The Longoria Incident was a major event in the American civil rights movement that took place in 1949 in Three Rivers, Texas. It involved the refusal of a funeral home to bury a World War II veteran, Felix Longoria, because he was Hispanic. This incident sparked outrage and condemnation from the Hispanic community and civil rights organizations, and it helped to bring national attention to the issue of racial discrimination in the United States.
The incident began when Longoria, a Private First Class in the United States Army, was killed in action in the Philippines during World War II. His body was returned to Texas for burial, and his wife, Beatrice, approached the Funeraria del Angel funeral home in Three Rivers to make arrangements for his funeral. However, the funeral home owner, Bob Mathis, refused to allow Longoria to be buried in the funeral home's chapel, citing a policy against allowing Mexican Americans to be buried there.
Mathis's refusal to allow Longoria to be buried in the funeral home caused outrage in the Hispanic community and among civil rights organizations. The American G.I. Forum, a civil rights organization for Hispanic veterans, took up the case and contacted the national media to bring attention to the incident. The case received widespread coverage in the press, and it sparked widespread outrage and condemnation.
As a result of the Longoria Incident, the American G.I. Forum and other civil rights organizations worked to bring about changes in the laws and policies that allowed for racial discrimination. In 1950, the Texas legislature passed a bill prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations, including funeral homes. The Longoria Incident also helped to bring national attention to the issue of racial discrimination in the United States, and it played a role in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
In the end, Felix Longoria was eventually buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., with full military honors. The Longoria Incident remains a significant event in the history of the civil rights movement and serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for equality and justice in the United States.