Latino Americans: 500 Years Of History Series Part 3: "War and Peace (1942-1954)"

When

Monday February 1, 2016: 6:30pm to 8:30pm  Add to Calendar /   Add to Google Calendar

Where

Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

For Whom

Grade 9–Adult.

Description

This film and discussion will be presented in English. This program will also be presented in Spanish on Monday, February 8.

Dr. Silvia Pedraza, U-M Professor of Sociology and American Culture leads tonight’s screening and discussion of the film War and Peace (1942-1954). World War II is a watershed event for Latino Americans with hundreds of thousands of men and women serving in the armed forces, most fighting side by side with Anglos. But on the home front, discrimination is not dead: in 1943, Anglo servicemen battle hip young "Zoot suitors" in racially charged riots in southern California.

After the war, Macario Garcia becomes the first Mexican National to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor for his exploits fighting in Europe, only to be refused service in a Texas diner. The experience during the war pushes Latinos to fight for civil rights back home. A doctor from South Texas, Hector Garcia, organizes the American GI Forum, transforming himself into a tireless advocate for civil rights and the friend of a future president. Although Latinos make significant gains, the journey for equality is far from over.

The Ann Arbor District Library is one of 203 sites nationwide to host this series, which has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. The AADL series is also co-sponsored by Michigan Radio and the U-M Latina/o Studies Program and is part of an NEH initiative, The Common Good: The Humanities In the Public Square. For more information on Latino Americans: 500 Years of History programs at AADL, please visit aadl.org/latinoamericans.

Co-sponsored by: