Leadership at the State Level
Raul A. González Jr. was first Hispanic American to be appointed to the Texas Supreme Court. He served as a judge for many years. His government service at the state level is well respected.
González was the son of two Mexican immigrants who became agricultural workers. While at college, he took an interest in the civil rights movement. He participated in it during the 1960s. He attended law school and became an assistant city attorney in 1966. After working for several different firms as a lawyer, he began a judicial career in 1978. That year, he was appointed judge in Texas's 103rd Judicial District. He then was appointed to the 13th Court of Appeals in 1982 by the Texas governor.
Because of discrimination, people of color had to be extremely skilled and qualified to be hired. Often they needed to be more skilled than their peers. Only then were they considered for positions of power. González's extensive experience as a lawyer and as a judge helped him with this. It gave him the experience to be the first Hispanic American justice in the Texas Supreme Court. He served between 1984 and 1998.
Leadership at the Federal Level
Henry B. González served in the federal government as a representative in Congress for 37 years. He served longer than any other Hispanic American in history. His leadership showed the strength and influence a Mexican American could have in the federal government.
González began his career as a chief probation officer in Bexar County. He worked there for three years in the 1940s. However, he left because he was not allowed to hire any Black Americans. He then began working for the San Antonio Housing Authority.
His work in housing and as a probation officer made people in the city familiar with him. González decided to run for Texas Senate. He won a position in 1956. As a Mexican American, he faced discrimination during his term. He fought against opposition in the Senate to national civil rights legislation. In 1958, González ran for governor but failed. Then, in 1961, he ran for election to Congress. He won this election. González served as Texas's representative for the 20th congressional district from 1961 to 1999.During this time, González spoke up for Mexican workers against the Bracero Program. This program allowed farmers and businesses to use Mexican citizens as farm workers. These workers were not paid well. They suffered with poor health care and housing. He tried to fight against segregation.
However, González believed that gaining civil rights would be achieved by working through the system. He became involved in the Banking and Currency Committee. González continued to work on housing through the Subcommittee on Housing and Development. He pushed to improve public housing and cosponsored the Cranston- Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990. Many public housing programs lost funding under President Reagan. This bill gave funding back to housing programs that were popular.
Include any two of his accomplishments above
In one or two sentence how would you describe the contributions Henry González had to the federal government