Oral history interview with Ruben Bonilla, Jr., 1996 [videorecording].

  1. Resources
  2. View Resource

ArchivalResource

Oral history interview with Ruben Bonilla, Jr., 1996 [videorecording].

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/425962454

Ruben Bonilla, Jr., begins with his role in the Mexican American Democrats of Texas (MAD) and talks about the politics of Mexican Americans and their organizations in Texas, particularly the Raza Unida Party, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), MAD, Tejano Democrats, the American G.I. Forum, and the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. He states his concerns for the lack of action on the issues of Mexican American gangs, dropouts, and juvenile crime and shares his family's background in Calvert, Texas. He tells about the politics and economic development in Corpus Christi, Robstown, Mathis, and Nueces County, and derides Richard M. Borchers, elected to a number of Nueces County offices, who failed to create opportunities for Mexican Americans and local residents. Bonilla notes particularly the instance Borchers opted for the Linebarger (now Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson) law firm in Austin over local bidders, and laments the decision of Judge Raul Gonzales regarding a case against the Linebarger firm. Ruben Bonilla shares his opinions on the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the involvement of the Hispanic American organization Comisión Mixta in trade issues between Mexico and the United States, and describes the purpose of the Alliance (an organization formed by the merger of the Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Corporation and the Visitors and Tourist Bureau) in Corpus Christi. He provides information on Mexican American politicians Annette Hassette, Lauro Olivárez, and Hugo Berlanga who were elected to public office in Corpus Christi, and gives details on the judicial appointment of Hilda Tagle, with additional commentary on the success of Mexican American women in politics. He commends African American politician Mickey Leland, berates local Mexican American politician Solomon Ortiz, and refers to his friendship with American G.I. Forum founder Dr. Hector P. Garcia. He expresses his hope for a Mexican American owned newspaper and discusses the media's influence on the public's opinion of Mexican Americans. He briefly mentions his own participation in the West Texas march with Ruben Sandoval against police brutality and his experiences with race discrimination, and comments on prominent Mexican American politicos such as Tony Canales, Dan Morales, and Victor Morales.

1 videocassette (VHS) (1 hr., 33 min.) : col. ; 1/2 in.Transcript : 60 p. ; 28 cm.

eng,

spa,

University of Texas at Arlington, Central Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7450809

University of Texas at Arlington, Central Library

Related Entities

There are 26 Entities related to this resource.

University of Texas at Arlington. Center for Mexican American Studies

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63c6s61 (corporateBody)

Leland, Mickey, 1944-1989

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xx5921 (person)

George Thomas "Mickey" Leland (November 27, 1944 – August 7, 1989) was an anti-poverty activist who later became a congressman from the Texas 18th District and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. He was a Democrat. Growing up in the predominantly African American and Hispanic Fifth Ward of Houston, Texas, Leland attended Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas, where he ranked in the top ten percent of his class when he graduated from Wheatley in 1964. While attending Texas Southern Unive...

Morales, Victor-Pierre

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6q25v25 (person)

Born November 15, 1949, in Racine, Wisconsin. Mr. Morales was a City Council member in Crandall, Texas, and the first Mexican American Democratic Party nominee for the U.S. Senate in the General Election in 1996. He sought election to the 5th Congressional District seat in 1998, and in 2002 sought the Democratic Party's nomination for United States Senate. Mr. Morales is a graduate of Texas A & I University in Kingsville where he earned a Bachelor's degree in physical education. He has taugh...

League of United Latin American Citizens

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61g4rtb (corporateBody)

Organized in February of 1929 in Corpus Christi, TX. Composed mostly of Mexican-American citizens who believe that education is the foundation for the cultural growth and development for people of Latin American descent. Organization provides college scholarships, hot lunches for low-income and under privileged children, Christmas parties for under privileged and promotion of voter registration. From the description of Records, 1970-1989. (Denver Public Library). WorldCat record id: ...

Comisión Mixta.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s245jd (corporateBody)

Gutiérrez, José Angel,

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62r404b (person)

José Angel Gutierrez was born Oct. 25, 1944, in Crystal City, Texas. An activist, educator, organizer, and lawyer, Gutierrez co-founded the La Raza Unida Party and played many leadership roles in the early Chicano civil rights movement. He served as President of the Crystal City Independent School District Board in the early 1970s and as a County Judge for Zavala County, Tex. (1975-1980). In the 1980s, Gutierrez pursued a teaching career and moved to Oregon where he taught at Colegio Cesar Chav...

Canada. 1992 Oct. 7.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62v8k3g (corporateBody)

Gonzales, Raul

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62r6v0n (person)

Bonilla family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62s2xkx (family)

Tejano Democrats.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6n64qdc (corporateBody)

Raza Unida Party (Tex.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6d262nv (corporateBody)

The Raza Unida Party (RUP) was first established as a third political party in Crystal City, Texas, in January, 1970. As an alternative to the two-party system in Texas, Raza Unida sought social, economic, and political self-determination for Chicanos, other minorities, and the disenfranchised through local and, later, state politics. At its start, the party organized around county, local, and school district elections in south Texas; winning city council elections in Cotulla, Carri...

Olivárez, Lauro.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zd15ht (person)

Sandoval, Rubén

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6np57gp (person)

American G.I. Forum

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62270hh (corporateBody)

Garcia, Hector P., -1996

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jh4kxm (person)

Tagle, Hilda Gloria, 1946-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67t0qx2 (person)

Born in 1946 in Corpus Christi, Texas, Judge Tagle is the first Mexican American woman United States District Judge for the Southern Judicial District of Texas (Brownsville). Earlier in her career she was elected to the 148th State District Court in Nueces County, was appointed judge for Nueces County Court at Law No. 3 in 1985 and elected to the post in 1986 and 1990, and served on the State Commission on Judicial Conduct from 1989 to 1994. She received her master's degree in Library Science fr...

Alliance (Corpus Christi, Tex.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m96cxf (corporateBody)

Canales, Tony.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63v2m3x (person)

Hassette, Annette.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tb49bf (person)

Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fj8m4n (corporateBody)

Borchers, Richard M.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qn994t (person)

Berlanga, Hugo.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61c50s4 (person)

Bonilla, Ruben, Jr,

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vh8r2s (person)

Ruben Bonilla, Jr., is a first-generation Mexican American raised in Calvert, Texas in Robertson County. He moved to Corpus Christi in 1960 and graduated from W.B. Ray High School in 1964. He earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Texas at Austin (UT) in 1968, and his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the UT School of Law in 1971. He served as state chairman of the Mexican American Democrats of Texas (MAD) in 1985, as Texas State Director for the League of United Latin American Cit...

Mexican American Democrats of Texas

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w613112v (corporateBody)

A group of Democrats, formed in 1975, dedicated to increasing the influence of Mexican Americans in the Democratic Party at the state and national levels. Eugene and Sylvia Rodriguez were charter members of the group and both served on the Democratic National Committee in the 1980s. From the description of Mexican American Democrats of Texas collection, 1962-1987. (University of Texas at San Antonio). WorldCat record id: 40792718 Eugene (Gene) and Sylvia Rodrigu...

Ortiz, Solomon P. (Solomon Porfirio), 1938-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bg5rpq (person)

Solomon Porfirio Ortiz (born June 3, 1937) is an American politcian. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 27th congressional district, based in Corpus Christi, from 1983 until 2011. Born in Robstown, Texas, he left Robstown Public High School to work as a printer’s aide at the Robstown Record. In 1960 he enlisted in the U.S. Army and earned his general equivalency degree. The military sent Ortiz to France, where he learned the language and worked ...

Mexican American Legislative Caucus (Tex.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63v5m6d (corporateBody)