Stephanie Gomez<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone who has taken a United States history course is familiar with Brown v. Board of Education. This landmark case declared school segregation to be unconstitutional and ended the separate but equal doctrine. However, many are unfamiliar with the case that paved the way for this historic ruling. Mendez v. Westminster was the, \u201cfirst successful federal school desegregation decision in the United States\u201d (CRF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This case dates back to the 1940s where under California law, the segregation of Mexican-American and Anglo-Saxon students was permitted. In California, children of Hispanic descent were sent to alternative schools on the grounds that they, \u201chad little or no English language skills\u201d (NPS). These schools were generally underfunded, lacked in resources, and \u201conly taught Hispanic children vocational skills and did not offer higher-level classes\u201d (NPS). Since it was presumed, \u201cMexican-American children would only need skills for low wage labor\u201d (NPS). Evidently, there was a discrepancy in the level of education between Mexican-American and Anglo-Saxon students, showing clear prejudice and bias against students of Hispanic descent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1943 Gonzolo Mendez tried to enroll his three children Sylvia, Geronimo, and Gonzalo, Jr. at Westminster Main School in Orange County. However, the children were denied admission based on their Mexican Heritage and referred to the Hoover School located in a different school district. Sylvia recalls the Hoover School as, \u201ctwo wooden shacks in a dirt lot next to a cow pasture\u201d separated by an electric fence with decrepit desks and hand-me-down books\u201d (Zonkel). Ironically, Gonzolo\u2019s niece and nephew were admitted to Westminster Main School because of their, \u201clight complexions and their last name, Vidaurri,\u201d (CRF). Indicating the school board was discriminating based on appearance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On March 2, 1945, Gonzolo along with five other Mexican-American fathers filed a lawsuit on behalf of 5,000 children of Hispanic descent against four school districts across California including, Westminster, Garden Grove, El Modeno, and Santa Ana. (Valencia) The plaintiff argued that, \u201cthe State of California violated the children\u2019s right to the Constitution\u2019s Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment\u201d and \u201cThe U.S. Constitution states that no State can \u201cdeny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.\u201d (NPS). In addition, the Mendez lawyer Marcus claimed, \u201cthat segregating children threatened their self-esteem and segregated school districts invented an inferior class of citizens where one did not exist\u201d (NPS). In order to prove his claim, Marcus called upon the testimony of Mexican-American children and had them testify how they were negatively affected by segregation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defendants lawyer Ogle, \u201cargued strenuously that the federal courts had no jurisdiction in Mendez because education was a matter governed by state law\u201d and claimed, \u201cthat the districts were not segregating Mexican American children on the basis of race or nationality, but for the purpose of \u2018\u2018providing special instruction to students not fluent in English and not familiar with American values and customs\u2019\u2019 (Wollenberg,1974). Finally, Ogle pointed out that in the 1896 ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson the Supreme Court had allowed states to segregate races, providing that the separate facilities were equal (Wollenberg,1974).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On March 18, 1946, Court Judge Paul J. McCormick ruled in favor of Mendez and stated that, \u201csegregation prevalent in the defendant school districts foster antagonisms in the children and suggest inferiority among them where none exists\u201d(Mendez). The school board later appealed the decision. This led to organizations like the American Jewish Congress, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Japanese-American Citizens League, and the NAACP to submit amicus curiae briefs to the court. Interesting enough \u201cThurgood Marshall, who wrote the NAACP\u2019s friend of the court brief for Mendez v. Westminster, used the decision as precedent when he argued Brown v. Board of Education in front of the U.S. Supreme Court\u201d(Mendez). On April 14, 1947, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld Judge McCormick\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sylvia Mendez grew up to be a pediatric nurse and a civil rights activist. She frequently travels across the country educating others on the historic contributions this case had on ending desegregation. In 2008, GALEO had the privilege to have Ms. Mendez speak at a luncheon and further discuss her parents legacy and contributions to our community. On February 15, 2011 Ms. Mendez received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mendez v. Westminster is an integral case that set the stage for the favorable ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. As it was, \u201cthe first case to hold that school segregation itself is unconstitutional and violates the 14th Amendment\u201d (American Immigration Council). This case set a precedent for Brown v. Board of Education and paved the way Thurgood Marshall\u2019s successful stance on the separate but equal doctrine. Although it not as highly recognized as Brown v. Board of Education, Mendez v. Westminster should not be overshadowed as it plays a significant role in American history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Works Cited<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Billy, M. \u201cThe Echo of Mendez v. Westminster 70 Years Later \u2013 CA School Boards Assoc.\u201d Medium, Medium, 5 Aug. 2016, medium.com\/@CSBA\/the-echo-of-mendez-v-westminster-70-years-later-b24d11438fe4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Valencia , Richard R. The Mexican American Struggle for Equal Educational Opportunity in Mendez v. Westminster: Helping to Pave the Way for Brown v. Board of Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zonkel, Phillip. \u201cRighting a Wrong Mendez v. Westminster Brought an End to Segregation in O.C. Schools \u2013 and Ultimately throughout the State and Nation.\u201d About Us,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blanco, Maria. \u201cThe Lasting Impact of Mendez v. Westminster in the Struggle for Desegregation.\u201d American Immigration Council, 9 Aug. 2016,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cU.S. Court House and Post Office\u2014American Latino Heritage: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary.\u201d National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wollenberg, C. (1974). Mendez v. Westminster: Race, nationality, and segregation in California schools. California Historical Quarterly, 53, 317\u2013332.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NOTE: The opinions expressed in this blog are the opinions of the author only. It is not to be assumed that the opinions are those of GALEO or the GALEO Latino Community Development Fund. For the official position on any issue for GALEO, please contact Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director of GALEO at\u00a0jerry@galeo.org<\/a>. Stephanie Gomez Anyone who has taken a United States history course is familiar with Brown v. Board of Education. This landmark case declared school segregation to be unconstitutional and ended the separate but equal doctrine. However, many are unfamiliar with the case that paved the way for this historic ruling. Mendez v. Westminster was the, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sin-categorizar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/galeo.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/galeo.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/galeo.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeo.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeo.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10510"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/galeo.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10527,"href":"https:\/\/galeo.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10510\/revisions\/10527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/galeo.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeo.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeo.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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