Difference between revisions of "Velasquez, Alfredo 1989-04-19"

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The approach of Alfredo Velásquez was about his different jobs, life in Lubbock as years went by and the importance of education and health insurance.
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Alfredo Velásquez discusses his different jobs, life in Lubbock as years went by, and the importance of education and health insurance.
 
Note – This interview is the continuation of the interview with Alfredo Velásquez’s wife, Belén Velásquez.
 
Note – This interview is the continuation of the interview with Alfredo Velásquez’s wife, Belén Velásquez.
  

Revision as of 16:03, 19 September 2019

Alfredo Velásquez discusses his different jobs, life in Lubbock as years went by, and the importance of education and health insurance. Note – This interview is the continuation of the interview with Alfredo Velásquez’s wife, Belén Velásquez.

General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Alfredo Velasquez

Additional Parties Recorded: None

Date: April 19, 1989

Location: Lubbock, Texas

Interviewer: Yolanda Romero

Length: 55 minutes


Abstract

Tape 1: the reason why he came to live to Lubbock; almost turning 18 when he escaped and bought some lots of land with his sisters; his and his parents’ birth place; the ranch in which he was born; the place where his parents met; the family and the harvest of cotton; the reasons why he became a truck driver; preferred to take young people older than 15 to work; his personality could influence workers to keep working with him; how he was so lucky in finding work for him and his workers; the wages he earned; the difference of income compared to the one today; how the majority of the workers were from his family; the little change of people respect to work; examples of racism around Lubbock; the “braceros” and the hard and heavy work that others didn’t want to do; the importance of the harvesting work; the constructions he participated in; the Mexican neighbors in Lubbock; what he thinks about women staying at home or going out to work; the mother is needed in the house, especially when there are children; his belief of how the man is the one who has to provide everything for the family; Mr. Velasquez’s wife mentions that her mother worked in the labor; in the ranch, there is work for everyone; the start of using machines in the farm field; how Lubbock changed from being a town to becoming a city; he only worked around Lubbock, never out of the state; Among the works he did, he drove tractors; the rain was problematic because it was harder to work; in the present, there are more Mexicans doing the type of work he did; he also was a carpenter assistant; the highest level of education he achieved was ninth grade; the majorities were female teachers and that they didn’t teach them certain things; occasionally they were punished for using Spanish in the school; he went to Lubbock because he wanted to leave the ranch; As final comments, he mentions that school is really important; he believes that there are more possibilities of going ahead and less discrimination; Mr. and Mrs. Velazquez mention that they are planning in purchasing a health insurance but that they already have life insurance; a young boy who bleeds to death in a Lubbock hospital of Lubbock for not having a health insurance; Consider that Mexicans know the importance of having health insurance and they comment about somebody they knew who had a tumor, and how important the health insurance became for him.


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Access Information

Original Recording Format: audio cassette

Recording Format Notes: original recording digitized, CD copy available in Reading Room

Transcript: Spanish and English draft transcripts available in Reading Room



Thank you for your interest in this oral history interview. Our oral history collection is available to patrons in the Southwest Collection's Reading Room, located on the campus of Texas Tech University. For reading room hours, visit our website. Please contact Reference Staff at least one week prior to your visit to ensure the oral history you are interested in will be available. Due to copyright issues, duplications of our oral histories can only be made for family members. If an oral history transcript has been made available online, the link will be provided on this page. More information on accessing our oral histories is located here. Preferred citation style can be found here.