Ken Burns still fighting ‘War’ over inclusion

Burns has a right to be a little defensive. He’s being convicted by a group of people who hadn’t, at the time of my interviews, even seen “The War” or read the companion book authored by Burns and published by Knopf.

“The story of my entire professional life has been telling stories that haven’t been told in American history,” Burns told me during a telephone interview. “In the history of (earlier Burns' documentary) ‘The West’, instead of telling gunslinger stories, we told a Hispanic story in every single episode. And you know what the complaint was? ‘No Anglo can tell our story.’ I’ve been a longtime champion of including everyone. These complaints (are) made not by constituencies, but by a few radicals who haven’t even seen the film. And in the United States, we don’t have censorship. People are allowed to put in or leave out whatever they want.”

He’s right. Rivas-Rodriguez concurred that Burns should be able to present his vision in whatever way he sees fit. “I think artists should have every right to produce what they want to produce whether it’s something that’s very politically avant-garde or whatever,” she said. “The point is, though, that whoever is going to air it or publish it, they have every right to make sure that the product that is going on the air meets certain guidelines.”

Inclusiveness is key.

PBS president Paula Kerger, who has stood by Burns throughout the backlash, did meet with Rivas-Rodriguez to discuss DOH’s concerns. In an effort, perhaps, to appease the group, Kerger suddenly found room in her programming schedule this month to air a whole slew of programs celebrating the contributions of Latinos in what just happens to be Latino Heritage Month.

Rivas-Rodriguez appreciates the gesture, but thinks Latino-themed programming should be a part of the network’s overall plans — not just something that pops up during a couple of weeks in September. Her hope now is that viewers would look at “The War” with a critical eye and see if the film adequately represents the experience of Latinos.

“For me, what would make me really happy is a documentary that really and truly celebrates America’s diversity,” she said. “One that (doesn't) just (look) seriously at the contributions of Chinese-Americans, Japanese-Americans, African-Americans, but (at) Filipinos, women in uniform, Latinos. We’re really disturbed that this program and this book will be in schools and libraries as a definitive source of information about this period in history — and we’re missing.”

WWII lasted nearly four years. The war of inclusion is an ongoing battle.

Miki Turner is an entertainment columnist for MSNBC.com. She welcomes your comments at

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