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Living in the Inland Empire in the 21st century makes it difficult to remember that legal discrimination against Latino children was in full force only 62 years ago. Even fewer are aware that the end of school segregation for Latinos in California is part and parcel of the Civil Rights Movement of the l960s.
Only the few people who were involved remember to tell the story. One in particular, Sylvia Mendez, came to Chaffey to share her story with the Future Teachers' Club. Along with educator Michael Matsuda, she hopes to have the story of Mendez vs. Westminster told to all of the children in California's classrooms.
Mendez was in the third grade when her parents challenged the segregated school system that sent their children to a run down, impoverished "Mexican" school.
"It was shabby and next to a cow pasture," Mendez recalled. "To keep the cows in the pasture, there was a wire fence with a little bit of electricity running through it."
When Gonzalo Mendez moved his family to Westminster in 1943, his children were denied admittance to the better-funded and safer neighborhood school. He first appealed to the school principal, then the school board, and finally hired an attorney and sued the district as a class action on behalf of 5,000 Latino school children.
As the case wound through the California courts, the community rallied to the cause. Amicus briefs, or Friend of the Court briefs, were filed by the NAACP, the Jewish League, the National Lawyers' Guild, and the Japanese American League. One was submitted by Thurgood Marshall, the then future justice of the Supreme Court and chief counsel in a case that would end school segregation forever.
After two years, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Mendez, making school segregation unconstitutional. A year later, California Governor Earl Warren signed a bill prohibiting segregation.
Seven years later, in the landmark decision Brown vs. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal has no place," and that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." It was written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, former Governor of California, and was inclusive of the arguments made in the Mendez vs. Westminster case.
Michael Matsuda, an educator in the Anaheim School District, has been trying to share this story with teachers and connected with Mendez after KOCE aired a documentary by Sandra Robbie, Mendez v. Westminster- "For All the Children/Para Todos Los Ninos."
"It is a story that is ideal for children because it is an American story of people coming together," Matsuda said. "It happened during the height of World War II hysteria in the midst of antagonism towards other races, low tolerance, stereotyping and scapegoating."
Many in the audience wondered why the story is not included in the history books.
Mendez noted that in the l970s, the story was told in a college history text and was read by one of the Mendez grandchildren who suddenly realized the book was discussing her own family. Unfortunately, it disappeared when someone decided, "It was not important enough."
Currently, there is a bill in the California State Legislature to include the story of Mendez vs. Westminster in the state curriculum.
State bill AB531 is currently making its way from the House to the Senate Committees where, if passed, Mendez hopes that Governor Schwarzenegger will sign the bill.
Mendez wants the story told to school children.
"Don't you realize that someone fought for you to have this education?" Mendez asked. Yet, she noted only 12% of Latinos have bachelor's degrees and less than 1% nationally have earned PhD degrees.
As she and Matsuda answered questions and signed autographs at the close of the event, she looked around at the students and said hopefully, "Maybe you will add to the number of PhD's."
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