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A Tale of Two Schools, Fall 2022


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A Tale of Two Schools

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By Maria Fleming

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Introduction

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In the early 1900s, Mexican Americans, or Chicanos, in California and the Southwest were excluded from “Whites Only” theaters, parks, swimming pools, restaurants and even schools. Immigrants from Mexico waged many battles against such discriminatory treatment, often risking their jobs in fields and factories and enduring threats of deportation. In 1945, one couple in California won a significant victory in their struggle to secure the best education for thousands of Chicano children.

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In the fall of 1944, Soledad Vidaurri took her children and those of her brother, Gonzalo Méndez, to enroll at the 17th Street School in Westminster, California. Although they were cousins and shared a Mexican heritage, the Méndez and Vidaurri children looked quite different: Sylvia, Gonzalo Jr. and Geronimo Méndez had dark skin, hair and eyes, while Alice and Virginia Vidaurri had fair complexions and features.

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Sep 13
Federico I Federico I (Sep 13 2022 1:42PM) : Discriminating more

I think that even though they are of different complexion they should be treated as equally ass their siblings. It is not fair that they are separated because of their complection.

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Jul 25
Dayle T Dayle T (Jul 25 2023 1:19PM) : Interesting more

I wonder what Westminster, CA is like in 2023.

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Sep 13
Celina V Celina V (Sep 13 2022 1:35PM) : discrimination more

I feel like that’s emotional for the kids because they don’t allow going together just because they are separated. Making them feel less than the ones who could go

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Sep 13
Angel G Angel G (Sep 13 2022 1:40PM) : I agree more

I find it really disappointing that children aren’t able to get the same education as others because of their skin color. Education should be a universal thing for every one because everyone does deserve it.

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Sep 13
Belen A Belen A (Sep 13 2022 1:42PM) : Shocked [Edited] more

I agree with you, if I was experiencing this with my siblings, I would definitely feel less of what I am if I was told I couldn’t go into school because of my skin color. It is completely unfair for schools to judge someone based off their skin color, especially if they are there to learn and be educated, not judged.

An administrator looked the five children over. Alice and Virginia could stay, he said. But their dark-skinned cousins would have to register at the Hoover School, the town’s “Mexican school” located a few blocks away. Furious at such blatant discrimination, Vidaurri returned home without registering any of the children in either school.

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Sep 13
Natalia N Natalia N (Sep 13 2022 1:30PM) : Surprised or Not? more

Maybe we should not be surprised that the administrator judged the children based on their color and not based on the fact that all of them had a Mexican heritage. This kind of discrimination is common today.

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Sep 13
Breanna G Breanna G (Sep 13 2022 1:41PM) : I'm not surprised more

I’m not surprised that the administration separated the light-skinned cousins from the darker-complected cousins because he thinks the lighter-skinned ones aren’t Mexican because of their skin color.

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Sep 13
Federico I Federico I (Sep 13 2022 1:31PM) : students shouldn't be looked upon by their color. more

I think that students should not be turned down because of their color. Some kids may be darker but they are still American just like everyone else

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Sep 13
Bryahna R Bryahna R (Sep 13 2022 1:33PM) : surprised more

im not really surprised that they said the lighter kids can stay and the darker ones have to go to a different school, the lighter kids are probably white passing and will blend in with the other kids. that’s why they probably allowed them to stay while they sent the darker kids to a different school.

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Sep 20
Samantha L Samantha L (Sep 20 2022 1:27PM) : racist more

I agree with luis because they didn’t care about what they know or where they really are from.

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Sep 13
Miguel G Miguel G (Sep 13 2022 1:40PM) : shocked more

Im surprised that back then school will look at children different just because of there color

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Sep 13
Dulce G Dulce G (Sep 13 2022 1:58PM) : horrible more

I agree with you because they were judged by the color of their skin in order to go to certain places.

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Sep 13
Samantha L Samantha L (Sep 13 2022 1:51PM) : Shouldn't be turned down from school more

Things are different now because people are offered with school no matter skin tone but back then you’d get turned just like that. I believe that no student should be told they couldn’t get their education due to the color of their skin.

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Sep 13
Luis M Luis M (Sep 13 2022 1:44PM) : Racism more

The dark skinned kids were being told to attend the “Mexican school” just because of their skin color and it didn’t matter if they were born in U.S. or had good parents or anything like that

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Sep 13
Clarissa M Clarissa M (Sep 13 2022 1:38PM) : upset more

I agree with Vidaurri for being upset because the children were being segregated just because of their color. I would have been upset as a parent and wouldn’t allow this.

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Sep 13
Federico I Federico I (Sep 13 2022 1:45PM) : I agree more

I agree with this because the parents must be angered as well because their children are being segregated. If they are family they should at least be able to go to school with each other

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Sep 13
Bryahna R Bryahna R (Sep 13 2022 1:50PM) : agreed more

i would’ve bee upset as a parent too. i wouldn’t have allowed my kids to be treated this way for something they couldn’t control.

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Sep 20
Samantha L Samantha L (Sep 20 2022 1:25PM) : agree more

I agree because as a parent I would not take that disrespect just for going to school.

In the 1940s, Westminster was a small farming community in the southern part of the state. Lush citrus groves, lima bean fields and sugar beet farms stretched in every direction from a modest downtown business district. Most of the men and women working in those fields were first- and second-generation immigrants from Mexico who were employed by white ranchers.

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Sep 13
Dulce G Dulce G (Sep 13 2022 1:41PM) : Shocked more

Students should be able to go to whatever school that they what so school districts and other people should not have the right to choose where students go to study else it is based on segregation. They should also not be able to choose what classes they can take and which ones they can not just to keep them in the same social state that they are in.

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Sep 13
Viridiana R Viridiana R (Sep 13 2022 1:45PM) : education more

i agree education should be for everybody.

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Paul A and/or Background Knowledge Tutor - Original (for any text) (Jun 18 2023 5:31PM) : What else should I consider? more
Background Knowledge Tutor - Original (for any text) with Paul A's edits:
Background Knowledge Tutor - Original (for any text)
Provides important background information for understanding the text

1. “Students should be able to go to whatever school that they what so school districts and other people should not have the right to choose where students go to study else it is based on segregation.”- This sentence is important in the text as it is saying that students should have the right to choose which school to go to and should not be restricted by segregation.

2. “They should also not be able to choose what classes they can take and which ones they can not just to keep them in the same social state that they are in.”- This sentence is important in the text as it is saying that even if students are restricted to certain schools, they should not be restricted to certain classes and should be allowed to pursue their interests.

Background knowledge important for understanding this text includes the understanding the implications of segregation in education, regardless of where students go to school. This means understanding the effects segregation can have on access to quality education and understanding of opportunities available to students due to the bias in the educational system. Additionally, understanding the correlation between segregation and low-income households is also important to understanding the text.

Re-read the text and look for any additional points of discussion that you may have missed the first time. Consider what other arguments or perspectives you could see occurring when discussing the importance of students to pursue their interests in the educational system regardless of segregation. Ask yourself questions about how students in the lowest-income households specifically benefit from these opportunities, and what effects this could have on the educational system overall.

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Like many California towns at the time, Westminster really comprised two separate worlds: one Anglo, one Mexican.While Anglo growers welcomed Chicano workers in their fields during times of economic prosperity, they shut them out of mainstream society. Most people of Mexican ancestry lived in colonias— segregated residential communities—on the fringes of Anglo neighborhoods. The housing was often substandard, with inadequate plumbing and often no heating. Roads were normally unpaved and dusty.

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Sep 13
Jennifer A Jennifer A (Sep 13 2022 1:49PM) : Unfair, unsurprised more

I don’t understand why they left the Mexican families with bad conditions to live in they left them in the areas they would never live in just because they worked in the fields. At the same time, I am not surprised they did that because the Angelos didn’t want them to live where they lived.

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Westminster’s Hoover School was in the heart of one such colonia and was attended by the children of Mexican field laborers. A small frame building at the edge of a muddy cow pasture, the Hoover School stood in stark contrast to the sleek 17th Street School, with its handsome green lawns and playing fields.

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The Westminster School District was not alone in discriminating against Chicano students. At the time, more than 80 percent of school districts in California with large Mexican populations practiced segregation. The segregation of Chicano children was also widespread in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

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The Mexican schools were typically housed in run-down buildings. They employed less-experienced teachers than the Anglo schools. Chicano children were given shabbier books and equipment than their white peers and were taught in more crowded classrooms. Perhaps the greatest difference between the schools, however, was in their curricula. While geometry and biology were taught at the Anglo schools, classes at the Mexican schools focused on teaching boys industrial skills and girls domestic tasks.

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Sep 13
Angel G Angel G (Sep 13 2022 1:35PM) : Explaining the deeper meaning of this sentence. more

I was surprised to learn that Anglo children were taught subjects that can lead to positions of power and Mexican children were taught subjects that would immediately put them into the workforce, an example would be mechanics. But this example also goes for gender, men were taught positions of power, and women were taught domestic tasks like cleaning and taking care of children or the elderly.

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Sep 13
Luis M Luis M (Sep 13 2022 1:53PM) : True more

I agree with your analysis because Mexican students then were treated as less and only taught what people wanted them to be. They weren’t given as many choices to choose what they wanted to do in life.

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Sep 13
Andrea S Andrea S (Sep 13 2022 1:53PM) : Interesting more

Interesting to see that they were so intent on keeping them in the low-paying workforce that they would change their curriculum to fit that. Even separating them by gender.

Many Anglo educators did not expect, or encourage, Chicano students to advance beyond the eighth grade. Instead, the curriculum at the Mexican schools was designed, as one district superintendent put it, “to help these children take their place in society.”

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Sep 13
Andrea S Andrea S (Sep 13 2022 1:39PM) : Surprised [Edited] more

I was very surprised to see that their district had never intended to give Mexican children fair education. They had always seen them as cheap laborers and intended to keep them that way.

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Sep 13
Celina V Celina V (Sep 13 2022 1:43PM) : cruel more

I believe that they should at least teach them the same subjects if they are separated. It’s cruel that they are being separated and not being given the chance to reach education like the whites, just cause they assume they should stay at the bottom.

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Sep 13
Jennifer A Jennifer A (Sep 13 2022 1:52PM) : Very true more

I agree with you that they should have at least given them some education so they can choose what they would want to do. It’s like they were trying to keep them in a box.

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Sep 13
Belen A Belen A (Sep 13 2022 1:35PM) : Shocked, Surprised more

It makes me angry to learn that Anglo school educators did not see Chicano students as a priority in society. It also angers me because Anglo workers did not think that Chicano students would get far in life, or in their education.

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Sep 13
Viridiana R Viridiana R (Sep 13 2022 1:44PM) : education more

I agree with you. it’s disappointing that children can not get the same education as others. Education should be for everybody.

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Sep 13
Bryahna R Bryahna R (Sep 13 2022 1:45PM) : agreed more

i agree with you. it angers me that anglo workers didnt think chicano student will make it far in life based on their race, but if it was a anglo student he would expect great things from them just because their white.

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Sep 13
Clarissa M Clarissa M (Sep 13 2022 1:52PM) : upset more

It was very unfair to students whose parents brought them to a new place to get a better education and life experience.

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That “place” was the lowest rung of the economic ladder, providing cheap, flexible labor for the prospering agricultural communities of California and the Southwest. At the time, more than 80 percent of the agricultural labor force in southern California was Mexican. An advanced education would only make Mexican Americans dissatisfied with farm labor, some white educators reasoned. As one school superintendent in Texas told his fellow educators, “You have doubtless heard that ignorance is bliss; it seems that it is so when one has to transplant onions. ... If a man has very much sense or education either, he is not going to stick to this kind of work. So you see it is up to the white population to keep the Mexican on his knees in an onion patch.”

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Sep 13
Viridiana R Viridiana R (Sep 13 2022 1:33PM) : Angry and Shocked more

I am angry about how the superintendent is being racist toward the Mexicans. Seen as workers and nothing else they should only be harvesters.? When Mexicans are way more than that.

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Sep 13
Tiffany V Tiffany V (Sep 13 2022 1:49PM) : shocked more

they are trying to give the mexicans a limit on what grade they should stop going to school. They didnt expect or encourage them to be smart enough to go past 8th grade.

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Sep 13
Breanna G Breanna G (Sep 13 2022 1:51PM) : wrong more

I find it unequal how 80% of the Mexicans had a job that was farming whereas the whites didn’t really have to work in the agricultural industry

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But Chicano men and women had different ideas about their children’s futures. Like other immigrant groups, Chicano field laborers believed education was the ticket to a better life in America, a way out of the heat and dust of the fields.

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Sep 13
Dulce G Dulce G (Sep 13 2022 1:51PM) : Unfair more

This is unfair because even if Mexicans were born in American and were considered non-American either way. They were treated less for who there where and they would make Mexican people feel bad also they would all make them last.

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Sep 13
Clarissa M Clarissa M (Sep 13 2022 1:55PM) : shocked more

I agree with you because segregation was very unfair to those who wanted to engage and have a better education.

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Sep 13
Jennifer A Jennifer A (Sep 13 2022 1:56PM) : Upsetting more

I found this upsetting because these Mexican parents choose to give up everything where they grew up to try to make sure their children had a better life but instead they weren’t welcomed where they traveled and had to face discrimination. It’s upsetting that they thought the schools would help the children but instead the schools are not even trying to give them a good education.

Gonzalo and Felícitas Méndez knew well the difficult life of field laborers. Both had emigrated to the United States as young children. Like thousands of Mexicans in the early 20th century, Gonzalo’s family fled political turmoil in their native country. They left behind a successful ranch in Chihuahua and found jobs as day laborers in the citrus groves of southern California.

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Felícitas Gómez emigrated to America from Juncos, Puerto Rico, when she was 10. The Gomez family led a migrant life, following the harvest from Texas to Arizona to California. Eventually, they settled in the southern Californiacolonia where the Méndezes lived, and in 1936, Felícitas and Gonzalo married.

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By that time, Gonzalo had a reputation in the county as a champion orange picker, and he commanded a slightly higher wage than other field workers. Felícitas, thrifty and resourceful, saved what she could from Gonzalo’s wages, and in a few years the couple were able to lease their own ranch—40 acres of asparagus in the town of Westminster.

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The Méndezes were among the few Chicano tenant farmers in Orange County. Most Latinos at the time held low-paying jobs as field workers. Employment opportunities for Mexican Americans were severely limited. Discrimination prevented them from getting jobs in restaurants, department stores and even many factories, making it extremely difficult for them to advance economically.

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Sep 13
Clarissa M Clarissa M (Sep 13 2022 1:43PM) : unfair more

This was very unfair to those who immigrated to find a better job and place just so they could live a better life. These opportunities were taken from them and they were left with a low experienced job.

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Sep 13
Andrea S Andrea S (Sep 13 2022 1:55PM) : Agree more

I agree, it made their immigration seem useless. They deserved better treatment after traveling so far for it.

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Sep 13
Angel G Angel G (Sep 13 2022 1:44PM) : Angry more

It makes me mad that just being of their heritage and skin color, they aren’t able to get better jobs to go up the economic ladder. Everyone wants a good life that’s comfortable, and them not being able to get a better job makes it hard for Mexican families to really get a better life. (Everyone wants a good life)

Both Felícitas and Gonzalo were forced to abandon their education in grade school in order to support their families. But they had higher hopes for young Sylvia, Gonzalo Jr. and Geronimo. And when Soledad Vidaurri told her brother and sister-in-law their children were refused admission to the 17th Street School because they—unlike her own children—didn’t look “white enough,” Gonzalo and Felícitas were outraged.

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“How could it be possible?” they wondered. They were American citizens. Gonzalo was naturalized just a few years before, and because Felícitas was born in a U.S. territory, she was a citizen by birth. Both thought of themselves as Americans and told their children they were Americans.

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For people of Mexican descent living in California and the Southwest, however, discrimination was part of the social landscape. Many parks, hotels, dance halls, stores, eateries and barbershops were off-limits. Mexican Americans were forced to sit in movie theater balconies. In many communities, they were only permitted to swim one day a week at the public pool, just before it was cleaned and drained.

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Sep 13
Miguel G Miguel G (Sep 13 2022 1:49PM) : shocked more

im surprised that they will not let mexicans inside some places or just make them wait into are the whites are done becuase will they like to be treated that way?

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Sep 13
Tiffany V Tiffany V (Sep 13 2022 1:53PM) : messed up more

Everywhere they went it was segregated they weren’t able to go to a restaurant and just get served they were told to get out. All people should be comfortable and able to walk in somewhere and get treated equally.

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Sep 13
Breanna G Breanna G (Sep 13 2022 1:56PM) : unfair more

I think that Mexicans should have had the right to attend and go into all these places with the whites despite their race and skin color because I don’t think that this wouldn’t have caused a problem besides the whites overreacting about watching a movie or swimming with a Mexican.

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Sep 20
Samantha L Samantha L (Sep 20 2022 1:30PM) : agree more

The white people did overreact over things that should even matter

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Sep 13
Belen A Belen A (Sep 13 2022 1:39PM) : Angered more

I don’t understand why they had to need to segregate the Chicano community from school and day to day activities. It’s shocking to think that discrimination existed towards a community that did so much but received so little in return.

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Sep 13
Celina V Celina V (Sep 13 2022 1:49PM) : unjust more

That the farmers work so hard for the whites so that their kids don’t get the opportunity to get a better chance of education, that’s cruel and unjust. They shouldn’t have that mindset that they can’t reach higher success than their parents

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Sep 13
Jennifer A Jennifer A (Sep 13 2022 1:59PM) : I agree more

I totally agree with you Mexicans did so much for them so it’s kinda sad how they couldn’t give them even a little ounce of fairness. Even in schools, they wanted to go to learn but they instead didn’t encourage them

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Sep 13
Celina V Celina V (Sep 13 2022 1:39PM) : mess up more

They are only allowed to swim when the water is the dirtiest. That’s something they should argue because they shouldn’t be treated like that.

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Sep 13
Dulce G Dulce G (Sep 13 2022 1:56PM) : Horrible more

I agree with what you said because they were treated badly and that was one of the many ways that they would segregate them.

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Sep 15
Samantha L Samantha L (Sep 15 2022 1:27PM) : sad more

Things are different now because looking back on how mexicans were treated is horrible

The fact that the Méndezes were fairly prosperous tenant farmers did not make them any more acceptable to the mainstream community. They were used to being told in restaurants, “We don’t serve Mexicans here,” and being informed by store clerks that they would have to wait to make their purchases until all the white customers had been served.

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Sep 13
Viridiana R Viridiana R (Sep 13 2022 1:37PM) : American Citizen more

I don’t understand why the Menedezes were treated unfairly if they were Americans Citizens?. They had everything yet were treated differently.

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Sep 13
Belen A Belen A (Sep 13 2022 1:45PM) : Angered more

I agree with you as well, it is unfair that they were treated such way because of their skin complexion. The fact that they were still U.S Citizens and still denied access is incredibly shocking to me.

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Sep 13
Andrea S Andrea S (Sep 13 2022 1:46PM) : Unfair more

It is absurd that the Mendezes were still treated unfairly only because of their skin tone. Despite the fact that they were successful land owners and U.S. citizens.

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Sep 13
Federico I Federico I (Sep 13 2022 1:54PM) : i agree more

I agree with this because they had everything. they were U.S citizens they were land owners and just because of their skin tone they were treated like nothing.

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Sep 13
Bryahna R Bryahna R (Sep 13 2022 1:42PM) : mexican american. more

i dont understand why they have them wait. a paying customer is a paying customer no matter their races. or why they would be denied the right to eat anywhere based on their race.

“That’s when you learned to walk away,” Felícitas later remembered.

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But this time, Gonzalo and Felícitas Méndez didn’t plan to walk away. They were ready to do battle with the Westminster School District for the sake of their children’s education. Realizing other Chicano families in the community faced the same problem, the Méndezes organized a group of Mexican parents to protest the segregation of their children in the shabbier school. Together, they sent a letter to the board of education demanding that the schools be integrated. Their request was flatly denied.

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Sep 15
Angel G Angel G (Sep 15 2022 1:21PM) : Determined more

I agree with the Mendezs’ because they were going to fight the racial prejudice that plagued the school and start with step one and then go on from there.

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Sep 15
Dulce G Dulce G (Sep 15 2022 1:26PM) : Committed more

I think that the Mendez family was committed because they organized a group of Mexican parents and sent a letter to the school. The school rejected it so they continued to fight until they let the sued schools for segregating their children.

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Sep 15
Breanna G Breanna G (Sep 15 2022 1:22PM) : Rude more

I find it rude that the board for education denied the request of integrating schools, I feel as if the board of education should of had time to read and hear out what the Mexicans had to say about their children being separated instead of quickly denying it and paying it no mind.

Gonzalo continued to petition school district administrators. Worn down by his persistence, the school superintendent finally agreed to make an exception for the Méndez children and admit them to the Anglo school. But the Méndezes immediately rejected his offer. The school would have to admit all of the Chicano children in the community or none of them.The Méndezes hired a civil rights attorney, David Marcus, who had recently won a lawsuit on behalf of Mexican Americans in nearby San Bernardino seeking to integrate the public parks and pools. The Méndezes also learned parents in other school districts were fighting segregation too. Marcus suggested they join forces, and on March 2, 1945, the Méndezes and four other Mexican-American families filed a class action suit against the Westminster, Garden Grove, El Modena and Santa Ana boards of education on behalf of 5,000 Mexican-American children attending inferior segregated schools.

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Sep 15
Viridiana R Viridiana R (Sep 15 2022 1:19PM) : Confused more

I don’t understand why the superintendent didn’t just accept all the Chicano students in the community.

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Sep 15
Angel G Angel G (Sep 15 2022 1:23PM) : Persistent more

It makes me so angry that the school only let in the kids from the Mendez family even though there were a lot more children who were not allowed in. But now it’s great that they ended up getting a good lawyer to integrate the schools.

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Sep 15
Andrea S Andrea S (Sep 15 2022 1:21PM) : Impressed more

I’m very impressed at the dedication the Mendezes held toward this case. Even though they had the opportunity to send their children to the Anglo school they denied it because they wanted to be sure that other Chicano children had the same opportunity as their children.

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Sep 15
Angel G Angel G (Sep 15 2022 1:25PM) : I agree more

I agree with your comment because they could have been selfish but as our classmate said, it’s admirable that they didn’t accept the offer and instead fight for all the Hispanic children being denied entry to the school.

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Sep 15
Luis M Luis M (Sep 15 2022 1:18PM) : Admirable more

I think what the parents did was very admirable because they wanted all of the kids in the community to be in the school. They could of just put their kids in the school and be done with it because it was originally their kids who weren’t being accepted but they wanted better for all the kids not just theirs

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Sep 15
Angel G Angel G (Sep 15 2022 1:27PM) : For real. more

Bro this is facts.

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Sep 15
Clarissa M Clarissa M (Sep 15 2022 1:23PM) : join forces more

I was surprised to find out that not only did the Mendezes were fighting segregation but other families as well. I’m glad that Marcus suggested that they should join together to fight segregation so that their children can go to the same schools just like the other children.

The Méndezes threw themselves into the trial preparations. Gonzalo took a year off work to organize Latino men and women and gather evidence for the case. Every day, he and David Marcus drove across Orange County’s patchwork of vegetable farms and citrus groves, stopping in the colonias. They knocked on doors and tried to convince Mexican-American parents and their children to testify in court.

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Sep 15
Federico I Federico I (Sep 15 2022 1:16PM) : Committed [Edited] more

I think this is brave of Gonzalo. That is a year of no pay to be able to fight for Mexican kids’ rights.

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Sep 15
Clarissa M Clarissa M (Sep 15 2022 1:26PM) : impressed more

I agree with you because not many parents were that committed to stop working for a year because they were afraid to.

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Sep 15
Miguel L Miguel L (Sep 15 2022 1:27PM) : Focusing more

I agree with you that he is brave. He is willing to take a year of no pay for Mexican Kids’ rights.

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It was no easy task. Some workers feared that their Anglo bosses might fire them if they testified. Or worse, they might be deported. But slowly the plaintiffs built their case. Gonzalo offered to pay the transportation costs and lost wages of anyone willing to travel to Los Angeles and appear in court during the trial.

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Sep 15
Jennifer A Jennifer A (Sep 15 2022 1:17PM) : Upsetting, unfair more

It was upsetting to learn that some of the Mexicans were scared to testify against their bosses but the upsetting part is that they felt scared to do so. It was sad that they felt as if they were trapped in a box and felt as if they wouldn’t be able to speak freely due to being worried they may get fired for standing up to what they believed.

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Sep 15
Viridiana R Viridiana R (Sep 15 2022 1:23PM) : upsetting more

I agree with you it is so sad how the workers wanted to help in the trial but they couldn’t because they didn’t want to lose their jobs. Because the workers were afraid to ask their bosses who were white. Which could’ve led to them getting deported or fired.

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Sep 15
Andrea S Andrea S (Sep 15 2022 1:25PM) : Agree more

I agree with you, they shouldn’t have had to worry about unemployment just for going against unfair treatment. They should’ve felt secure in their right of free speech.

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Sep 15
Dulce G Dulce G (Sep 15 2022 1:32PM) : Sad more

I agree with you because this is upsetting and the people did feel trapped because of the thought of what their boss would do. Also because they needed those jobs to maintain their family and everything that they have built.

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Sep 15
Miguel L Miguel L (Sep 15 2022 1:24PM) : Trial pay more

I don’t understand how some people aren’t willing to appear in court. Gonzalo was willing to pay for everything even with a year off work and must have been a lot to pay for.

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Sep 15
Celina V Celina V (Sep 15 2022 1:16PM) : surprising more

Gonzalo offering to pay even though he took a year off work is surprising because he’s putting everything into the cost. He wants to make a change in the community and he’s risking everything so that can happen and that’s surprising, he’s not just doing it for him and his children he’s doing it for all.

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Sep 15
Belen A Belen A (Sep 15 2022 1:21PM) : agreeing with statement made more

I agree with you, he is not only doing it for his children, he is doing it for the whole community. It goes to show how fully committed one is for something they shouldn’t even have to be fighting for in the first place.

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Sep 15
Luis M Luis M (Sep 15 2022 1:25PM) : I agree more

I think Gonzalo is very noble for doing this because he is really passionate about this. He’s doing whatever he can to make sure these parents have the help they need so all their kids can go to school

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Sep 15
Breanna G Breanna G (Sep 15 2022 1:25PM) : I agree more

I agree because by Gonzalo not working for a whole year, how was he funding the transportation and lost wages from not getting any income.

Meanwhile, Felícitas took over the daily operation of the farm. In the little spare time she had, she organized a group of local Latino parents to support the five plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

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Finally, the trial date arrived. Now it was up to the courts to decide if the Latino men and women who helped California’s agricultural economy grow and thrive were entitled to the same rights as those who prospered from their labor.

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Sep 15
Belen A Belen A (Sep 15 2022 1:17PM) : Angered, Confused more

I don’t understand why it was so difficult for Chicanos to fight for their rights in a community where they contribute so much in. It is definitely unfair for people just to be focusing on ones skin complexion rather than on what they do or give back.

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Sep 15
Jennifer A Jennifer A (Sep 15 2022 1:20PM) : True more

I agree with you they contributed so much to the community so it’s confusing why they wouldn’t give them a little respect. I also agree that they should be focused on other things instead of the color of someones skin.

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Sep 15
Federico I Federico I (Sep 15 2022 1:20PM) : I agree more

I agree with this because it is unfair for someone to be treated unfairly because of their skin color. It is not like if they can control the color of their skin.

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Sep 15
Celina V Celina V (Sep 15 2022 1:24PM) : confused as well more

I believe it shouldn’t be a decision it should be right away for the Mexicans because they have done so much and contributed more than the whites. They shouldn’t have to go through this because they are the most important thing about working because without them whites don’t have crops to sell and businesses would stop running. They should consider that way more

During the trial, defense attorney Joel Ogle pointed out the 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson gave legal sanction to racial segregation, provided the separate facilities for different races were equal. Furthermore, Ogle maintained, there were sound educational and social advantages to segregated schooling. The “Mexican schools” gave special instruction to students who didn’t speak English and who were unfamiliar with American values and customs. Such “Americanization” programs benefited both Anglos and Mexicans, Ogle argued.

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Sep 16
Dulce G Dulce G (Sep 16 2022 1:40PM) : Trial more

The defense used the Plessy v. Ferguson case so to help them win the case they also said the school was to Americanize children because they were intellectually, culturally, and morally inferior to the Anglos. The prosecution side says that all the children spoke fluent English also they did not take language proficiency tests for Chicano and Mexican students. The school just enrolled them their by last names and the skin color of the children.

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But this educational rationalization for segregation was undermined by the testimony of 9-year-old Sylvia, 8-year-old Gonzalo and 7-year-old Geronimo Méndez. All spoke fluent English, as did many of the other children who attended the Hoover School. In fact, further testimony revealed no language proficiency tests were ever given to Chicano students. Rather, enrollment decisions were based entirely on last names and skin color, as evidenced by the experience of the Méndez children and their cousins.

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Sep 16
Viridiana R Viridiana R (Sep 16 2022 1:32PM) : not equal more

It makes me so angry to learn that even though some Chicano students were fluent in English they still had to be separated because of their skin and color.

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Sep 16
Federico I Federico I (Sep 16 2022 1:34PM) : Americanized more

They are supposedly Americanizing these Mexican children. Most of these children already know fluent English and are American citizens just like the white kids.

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Sep 16
Jennifer A Jennifer A (Sep 16 2022 1:33PM) : Discrimination, Unfair more

I found it shocking how they would try to say that the children didn’t know English but not check to see if that was true. It is unfair because it shows how they decided to only pay attention to what color their skin was and didn’t care if they knew English or not because they thought less of Mexican children.

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Sep 16
Viridiana R Viridiana R (Sep 16 2022 1:36PM) : discrimination more

I agree with you because they were just judged by the way they looked. They didn’t even check to see what they could have been capable of.

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Sep 16
Andrea S Andrea S (Sep 16 2022 1:41PM) : Agree more

I agree, it seemed like the argument of segregating to teach Mexican children english was more of an excuse to hide their blatant racism. They didn’t really care whether they already knew english or not, they simply wanted to segregate the children.

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Sep 16
Breanna G Breanna G (Sep 16 2022 1:37PM) : not suprised more

I’m not surprised that the enrollment of the Anglo school was based on skin color and last names because this was something the Mexicans had to go through in order to attend school. I can also add that because of someone’s last name it shouldn’t be defined as someone’s race because someone can look a whole different race but with a different last from a different background/race.

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Sep 16
Luis M Luis M (Sep 16 2022 1:39PM) : Discriminatory more

It surprises me that the school administrators just sent students to a separate school just because of their skin color. They could care less whether they were a good student or not or if they knew english or anything like that they just sent them purely based on their skin color.

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Sep 16
Samantha L Samantha L (Sep 16 2022 1:46PM) : mad more

It makes me so angry to learn that mexicans were racially profiled just to attend school

The racist underpinnings of such “Americanization” programs became apparent when James L. Kent, the superintendent of the Garden Grove School District, took the stand. Under oath, Kent said he believed people of Mexican descent were intellectually, culturally and morally inferior to European Americans. Even if a Latino child had the same academic qualifications as a white child, Kent stated, he would never allow the Latino child to enroll in an Anglo school.

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Sep 16
Andrea S Andrea S (Sep 16 2022 1:34PM) : Surprised, angry more

I was very surprised to see that they had allowed Kent on the stand when he held a very obvious bias. I was angry as well because Kent believed Mexicans were nothing more than dirt and he admitted that he would keep a Latino child from their rightful education just because they were not white.

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Sep 16
Dulce G Dulce G (Sep 16 2022 1:48PM) : ture more

I agree with you because Kent was unfair and very bais. By saying that he would never let the Latino children be with white people.

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Sep 16
Angel G Angel G (Sep 16 2022 1:35PM) : Angry more

It makes me angry to learn that this is Kent’s argument, he blatantly stated racist claims and the court considered this an argument. I feel like if anything the last sentence in the paragraph is more than enough evidence to integrate schools because of how horrible it was to segregate them.

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Sep 16
Miguel L Miguel L (Sep 16 2022 1:41PM) : Angry as well more

I agree that no racist claims should be made in court or even slightly considered an argument.I also agree that his whole argument should be a reason on why schools should be intergrated.

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Sep 16
Belen A Belen A (Sep 16 2022 1:32PM) : Disgusted, Shocked more

I feel disgusted towards the comment that was made. It goes to show that the school and the people did not care about a childs education, or what they knew. What mattered to them the most was their skin color, if you weren’t like an Anglo and behaved like an Anglo, you were inferior to them.

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Sep 16
Jennifer A Jennifer A (Sep 16 2022 1:36PM) : True [Edited] more

I agree with you that it shows how very little they cared about the education of the children. It shouldn’t matter what color their skin tone is because that doesn’t make them less of a person.

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Sep 16
Celina V Celina V (Sep 16 2022 1:38PM) : agree more

It’s crazy that they’re making others feel less than what they suppose to be. It’s disgusting to see how people don’t see the wrong they doing to these young kids, how that’s going to affect their future

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Sep 16
Angel G Angel G (Sep 16 2022 1:38PM) : I agree more

I agree with your comment because it makes me mad that Kent said no matter how smart a Mexican child was, he would let them into the school because of their skin color or their heritage. It’s just sad schools were allowed to do this.

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Sep 16
Breanna G Breanna G (Sep 16 2022 1:40PM) : I agree more

I agree with this because the whites show they don’t care about Mexican child’s education and are only caring for their children with shows that they are selfish and ignorant.

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The testimony made the Latino men and women gathered in the courtroom to show their support for the suit wince in pain—and anger. Felícitas said later that she never forgot Kent’s hate-laced testimony.

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“He said Mexicans should be segregated like pigs in pigpens,” she recalled. “He said Mexicans were filthy and had lice and all kinds of diseases.”

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Sep 16
Miguel G Miguel G (Sep 16 2022 1:33PM) : surprised more

I can`t belived someone will say such things just becuase if there race mexicans kid are just the same as white kids and do not have to be dicrimenated

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Sep 16
Belen A Belen A (Sep 16 2022 1:35PM) : Agreeing with statement more

I completely agree with you, a persons race should not determine what opportunities one gets. It is very unfair that they are being discriminated for something that they cannot control.

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Sep 16
Federico I Federico I (Sep 16 2022 1:38PM) : I agree more

I agree with this because the kids can’t choose their color. Most of them are also as academic as the white kids

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Sep 16
Tiffany V Tiffany V (Sep 16 2022 1:41PM) : surprised more

they shouldn’t judge somebody they don’t really know. judging just because they don’t want their kids in the same school saying rude things to make em seem worst.

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Sep 16
Celina V Celina V (Sep 16 2022 1:32PM) : dirty people [Edited] more

This remains me of the ten stages of genocide and how they dehumanize others. Making them feel less than a human and I believe that’s mess up no one should be treated like that.

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Bryahna R Bryahna R (Sep 16 2022 1:40PM) : agreed more

i agree that no one should be treated like that based on their race

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Sep 16
Miguel L Miguel L (Sep 16 2022 1:38PM) : unclean people more

He is assuming that Mexicans aren’t humans and don’t have good hygiene just because they are from another country. He begins to compare them to animals only because of their skin tone.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul J. McCormick was also appalled by Kent’s blatant bigotry. On February 18, 1946, he ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. In his opinion, McCormick pointed out segregation “fosters antagonisms in the children and suggests inferiority among them where none exists.” Because the separate schools created social inequality, he reasoned, they were in violation of the students’ constitutional rights. He also pointed out there was no sound educational basis for the segregation of Anglo and Mexican students since research showed segregation worked against language acquisition and cultural assimilation.

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The Orange County school boards filed an appeal.

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But dramatic social change was occurring on a national level following World War II, and Orange County school officials would find their position on segregation coming under increasing attack. After fighting for democracy abroad, Mexican-American soldiers balked against the rigid lines of division when they returned home. “How could America declare itself the leader of the free world, while it trampled the rights of its own citizens?” they asked. Latino veterans formed civil rights groups and demanded change. Around the country, other minority groups were waging similar battles.

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Sep 20
Clarissa M Clarissa M (Sep 20 2022 1:24PM) : proud [Edited] more

I’m glad that the Latino veterans all formed a civil rights group because they are right, America was meant to be a free world for all people but it was in fact the opposite.

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Sep 20
Belen A Belen A (Sep 20 2022 1:28PM) : agreeing with statment more

I agree with your statement, I think it is unfair for the same people who fought for the country, to receive little to no rights at all, so to see them recognizing that it was wrong, is amazing because not many would stand up to these sort of situations. Everyone should receive the same rights no matter how different one may be.

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Sep 20
Viridiana R Viridiana R (Sep 20 2022 1:29PM) : agree more

I agree with you, America is the land of home free yet at that moment for the Mexican families and their kids it was not given to them.

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Sep 20
Viridiana R Viridiana R (Sep 20 2022 1:27PM) : confused and shocked more

It doesn’t make sense how the Mexican-American soldiers went to war to fight for democracy but they came back home to their children being segregated from school. Then what was the point?

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Sep 20
Breanna G Breanna G (Sep 20 2022 1:29PM) : I agree more

I agree with you because why fight for your family to have to be segregated away from people and not get the rights you fought for?

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Sep 20
Dulce G Dulce G (Sep 20 2022 1:31PM) : Disappionting more

The Mendez family won in court and they won a second time when the school district decided to uphold what was agreed the first time. Things in the world started to change so this also lead to Brown v. Broad of Education. But even after everything that has been done things are still the same.

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Sep 20
Celina V Celina V (Sep 20 2022 1:23PM) : standing up [Edited] more

I believe it’s good to stand up for the changes you want. Especially when you help so much and don’t get anything in return

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Sep 20
Tiffany V Tiffany V (Sep 20 2022 1:26PM) : agree more

i agree with you because how are u gonna get what u want without trying for it.

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Sep 20
Clarissa M Clarissa M (Sep 20 2022 1:28PM) : agree more

This is true because the Latino’s knew that if they were going to stop segregation they needed to create a group to fight this together.

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Bryahna R Bryahna R (Sep 20 2022 1:33PM) : agreed more

I agree because in order to make a change you have to make your voice heard

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Dulce G Dulce G (Sep 20 2022 1:37PM) : Agree more

I agree because no matter what people do things can get better but they will never stop the segregation within each other.

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By now, the Méndez lawsuit was drawing national attention. Civil rights lawyers in other states were watching the proceedings closely. For half a century, they had been trying to strike down the “separate but equal” doctrine ofPlessy v. Ferguson, and they thought Méndez just might be the test case to do it.

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Among those following the suit was a young African-American attorney named Thurgood Marshall. Marshall and two of his colleagues from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) submitted anamicus curiae—“friend of the court”—brief in the appellate case. Among the other groups submitting amicus briefs were the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Japanese American Citizens League and the Jewish Congress.

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On April 14, 1947, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the lower court decision. The court stopped short, however, of condemning the “separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson. The NAACP and other groups eagerly waited for Orange County school officials to file an appeal that would bring the case before the U.S. Supreme Court. But lawyers for the school read the writing on the wall: Mainstream public opinion had shifted, and the era of segregation was coming to a close. The defense decided not to appeal the decision further. An opportunity to overturn Plessy would have to wait.

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Sep 20
Tiffany V Tiffany V (Sep 20 2022 1:25PM) : shocked more

no trail or court should be ignored and put on hold after all the time they waited.

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Sep 20
Celina V Celina V (Sep 20 2022 1:27PM) : agree more

It’s not fair having to wait after all that time and specialing when they are dealing with discrimination. They should get on top of that as possible as it can be

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Sep 20
Jennifer A Jennifer A (Sep 20 2022 1:25PM) : Hardworking, impressive [Edited] more

It was very impressive how because they choose to do something for the kid others saw the worth to fight for an equal education as well. It is cool to see how one small thing can leave such a big impact that benefits others in a good way.

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Sep 20
Jennifer A Jennifer A (Sep 20 2022 1:30PM) : Hardworking, impressive more

I thought that it was very impressive that the Mendez family decided to fight for their children which had other parents find the courage to get their children a good education as well. It was very cool to see how such a small thing can have a big impact that was very beneficial to others.

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Sep 20
Breanna G Breanna G (Sep 20 2022 1:27PM) : confused more

I am confused as to why the trial was on hold. I feel that this trial should not have been on hold because several Chicanos were fighting for their rights to let the children attend the same school.

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Even if it would not rewrite the law of the land, Méndez v. Westminster still had a significant regional impact. Like a pebble tossed into a pond, the legal victory sent ripples of change throughout the Southwest. In more than a dozen communities in California alone, Mexican Americans filed similar lawsuits. Chicano parents sought and won representation on school boards and gained a voice in their children’s education. The decision also prompted California Gov. Earl Warren to sign legislation repealing a state law calling for the segregation of American Indian and Asian-American students.

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Sep 20
Bryahna R Bryahna R (Sep 20 2022 1:31PM) : difference was made more

even tho they didn’t rewrite the whole law for the states, they did make a huge impact in the Westminster community, and their now allowing Hispanics into the anglo schools. I think it was a powerful move for them to give up so much in order to make a change for their kids and so many others as well.

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Sep 20
Belen A Belen A (Sep 20 2022 1:25PM) : Shocked in a good way, Upsetting more

I think its amazing to see how such a small movement can initiate and lead to some big changes. However it makes me upset to learn that still to this day, some schools and places are still segregated.

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Sep 20
Federico I Federico I (Sep 20 2022 1:27PM) : I agree more

This should be applied everywhere. It’s not fair that some schools are segregated and some are not.

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Sep 20
Federico I Federico I (Sep 20 2022 1:25PM) : Having a voice more

Once the Chicanos saw that their voice could be heard they went for it. They followed in the footsteps of the Mexican lemon grove parents and started standing up for their children’s education.

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Sep 20
Miguel L Miguel L (Sep 20 2022 1:32PM) : Agreed more

I agree with you on how they were standing up for their children’s education. And Mexican parents finally feel like their voices can be heard.

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Sep 20
Miguel L Miguel L (Sep 20 2022 1:28PM) : Involvement more

Many other Mexican Americans started standing up for themselves and joining the battle of ending segregation. They saw how Mexican parents were winning in court and decided to help and end segregation everywhere.

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Luis M Luis M (Sep 20 2022 1:34PM) : I agree more

Mexican americans saw this case and decided to stand up for themselves. After this they would fight for their rights because they knew it could be done

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Seven years later, the NAACP did find a successful test case to reverse Plessy v. Ferguson. Thurgood Marshall argued the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka before the U.S. Supreme Court, presenting the same social science and human rights theories he outlined in his amicus curiae brief for the Méndez case. Former California Gov. Earl Warren, now a chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, wrote the historic opinion finally ending the legal segregation of students on the basis of race in American schools in 1954.

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In September of 1947, Sylvia, Gonzalo Jr. and Geronimo Méndez enrolled at the 17th Street School in Westminster without incident. Integrated schools also opened that fall in Garden Grove, El Modena and Santa Ana. Felícitas and Gonzalo Méndez quietly resumed their work. At the time, neither really considered the full impact of their legal victory; they were content just to have righted a wrong in their community and to have protected their children’s future. In 1964, Gonzalo Méndez died of heart failure. Felícitas continued to live in Southern California until her death in 1998.

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Luis M Luis M (Sep 20 2022 1:28PM) : Surprised more

It surprises me that at the time they didn’t really know what their impact was to schools and fighting segregation. Without this case schools probably wouldn’t be the same

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Angel G Angel G (Sep 20 2022 1:31PM) : Facts more

I agree with your statement because it really shows how far we have come in history and how much those civil rights leaders and activists have fought to make a better future for us.

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Sadly, neither Méndez v. Westminster nor Brown v. Board of Education led to the complete integration of American schools. The long legacy of segregation has left its mark on our current educational system, and integration and equity are issues schools are still grappling with today. In Santa Ana, Calif.—one of the districts named in theMéndez desegregation lawsuit more than 60 years ago—a school opened in the fall of 2000 honoring Gonzalo and Felícitas Méndez, two civil rights pioneers in the continuing struggle to provide equal educational opportunities for all of America’s children.

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Angel G Angel G (Sep 20 2022 1:29PM) : History more

Things are the same now because the communities that some towns have had a huge amount of one race. I believe that this is so because the segregation back then, left communities of the same race together and it affects our schools and neighborhoods now. It’s sad to say but maybe children today might have fostered antagonisms because of it. It’s only a possibility.

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Sep 20
Andrea S Andrea S (Sep 20 2022 1:42PM) : Thankful more

Even though Mendez v Westminster and Brown v Board of Education did not fully integrate all American schools I am still thankful for the effect the cases have had on American Education. Without either of these cases many schools with minorities would still be unequal and without proper necessities.

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Miguel G Miguel G (Sep 20 2022 1:36PM) : sad more
i feel that this is realy sad becuase not only did they fight to stop segreation and won but it hadent gone for complety and still is up today
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Mar 28
Steele N Steele N (Mar 28 2023 5:18AM) : Even though they succeeded in their fight to end segregation, I find it tragic that vestiges of it persist to this day. https://backroomsgame.io [Edited]

DMU Timestamp: September 03, 2020 08:33

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