Felix Longoria’s Wake Book Review
In his book Felix Longoria’s Wake: Bereavement, Racism, and the Rise of Mexican American Activism, Patrick J. Carroll narrates how the death of a World War II Mexican-American soldier Felix Longoria influenced Mexican-American activism. Owing to his exemplary service in Philippines during World War II, Longoria received several awards, including a Good Conduct Medal, a Purple Heart, a Bronze Service Star, and a Country Infantryman’s badge. Upon his death in Philippines, however, the only funeral home in his hometown of Three Rivers declined to accord him a wake as he was Mexican-American (Carroll 2). As Carroll demonstrates in his book, this discriminative act immediately turned out to be a crucial moment in the progression of Mexican-American activism, with figures like Dr. Hector P. Garcia being in the forefront. Following intense activism, Longoria was finally buried in Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery. Based on research and interviews with several people including Dr. Garcia and Longoria’s wife, Carroll explains why Longoria’s funeral controversy ignited Mexican-American activism in the U.S. and beyond. Carroll is a professor of history at Texas A&M University. This paper provides a critical review of Carroll’s book, specifically focusing on Carroll’s general argument, summary of contents, author’s use of evidence, as well as style and presentation.
Carroll’s overarching argument is that Longoria’s incident...
Though the incident was less severe compared to other discriminative acts against Mexican-Americans, it took Mexican-American activism to a whole new level, with diverse interest groups in the U.S. and Latin America joining the movement. Carroll argues that Longoria’s funeral controversy was a flashpoint for divergent interpretations of grief, emotion, racial discrimination, cultural identity, and nationalism.
Carroll begins his book by narrating events surrounding the death of Longoria and the controversy that followed the death. He narrates how Longoria was killed in Philippines, the grief Mrs. Longoria experienced, how the local mortuary denied his wife wake services, and how the denial caused uproar almost overnight in reaction to the discriminative act. As explained by Carroll, “the events that followed ushered in Felix Longoria’s greatest moment of fame” (2). Dr. Garcia was one of the key figures angered by the Longoria incident. He used the incident to pioneer a movement that would later turn out to be definitive in Mexican-American activism as well as Lyndon B. Johnson’s political career.
Longoria’s funeral controversy would not have passed unnoticed as such discriminative acts were widespread in South Texas at the time. As Carroll narrates in the first chapter of his book, the controversy came at a time when racial discrimination in the U.S. was still rampant, especially in the south, and at a time…
