The Fight to Go to School

Sylvia Mendez couldn’t have been happier. It was September 1944, and the 8-year-old was about to register for third grade at a new school in Westminster, California.

Just a few months before, Sylvia, her parents, and her younger brothers had moved to the town to run a local farm. Now her Aunt Soledad—who also lived on the farm with her husband and daughters—was taking all the kids to the Westminster Main School for the first time.

“My mother had bought us all new clothes. We were so excited to go to school,” Mendez, now 85, recalls. The children never expected their visit to help set in motion a series of events that would change education in America forever.

The official they met said the school would accept Aunt Soledad’s daughters, who were light-skinned, but Sylvia and her brothers, who had dark skin, hair, and eyes, would have to go to the town’s “Mexican school” a few blocks away.

Furious, Aunt Soledad marched the kids home, refusing to enroll any of them. Sylvia’s parents, Gonzalo and Felicitas, were also outraged: They were hardworking American citizens. The Mendezes were determined to fight back—and would eventually join with other families to do so in court.

Their lawsuit, Mendez v. Westminster School District, would ultimately lead to the end of school segregation in California. It would also help pave the way for an even bigger victory: the outlawing of segregation in public schools throughout the United States.

Sylvia Mendez couldn’t have been happier. It was September 1944, and the 8-year-old was about to register for third grade at a new school in Westminster, California.

Just a few months before, Sylvia, her parents, and her younger brothers had moved to the town to run a local farm. Her Aunt Soledad also lived on the farm with her husband and daughters. Now Sylvia was going along with her aunt and the other kids to the Westminster Main School for the first time.

“My mother had bought us all new clothes. We were so excited to go to school,” Mendez, now 85, recalls. The children never thought that their visit would help set in motion a series of events that would change education in America forever.

The official they met said the school would accept Aunt Soledad’s daughters, who were light-skinned. But Sylvia and her brothers had dark skin, hair, and eyes. As a result, they would have to go to the town’s “Mexican school” a few blocks away.

Furious, Aunt Soledad marched the kids home, refusing to enroll any of them. Sylvia’s parents, Gonzalo and Felicitas, were also outraged. They were hardworking American citizens. The Mendezes wanted to fight back. They would go on to join with other families to do so in court.

Their lawsuit, Mendez v. Westminster School District, would lead to the end of school segregation in California. It would also help pave the way for an even bigger victory: the outlawing of segregation in public schools throughout the United States.

In the 1940s, Orange County, California, was one of the nation’s top producers of fruits and vegetables. Like the Mendez family, most of the workers picking that produce were Mexican American citizens or migrants from Mexico. The work was hard, and they were paid poorly. But few other jobs were open to people of Mexican heritage then.

In fact, they faced constant discrimination in many parts of the country, especially in the Southwest. They were kept from living in areas with sewers or paved streets. Stores and restaurants posted signs such as “No dogs or Mexicans” to keep them out. And Mexican American kids were forced to attend worse schools, separate from their White peers.

Sylvia saw the differences firsthand. Every day, the school bus would drop her and her brothers off in front of the Westminster Main School, a big, clean building with a beautifully kept grass yard, palm trees, and a playground with swings, a seesaw, and more.

But Sylvia and her brothers had to walk right past it—down the street to Hoover Elementary. The overcrowded school for Mexican American students was little more than a couple of wooden shacks. Sylvia knew that the students there received a poor education.

“The schoolbooks were all handed down, so they’d be torn,” she says. Rather than being taught subjects like science and math, the children were trained to become farmhands and maids. The White officials who oversaw Hoover Elementary expected the school’s students to grow up to provide cheap labor.

But people like the Mendezes envisioned a different future for their kids, and change was coming.

Sylvia saw the differences firsthand. Every day, the school bus would drop her and her brothers off in front of the Westminster Main School. The building was big and clean. It had a beautifully kept grass yard and palm trees. And its playground had swings, a seesaw, and more.

But Sylvia and her brothers had to walk right past it, as they walked down the street to Hoover Elementary. The overcrowded school for Mexican American students was basically a couple of wooden shacks. Sylvia knew that the students there received a poor education.

“The schoolbooks were all handed down, so they’d be torn,” she says. The students weren’t taught subjects like science and math. Instead, the children were trained to become farmhands and maids. The White officials who oversaw Hoover Elementary expected the school’s students to grow up to provide cheap labor.

But people like the Mendezes dreamed of a different future for their kids. Change was going to come soon.

By the mid 1940s, Mexican Americans were already fighting for equal rights in the Southwest. Parents in Texas, Arizona, and California had successfully sued individual school districts, forcing them to integrate. Still, school segregation was practiced almost everywhere else.

Many Mexican American families were determined to right that wrong. In Orange County, where Sylvia lived, parents and community groups had appeared before school boards to demand integration—but they had largely gotten nowhere.

Finally, a group that Sylvia’s father was part of hired a lawyer to challenge school segregation in court. The lawyer, David Marcus, had represented other Mexican American clients before. To win, he said, several families should join together in a class-action lawsuit.

Sylvia’s father and other community members drove around Orange County with Marcus, looking for families to sign on. Sylvia’s mother took over running the farm and got parents to sign a petition against their school board.

By the mid 1940s, Mexican Americans were already fighting for equal rights in the Southwest. Parents in Texas, Arizona, and California had successfully sued individual school districts. Their cases forced schools in those states to integrate. Still, school segregation was practiced almost everywhere else.

Many Mexican American families were set on righting that wrong. In Orange County, where Sylvia lived, parents and community groups had pushed school boards to embrace integration. Despite their efforts, they had largely gotten nowhere.

Finally, a group that Sylvia’s father was part of hired a lawyer to challenge school segregation in court. The lawyer, David Marcus, had represented other Mexican American clients before. To win, he said, several families should join together in a class-action lawsuit.

Sylvia’s father and other community members drove around Orange County with Marcus, looking for families to sign on. Sylvia’s mother took over running the farm and got parents to sign a petition against their school board.

In the end, five families from four Orange County school districts came together for a federal lawsuit. In March 1945, it was filed on behalf of the families as Mendez v. Westminster School District. The plaintiffs argued that forcing their children to attend separate schools denied them equal protection under the law—a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Their lawsuit was the first to challenge school segregation under the Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

The trial began July 5 at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Marcus called the parents to the witness stand to explain how they'd tried to enroll their children in their neighborhood schools but had been denied. For their part, school officials claimed that the Mexican American students had been placed in separate schools because they didn’t speak English well and would have held back the other learners. But Marcus called two students to the stand to prove that claim false. Not only did they, like many of their classmates, speak English fluently, but also officials had never even tested them.

In the end, five families came together for a federal lawsuit. They came from four Orange County school districts. In March 1945, it was filed on behalf of the families as Mendez v. Westminster School District. The plaintiffs argued that forcing their children to go to separate schools denied them equal protection under the law. This right is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Their lawsuit was the first to challenge school segregation under the Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

The trial began July 5 at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Marcus called the parents to the witness stand. Each of them explained how they’d tried to enroll their children in their neighborhood schools but had been denied. For their part, school officials claimed that the Mexican American students had been placed in separate schools because they didn’t speak English well. That would have held back the other learners, they argued. But Marcus called two students to the stand to prove that claim false. Like many of their classmates, they spoke English fluently. And officials had never even tested them.

All in all, members of 13 families testified about the discrimination they had faced. When Sylvia’s mother, Felicitas, took the stand, she explained: “We always tell our children they are Americans. They shouldn’t be segregated.”

Through skillful questioning, Marcus got school officials to show that they believed people of Mexican heritage were inferior to White people. One superintendent admitted that he thought Mexicans were far less intelligent. He even noted that he felt they should be segregated in society.

Importantly, Marcus also called experts to the stand. They explained that separating children based on their ethnicity was damaging to them. “Segregation, by its very nature, is a constant reminder of inferiority, of not being wanted,” one longtime educator said in her testimony.

Judge Paul McCormick heard the case. On February 18, 1946, he issued a decision. By segregating Mexican American children, he said, the school districts had violated the students’ 14th Amendment rights to “equal protection of the laws.”

“A paramount requisite in the American system of public education is social equality,” McCormick wrote in his decision. “It must be open to all children by unified school association regardless of lineage.”

But the fight wasn’t over. The Orange County schools appealed the judge’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. In April 1947, that court upheld the Mendez victory. The case applied only to Mexican American students based on state laws at the time. Still, two months later, it led California Governor Earl Warren to sign a bill banning all racial segregation in California schools.

From there, the case would trigger bolder demands for racial equality, says historian David-James Gonzales of Brigham Young University in Utah, an expert on the Mexican American struggle for civil rights.

“The whole legal basis for segregating people by race was undermined by Mendez,” he says.

Crucially, the victory laid a legal foundation for the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. The 1954 ruling on it by the U.S. Supreme Court banned racial segregation in American public schools.

After the ruling, Sylvia and her brothers were finally able to enroll in the Westminster Main School. The coursework was more rigorous there, and Sylvia enjoyed learning alongside classmates of all races. She rose to the challenges her lessons presented—then pushed on through high school and college, and had a long career as a registered nurse.

In recent years, Sylvia has dedicated herself to sharing what her community accomplished some 75 years ago. As she travels the country speaking to students about the legacy of the Mendez case, she has one central message: Education is critical.

“The American dream is possible, no matter the color of your skin or where you come from,” she says. “But you have to work hard.” And like her parents and the many Mexican American families who fought for equality, “you must persevere.”

After the ruling, Sylvia and her brothers were finally able to enroll in the Westminster Main School. The coursework was broader there. Sylvia also enjoyed learning alongside classmates of all races. She rose to the challenges her lessons presented. She then pushed on through high school and college and had a long career as a registered nurse.

In recent years, Sylvia has dedicated herself to sharing what her community accomplished some 75 years ago. She travels the country speaking to students about the legacy of the Mendez case. She focuses on one central message: Education is critical.

“The American dream is possible, no matter the color of your skin or where you come from,” she says. “But you have to work hard.” And like her parents and the many Mexican American families who fought for equality, “you must persevere.”