abroad, many arrived home to discover they were still turned away at diners, barber shops, and other local businesses because they were Mexican and considered un-American. Luisa Moreno observed that Latino veterans “desperately wanted a share in the democracy that they bitterly fought for... Instead, they saw the same prewar job discrimination and were denied their civil rights.” 6
Civil Rights Efforts Wartime aspirations of inclusion and equality in San Diego also grew from the city’s history of Latino struggles for civil and labor rights. In the years leading up to World War II, for example, labor organizers like Guatemalan-born Luisa Moreno and Mexican-born Robert Galvan helped unionize cannery workers in San Diego’s seafood industry. Working with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and affiliated United Cannery, Agricultural, Pack - ing and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA), they fought on behalf of Mexicans, Mexican Americans, Filipinos, and others who worked long hours canning tuna in dangerous conditions for poor pay.
Following the war, San Diego remained a hotbed of activism by organizations like El Congreso de Pueblos que Hablan Español, the American G.I. Forum, and immigrant rights groups that helped set the agenda for Latino political and social movements through the 1960s. Latinos fought World War II on two fronts. They risked their lives in combat abroad and struggled for equality at home. Many found this contradiction an ironic and unacceptable hallmark of the Latino wartime experience. Moving Forward Latino servicemen and women, along with workers and activists on the domestic front, pushed for a more inclusive America. They did so even when inclusion did not come automatically, even though they shared the same uniform that should have guaranteed freedom and equality for all.
“Latinos fought World War II on two fronts. They risked their lives in combat abroad and struggled for equality at home.”
Companies like California Packing Corporation, Sun Harbor, Marine Products, Van Camp Sea Food, and Westgate Sea Products were located along the South Bay waterfront and employed thousands of San Diegans. Women made up more than 75% of cannery workers, including many who made their home in the predominantly Mexican American barrio of Logan Heights. Efforts to improve the treatment of Latino workers soon merged with the civil rights demands by returning Latino veterans. After fighting for American democracy
WWII Latino Recruitment Poster (Photo courtesy of The National WWII Museum • New Orleans)
Caneries workers along waterfront (Photo courtesy The San Diego Public Library)
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 3 – Service To America, Struggles With America
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