Mendez vs Westminster Case

Mendez vs Westminster Case

By Caitlyn Serrano

Open Ended

What do you think segregation is? Have you heard about the Mendez vs. Westminster case?

RAcial segregation in california

In 1874, the California State Supreme Court ruled that schools for white and black should be "separate but equal"

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• ​Segregation, also known as the separation of different racial groups, was considered legal and the students education systems were separate.

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During the 1880's , Chinese immigration rose and they became the largest non-white minority in the state

• ​Chinese were not given the opportunities to go to school. Parents sued the schools and the Supreme Court called it unconstitutional

• ​The court kept the same belief. That they should be separate but equal.

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​Chinese Immigration

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Open Ended

What was the effect of Chinese immigration?

After realizing how much money it would actually cost to keep the Chinese and Black schools separate, school districts slowly let them into public schools.

• By the 1930's, most Chinese segregated schools were ​gone

• Not enough students enrolled made the schools get abolished as well.

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Issues

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Multiple Select

Why were segregated schools shut down?

• It was unlawful

• There were not enough teachers

• The schools cost too much money

• There were not enough students

When San Francisco schools started to segregate Japanese due to the wave of immigration, many of the parents found it unlawful

• ​President Theodore Roosevelt helped these families and ordered them to file a lawsuit against the district

• ​In 1907, a settlement was signed that helped stop segregation and school segregation were put to a halt

• He promised to find ways to ​work for restrictions to further Japanese immigration to the states

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Theodore Roosevelt

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Poll

Have you heard of Theodore Roosevelt before?

• Yes

• No

• His name sounds familiar but I do not know why he is important

Indian children suffered from the longest segregation

• They were not able to attend school till the 1870's until it was prohibited from them attending public schools in the 1920s where they had to attend federal schools

• The​ir schools were not abolished until the 1930's due to the limited amount of people

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​Indian Segregation

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Mexican-American Segregation

​In the beginning, Mexican-Americans were not affected by the school segregations. Once cheap labor was needed in California in the 1900's, Mexican-Americans became the largest minority group. More children from these ethnic groups entered schools and Anglo - parents sha​red their concern of getting them separate schools.

• The state listened and by 1920, there were designated "Mexican" swimming pools, movie theaters, and schools.

• ​85% of schools segregated the Mexican Americans and they were reported to not get the same education and opportunities as their Anglo counterparts.

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Open Ended

How do you think the separation of everyday materials made them feel? Why?

WHy different schools?

• Needed special curriculum to learn English

• Needed to be Americanized

• ​Believed to be mentally inferior, lack hygiene, and posed a health threat

• ​Were put in underfunded schools because it was believed that they would drop out and work in the fields

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Open Ended

How did the arrival of Mexicans affect Anglo's views of them? Why were they treated so poorly?

• Mexican-Americans started fighting back and a city named Lemon Grove stated that the segregation was unconstitutional

• The schools were shut​ down but only in Lemon Grove. Though, this gave hope to other Mexican-Americans

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​Lemon Grove

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1935 Law

In 1935, a law was put into place that considered Mexicans as Indians

• It authorized the segregation of In​dians but because Mexicans were considered descendents, the law applied to them as well.

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One of the most important cases in California today, is the Mendez vs Westminster case that took place in ​1945 to 1947. The Mendez parents filed a lawsuit against school districts in California that segregated Mexican-American children

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Gonzalo Mendez came to California during WW2 and stayed in a house in Westminster, Orange County

• When applying his children to school, they told him they must attend a Mexican school called Hoover Elementary that looked like a little shack

• Gonzalo thought it was weird how they allowed the children's cousins to enter the white school because of their French name and light skin color

• He gave his wife the opportunity to work in the farm while he gathered other parents to fight the segregation laws

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​Gonzalo mendez

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Open Ended

Why do you think they allowed Gonzalo's nieces and nephews into the white school but not his children?

​Mendez vs. Westminster

In 1945, Mendez and the other families sued several Orange County school districts in federal court. ​

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David Marcus argued the case and mentioned how the 14th amendment, "any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws", was not being followed by these schools. ​

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He showed how the segregation of schools harmed the students by bringing an education expert and a sociologist that shared how it hurt their English and learnings of American customs​

Subject | Subject

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​Mendez vs westminster case part 2

The biggest testimony was when the students expressed how attending the rundown school full of hand-me-downs made them feel in English.

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Joel Ogle defended Orange County and shared that federal courts have no right to look over K-12 schools.

He explained how the schools helped them learn English and expressed that the schools were "separate but equal" which follows the Supreme Court rulings ​

Subject | Subject

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​Judge McCormick favored the Mexican-American parents and shared how keeping them segregated, would only make their English regress.

He ruled that the Orange County school districts violated the equal protection rights of Mexican-American citizens ​

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​Judge McCormick

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Poll

Do you believe Judge McCormick wanted a better life for the Mexican American children?

• Yes

• N

​Appeal

The district appealed the judge's decision to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco

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While Joel Ogle repeated his arguments, David Marcus had more help from Thurgood Marshall and shared how separate schools are far from equal ​

Many unions supported Mexican-American parents such as the American Jewish congress, American Civil Liberties Union, National Lawyers Guild, Japanese American Citizens League, and the Attorney of General California who helped write amicus curiae, also known as friends of the court ​

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Judge McCormick's decision won with a 7-0 vote. They explained how the school board went against California law and the 14th amendment ​which is that they were not allowed to take away someones citizenship​

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The Mendez case was the first successful federal school desegregation in the nation ​

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The Mendez case helped shed light of new arguments that could be used in court to abolish segregation in public schools

It was shared how separate schooling was actually unequal. ​

In 1998, Westminster named a school after Gonzalo and Felicita Mendez ​

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​Aftermath

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Open Ended

How did the Mendez vs. Westminster case affect California diversity? Do you think the segregation of people of color affect social group and residency? Explain why.