Felix Longorias Wake free essay sample

The book Felix Longoria’s Wake is the account of the death of Felix Longoria a soldier that caused controversy and outrage in Mexican-American activism. This book is put together with documented evidence and interviews with key figures. Carroll explains the reason behind why Longoria’s incident ignited activism. There were more severe acts of discrimination against Mexican Americans that were not brought into the spot light. He clarifies why this particular incident became such a turning point in nationalism and emotion between the Mexican and American cultures. Felix Longoria was a first class private who earned many metals including: a Bronze Service Star, a Purple Heart, a Good Conduct Medal, and a Combat Infantryman badge for his service in the Philippines in World War II. His body brought home to Three Rivers, Texas, after being killed by a sniper. The only funeral home in Three Rivers, Texas refused to hold a wake for the slain soldier, Felix Longoria, because the whites would not approve of it not even in his hometown. We will write a custom essay sample on Felix Longorias Wake or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Felix Longoria’s wife who was now a widow was contacted about where she wanted the body, which was three years after he was killed. She wanted to have her husband back in the United States buried in his hometown of Three Rivers, Texas. She went to the only funeral chapel in his hometown to make the arrangements for the burial and was denied because of Longoria being Mexican-American. She continued to try and was turned down each time even Dr. Hector Garcia a civil rights activist was refused. â€Å"Dr. Garcia then broadened the nature of the dispute into an affair of honor involving notions of race, nationalism, political economy, and patriotism and profected it into a national and even international stage† (Carroll pg 112). The news went from a reporter all the way to high public officials including the President of the United States and the state department continuing as a three month long dispute. The author of Felix Longoria’s Wake Patrick J. Carroll is a professor of History at Texas AM Corpus Christi. Carroll became apart of the University Faculty in 1976. Felix Longoria’s Wake was originally to be written by Political Science Professor Frederick A. Cervantes who unfortunately passed away in 1986. A Civil Rights Activist appointed Carroll to complete the task. â€Å"Felix Longoria’s Wake† received positive reviews and the Tullis Prize in 2003 for the best-published book on Texas history presented by the Texas State Historical Association. He was also a featured author in the 2003 Texas Book Festival. Carroll has given presentations across the nation and Mexico and received the University’s Excellence in Scholarship Award in 2004. The book was very well put together and organized with documented evidence and interviews from important people. A lot of research was put into this book and all the research used is cited in the back of the book. Since the topic is such a controversial topic I understand that all the information had to be correctly used which is why the research was so in-depth. The book was easy to read there was a few words I was unsure of and had to define in order to better understand them. The situation itself brought up other issues of that time such as: social, economic, and politics. The conclusion at the end really helps by summing up some main points considering there is a lot of information throughout the reading. The drawing and pictures included in the text are very interesting and it is really cool to get to see a picture from the funeral of Longoria, which was apart of a group ceremony. Historically Felix Longoria’s incident really connected the Hispanic community with the rest of the public, the national public. â€Å"The decision to bury Felix in a place other than Three Rivers became a collective demand for justice, dignity, and equality† (Carroll Pg69). The incident casted light upon the social conditions and what was really going on in South Texas as well as educate America. â€Å"And they chose the hero’s burial in Arlington National Cemetery, because what it does is place this incident, Mexican-American civil rights, within a national forum for the first time†(Interview pg 2). And this had prior attempts that were unsuccessful. This was really the first time there had been a connection between the general public and Hispanics, which happened to be discrimination. It just so happened to be against a U. S. Soldier right after World War II and he happened to be Mexican-American. I would recommend this book to someone of age who can really understand. I think that some people could really look over this and not see why it is so important. My father served in the Viet Nam War and growing up I listened to so many stories that he would share. I know that he fought with all kinds of people including the Vietnamese so I think I myself have a better understanding. I really appreciate anyone who serves and fights to defend the United States. I think it is really amazing that people from other countries move their life here and decide to enlist and serve. Felix Longoria definitely earned his medals and deserves all the recognition along with anyone else that was fighting right beside him.