Victor Treviño
(126 pages)
Listen to the interview
Biography:
Born December 13, 1951, in Pesquería Chica, Nuevo León, Mexico. Mr. Treviño was a ccnstable of Harris County and the first naturalized Mexican citizen to win elective office in Houston. He was a police officer with the Houston Police Department and active with the Hispanic Peace Officers association prior to his election.
Interview Summary:
Mr. Treviño talks about his family history and genealogy. He also talks about emigrating from Mexico and recollects events he experienced while growing up in Texas relating to race discrimination by both Whites and the local Mexican American community. He talks about racial conflicts with black co-workers and the measures he took to deal with it. Mr. Trevi~no explains that he became a U. S. citizen primarily so he could become a policeman in Houston. He gives details about his life as a police officer, including race discrimination incidents that he observed in the Houston Police Department. Mr. Treviño relates that the many problems and inequities of abuse of power by the Houston Police Department against minority citizens led him to establish the Organization of Spanish Speaking Officers (OSSO) in an attempt to give the Mexican American community a connection to the department by creating a positive Mexican American police presence in minority neighborhoods. As president of OSSO, Mr. Treviño worked with Houston's Mexican American communities on many health and school issues. He gives details about the management and funding of his election bid for Constable. Mr. Trevi~no also comments on the negative aspects of his political activities including acts of violence against him, his wife, and children by the local Mexicano establishment. He analyzes Victor Morales' potential as a politician and comments on his campaign style. Mr. Trevi~no emphasizes the importance of mentoring newly arrived Mexican immigrants toward achieving U.S. citizenship and the importance of educating them about their civic responsibilities to their new country and members of the Mexican American community.
Locations of residence or activity:
Houston/Harris County
Interview Date:
6/27/1996