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Mendez Vs. Westminister By Maria Haigh Guadalupe Valdivia Willie J Jones III Slide 2 Background When?: Mexican Americans and African Americans served in WWII By the 1940s, the changing political and social climate had shifted the focus away from the genetic explanations of Mexican Americans and African Americans inequalities and disadvantages to more social and environmental causes. The Mendez Family had just moved from Santa Ana to Westminster to tend a farm that they were renting from the Munemitsus, a Japanese-American family that had been sent to an internment camp during WWII. In the 1940s, there were only two schools in Westminster: Hoover Elementary and 17th Street Elementary Slide 3 Frontline: Slide 4 Where? Westminster, California in Orange County. Westminster/17 th Street Elementary (Whites-only)-the segregated school, was located about a mile away amongst a row of palm and pine trees and had a lawn lining the school's brick and concrete faade. They provided better books and educational benefits. Hoover Elementary (The Barn)- a 2 room wooden shack in the middle of the city's Mexican neighborhood, along with the other Hispanics. Slide 5 Who? Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez (Parents) Sylvia, Geronimo, and Gonzalo, Jr. (Mendez children) Soledad/Sally Vidaurri (aunt of the Mendez children) Alice and Edward (Vidaurri children, cousins of the Mendez) Gonzalo Mendez, William Guzman, Frank Palomino, Thomas Estrada, and Lorenzo Ramirez (The plaintiffs who where 5 Mexican American fathers) David C. Marcus (Mendez attorney: an African American civil right lawyer from Los Angeles) Dr. Ralph L. Beals (Expert-Professor and chairman of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at UC Berkeley) Ms. Marie H. Hughes (Expert-Former principle and curriculum director of New Mexico who was, at that time, working for Los Angeles County Public Schools and completing her Ph.D. at Stanford University) Joel Ogle (Lawyer of the defendant districts: Westminster, Garden Grove, El Modeno, and Santa Ana) Judge Paul McCorwick Slide 6 What? Soledad took the Mendez children to the nearest school to be enrolled on the first day of the 1944-1945 school year. Westminster Elementary School only admitted White students and the Mendez children were denied admissions on the ground that they were deficient in English. Soledad was surprised because her own children attended there. She later discovered that her kids were admitted because of their light complexions and their last name, Vidaurri, which was French. Soledad withdrew her own children from the school. Mendez children were sent to Hoover Elementary School Slide 7 How? Through communication between members of the Mexican American community and the school board, several attempts were made to end school segregation. The board, however, was noncompliant. March 2, 1945, 5 Mexican American fathers (Gonzalo Mendez, William Guzman, Frank Palomino, Thomas Estrada, and Lorenzo Ramirez) filed suit on behalf of their 15 collective children and 5, 000 other minor children of Mexican and Latin descent Marcus, the Mendez attorney, brought his experience in desegregation litigation in federal courts where he represented Mexican American and Puerto Rican plaintiffs in a successful class action known as Lopez v. Seccombe (1944), challenging segregation in a park and swimming facilities in San Bernardino) Mendez v. Westminster was filed in federal court-the U.S. District Court. This was the first school desegregation case in which plaintiffs argued that separate was not equal in K-12 public schools because such segregation violated their rights under the equal protection clause of the 5 th and 14 th Amendment of the U.S. National Constitution. Because Mexican American children were considered White, alleged discrimination was not based on race, but national origin. The discrimination by phenotype and surnames would be a key issue in the Mendez case. Marcus brought two powerful experts to testify how segregation retards the development of colored students. Segregation developed feelings of inferiority and foster antagonism in these children and hostility to the who culture of the surrounding majority group Segregation of children was at cross-purposes which efforts to Americanize them because it retards the assimilation of the child to American customs and ways Segregation lessened Spanish-speaking children learning the English language. Ogle, the districts lawyer -Defense was that the districts were not segregating Mexican American children on the basis of race or nationality, but for the purpose of providing special instruction to students not fluent in English and not familiar with American values and customs. Ogle pointed out that Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) ruling allowed states to segregate races, providing that the separate facilities were equal. On February 18, 1946, Judge McCormick ruled in Mendez v. Westminster that discrimination against the Mexican-origin students existed and that their rights under the 14 th Amendment were being denied. Judge McCormick said, Segregating Mexican American children in public schools was a violation of the states law and violated the fourteen amendment which grants equal protection. Slide 8 Why? Mendez case went beyond the boundaries of Orange County, California. California became the 1 st state in the U.S. to struct down segregation in public schools. The Mendez lawsuit was important because it forced federal courts to consider the issue of equal protection as it applied to the segregation of Mexican American students in public schools. Mendez v. Westminster lead the way for later cases like Brown v. The school board of education to end segregation in all the U.S. Slide 9 Question 1: Parallels of the Mendez v. Westminster case with 21 st century schooling in America. Despite the triumphs of Mendez v. Westminster, the case remains largely unknown and unacknowledged. The California State Board of Education does not include the case in its K-12 history books or content standards. Although the Mendez case helped to end de jure segregation in California, Mexican American and African American students remained highly segregated in the I.E. and, in fact, became more segregated in schools over the decades following the ruling. Another factor that added to segregation was social class status. Slide 10 Question 2: How might Mendez v. Westminster case inform the work of current educators and leadership across the k-16 pipeline? A lesson learned from the Mendez case is that we as educators and future educational leaders have to look at the social science research and reach out to experts in the field who can be essential resources to improving the K-16 pipeline. Mendez vs. Westminister informs the current work of educators and leadership across the k-12 pipeline with a strategy to fight unequal education. Slide 11 Question 3: What does Mendez v. Westminster case means for equity and diversity in CA and the Inland Empire specifically given the unique challenges we face across the region? We need to raise awareness on equity and diversity in all levels of the educational system to move forward in changing the social climate of lack of equity and access. School administrators and teachers need to take time to learn from their students by engaging with them in meaningful conversations School administrators and teachers need to question their own biases and racial stereotypes towards students of color With the common core standards being implemented the cases involved in all aspect of culture can be assimilated into the curriculum. Mendez vs. Westminister. It makes a bold statement that we will fight for equality in education and will not stand idly by watching. Mendez vs. Westminister is the foundation of Californias desegregation and the challenging of injustice in the higher levels of politics. It gives promise to those cultures that are being discriminated to in the educational world. Slide 12 Question 4: How can these lessons learned transform educational opportunities for all students across the IE? Empower and promote students to be active agents and advocate/engage in their own educational journey Create students that will be change agents for their community and society The Inland Empire is a valley of diversity. Historical cases can be used to improve the quality of education of all students and respect the historical contributions of all cultures. http://animoto.com/play/Ah9mvxXHso2RxuKsBJKPEA Slide 13 Beginning of change