other information. Even popular children’s restaurant chain Chuck E. Cheese is doing its part to make sure PFC Peralta gets the martial message when he’s not at CPCC. Puppet shows at some restaurants include military music and Chuck E. Cheese television has broadcast images of Latinos and others in the Army giving food and supplies to children in Iraq.
Burns failed to fulfill promises to activists that he would “seamlessly” integrate the Latino portions of the film. But his failure will do little to inspire PFC Peralta and other Latino kids to enlist between now and 2025. Hopefully, documentary filmmakers of future U.S. wars will lack Latino subjects because there will be fewer PFC Peralta’s to film.
Thank you, Ken Burns, for barely including us in your "War."