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Show ·. ' page 6 nationally, who had the fights who produced for the betterment of the Spanish-speaking, who got involved with ed~cation, housing and civic evolvement or other until 1948, in my opinion they had lost, they had done a lot, they were tired, they had lost a little bit of momentum, so there was a need for something else, and at that time, of course, the American GI Forum was organized by Doctor Garcia. Again, the impetus was there. It was after the war and the veterans had come back and they found a new fight, the denial of burials for Mexican-American veterans in cemetaries was an insult, they fought for that, they fought for equal education, they fought for equality all over, acceptance in restaurants and facilities and so they expanded and they organized, .and they educated their people, I guess civically ·and politically. And so until the 1960's, when again the GI Forum went through the same period of nonactivity as LULAC had and what happens? We have PASSO organized, we have MECHA organized, we have the younger groups, some of the school, college groups organized. Then, in the 1960's something very significant happened, the social awareness throughout the country as the result of the black uprising, etc. So we have the federal program bringing in impetus, money particularly, to these organizations to give them a reason for existence. So, we have the formation of SER, which at first was seen as nothing more than an operating arm of LULAC and the GI Forum. Well, today, |
