Bidal Agüero
(67 pages)
Listen to the interview
Biography:
Agüero and wife, Olga, were founders of El Editor, the longest running Chicano-owned newspaper in Texas.
Interview Summary:
The interview begins with a discussion of the Agüero's support and promotion of Mexican American holiday celebrations in dance and music in the West Texas area. Mr. Agüero discusses his degree in music and talks about writing scores, playing instruments, and writing plays to perform at festival functions. He talks about how the admissions policy of Texas Tech University reflects racial discrimination attitudes of the dominant White culture in the West Texas area. He also talks about race discrimination attitudes in the juvenile criminal justice system in Texas, where he says that Mexican American youth offenders are deliberately held in the detention centers for longer periods compared to their White counterparts. Mr. Agüero discusses race issues associated with city politics and administration of government in Lubbock, Texas such as the gerrymandering of voting districts so that minorities are under-represented in local government. Mr. Agüero addresses the issue of whether single member districting really is in the best interests of minority populations as it was intended to be, and he talks about different types of apportionment schemes such as the creation of cumulative voting districts. He also talks about his family history and genealogy. The Agüeros conclude the interview with a detailed description of the growth of their newspaper business and how it is managed.
Locations of residence or activity:
Lubbock
Interview Date:
11/3/1997