What was the case of Mendez vs Westminster?

Answer 1

Today, I will discuss the case Mendez vs. Westminister in California in 1946. The case was decided 7 years before Brown v. The Board of Education, and argued on Appeal by Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP, among many others. The Mendez case is a civil rights case about how one family stood up to a segregated society and with the support of their friends, relatives, community and hosts of lawyers and civil rights groups, convinced the Courts that segregation had no place in our schools or in our society. This case ended the segregation in schools in California in 1947. Moreover, I will discuss a brief history of the case and the influence the case had in segregation in the United States. First, sylvia Mendez was born in 1936 in http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Santa_Ana,_California. Her parents were Gonzalo Mendez, an immigrant from http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Mexico who had a successful agricultural business, and Felicitas Mendez, a native of http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Puerto_Rico. The family had just moved from http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Santa_Ana,_California to http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Westminster,_California to tend a farm that they were renting from the Munemitsus, a http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Japanese-American family that had been http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Executive_Order_9066 during http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/World_War_II. This took place during a period in history when http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Racial_discrimination against http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Hispanics, and minorities in general, was widespread throughout the United States. The parents realized that the 17th Street Elementary school provided better books and educational benefits, Gonzalo decided that he would like to have his children and nephews enrolled in there. Thus, in 1943, when Sylvia Mendez was only eight years old, she accompanied her aunt Sally Vidaurri, her brothers and cousins to enroll at the 17th Street Elementary School. Her aunt was told by school officials, that her children, who had light skin would be permitted to enroll, but that neither Sylvia Mendez nor her brothers would be allowed because they were dark-skinned and had a Hispanic surname. Mrs. Vidaurri stormed out of the school with her children, niece and nephews and recounted her experience to her brother Gonzalo. Since the family could afford to file a lawsuit, they took it upon themselves to recruit four orange county communities to join. Furthermore, On February 18, 1946, Judge Paul J. McCormick ruled in favor of Mendez and his co-plaintiffs. However, the school district appealed. Several organizations joined the appeal case as http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Amicus_curiae, including the http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/American_Civil_Liberties_Union, http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/American_Jewish_Congress, http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Japanese_American_Citizens_League, and the http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/National_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Colored_People which was represented by http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Thurgood_Marshall. More than a year later, on April 14, 1947, the http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Ninth_Circuit affirmed the http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/United_States_district_court's ruling in favor of the Mexican families. After the ruling was upheld on appeal, then-Governor http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Earl_Warren moved to desegregate all public schools and other public spaces as well. Moreover, what was the aftermath of the case, why is it important? Mendez finally was allowed to attend the 17th Street Elementary school, thus becoming one of the first people to integrate into all-white schools. However, the situation was not easy for her. Her white peers called her names and treated her poorly. She knew that she had to succeed after her father fought for her to attend the school. Gonzalo Mendez died in 1964 at the age of 51, unaware of the impact that the case for which he fought would have on the nation. In conclusion, Mendez v. Westminster set an important legal precedent for ending segregation in the United States. Thurgood Marshall, who was later appointed a Supreme Court justice in 1967, became the lead NAACP attorney in the 1954 Brown case. His http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Amicus_curiae filed for Mendez on behalf of the NAACP contained the arguments he would later use in the Brown case. The Mendez case also deeply influenced the thinking of the California governor at the time, Earl Warren. By 1954, when the Brown case appeared before the high court, Warren had become the http://wiki.answers.com/wiki/Chief_justice.

Answer 2

A 1940s case brought by Mexican-Americans in California, challenging school segregation. They won the case (1947) and the schools integrated. You can read about it in Philippa Strum, Mendez v. Westminster: School Desegregation and Mexican-American Rights.