Herminia Quinones: Oral History

This oral history begins with Herminia Quinones’ interview in which she shares her involvement with her church along with her involvement in her children’s PTA meetings in which she was able to influence change in her community. Although she was involved in LULAC for a few years along with her husband, they both felt stronger connections to their church and saw it as a better fit for them to give back. The couple seemed indifferent towards LULAC, which is almost a complete opposite to the last oral history I listened to of Judge Alfred Hernandez who was a highly active member of the organization and was even President a few times. This goes to show that not all Mexican Americans were drawn to the work of political organizations but some sought …show more content…
The Quinones were no different and experienced their fair share of discrimination. For instance, Herminia shares how barbers refused to cut her son’s hair and alludes to this being a possible reason for its closing after she brought the incident to LULAC’s attention. In addition, her husband shares how he was not allowed to join the police force because he supposedly had high blood pressure; however, when he got a second opinion from a doctor they told him he was perfectly healthy. As it turned out, his nonexistent high blood pressure did not prevent him from joining the Army. Although many Mexican Americans experienced discrimination at one point in their lives, they still did not always agree on the best methods of seeking out improvement for their neighborhood. As it seems there were many conflicting approaches in how to progress a movement. For instance, LULAC typically opted for diplomatic channels through the legal system, while Barrios Unidos would hold public demonstrations, and then there are the small families who feel personally affected by discrimination but choose not to get involved politically and instead chose to help through their church and through their children’s schools. Either