Santa Barbara Talks: Dr. Mario Garcia

Visit SantaBarbaraPodcasts.com to make a contribution. Dr. Mario Garcia, history professor at UCSB, sits down with Josh Molina for a riveting discussion about Mexican American contributions to the civil rights movement. "Latino history is U.S. history," Garcia says. Garcia explains how Mexican Americans have a decorated war and military history but are overlooked in the history books. He talks about the high rates that Mexican Americans were drafted and served in the Vietnam war because they didn't have the same educational opportunities or personal connections to avoid enlistment. He also talks about how Mexican Americans, even those with medals of honor, were not allowed to swim on portions of Carpinteria Beach off Linden Avenue up until the 1950s, and other places in the nation only allowed Mexicans access to swimming pools one day a week so they could be cleaned afterward, Garcia said. It's compelling conversation where Garcia talks about discrimination, and why racism and classism still exists. Garcia also talks about the incredible contributions and progress made by Mexican Americans and how his hope is that those stories show up in history books in K-12 education. From Feb. 17-18, UCSB will hold the 6th Bi-Annual Sal Castro Memorial Conference and a special symposium on the work and legacy of Garcia, who retired last year after more than 40 years in academia. Joshua Molina is a journalist and college instructor who interviews a wide variety of people on the issues of education, housing, politics, culture and business. Molina is a former reporter at the San Jose Mercury News and teaches at Cal State University, Northridge and Santa Barbara City College. Visit SantaBarbaraTalks.com to sign up for his newsletter and make a contribution to this individually owned podcast.