Onda Latina

PROGRAM INFO

Title:

Dr. Hector P. Garcia: The American G.I. Forum

Program #

1982-01

Theme:

Identity

Series:

Social Issues

Host:

Linda Fregoso

Guest:

Hector P. García

Date:

Nov 27, 1981

Dr. Hector P. Garcia: The American G.I. Forum

Dr. Hector P. Garcia, a World War II veteran and founder of the American GI Forum, traces the organization’s origins and activism and discusses current Chicano struggles. Garcia returned from the War to find that discrimination was still a large problem in many of the government offices and local businesses in Texas. He was moved to take action after a funeral home in Three Rivers, Texas refused to bury Private Felix Longoria, a soldier who died in the war. The incident encouraged Garcia to form the forum so that it could help Chicano soldiers access services for veterans, but it soon expanded its focus to helping the Chicano community at large as they worked to improve public education and end discriminatory hiring practices. The Forum was one of the first Chicano organizations to use the courts to challenge discrimination and Garcia discusses why previous activists were hesitant to turn to the legal system.

Because of his efforts, Garcia and his family became the targets of violent threats. But there were also some positive consequences: he witnessed the GI Forum’s expansion and became friends with several federal level politicians who invited him to speak at political events and even offered him an ambassadorship. He served as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. in 1967 and as Commissioner to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He represented former President Kennedy for the signing of the special treaty with the West Indies. He now lives in Corpus Christi, TX.

Garcia then discusses the current problems facing the Chicano community. He believes the civil rights gains of the sixties and seventies are slowly deteriorating under the Reagan Administration and Mexican Americans are facing increasing discrimination from government agencies.

KEYWORDS

American GI Forum
Arlington National Cemetery
Army Depots
Bussing
Chicano Movement
Citizenship
Civil Rights Movement
Colorado
Congress
Corpus Christi
Discrimination
Draft Boards
Education
Edward Kennedy
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Family
Federal Government
Felix Longoria
Food Stamps
Harry Truman
Hector P. Garcia
Hospitals
Hubert Humphrey
John Kennedy
John Lyle
Legal System
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Mexican American War
Mexican Schools
Michigan
Naval Air Station
New Mexico
New York
Ohio
Philippines
Post Office
Racism
Reagan Administration
Robert Kennedy
Schools
Segregation
Social Security
Social Services
South Texas
Texas Revolution
Three Rivers
Tlatelolco
United Nation
Veterans
Washington
White House
World War II