BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Louis Ochoa, Jr. was born in Moorhead, MN, wher his parents worked as farm laborers. He attended school in Moorhead, except for four tears as a teenager that his father sought winter work in Texas. He graduated from Hibbing Community College with a two-year Law Enforcement degree. In 1992 he returned to Moorhead, where he completed a degree at MSUM and began working for the Moorhead Police Department. He has been living here ever since.

Mr. Ochoa is currently the Youth Services Coordinator for the Moorhead Police Department and is assigned the Red River Alternative Learning Center. He is involved in the summer youth program, teaching kids about theft, smoking, bullying, and respecting others. In 2003, Ochoa received a Human Rights Award from the Moorhead Human Rights Commission. As an "up and coming leader for the Latino community" in Moorhead, Louis believes that advocating for the education of the community's youth on cultural diversity should be a high priority.

Topics discussed in this interview include the Moorhead Police Department's response to the Civil Rights Report, current diverstiy efforts within the MPD and their importance, as well as the personal experiences and perspectives of a young Latino community leader.

Louis Ochoa, Jr. was interviewed on April 28, 2004 by Mickey Matti, Kristi Hilton, and Dawn Westrum

SAMPLES FROM THE INTERVIEW

ON THE STATE OF CULTURAL RELATIONS:

"Just, you know, working for the Moorhead Police Department and working for the city has given me a lot of opportunity starting out. Just to see how the community has changed and the awareness for cultural and diversity awareness has changed, I think for the better. I think it’s getting better now, too, I think…with the…Civil Rights Report, I think a lot of good doors have been opened, a lot of good communication, collaborative efforts have been put together to make this work. It’s pretty positive, for Moorhead, anyways."

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF EARLY EDUCATION:

"The adults kind of, once you grow up it’s like the saying goes you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. If you grow up with either discrimination or a prejudice, I think that you’ve learned that from somebody, you’re not born with that. So if you hear this all your life that these certain people are good people or that they’re lazy or don’t…or sell drugs or something like that. I think you have that stereotype, you know, built in right away. As far as kids, they are so innocent and open minded, I think if you teach them at a young age you know what diver…cultures and traditions are about you see that."

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

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