Sylvia Mendez was born on June 7,1936. She was at the core of the Mendez vs. Westminster civil rights case where it was ruled that children of Hispanic heritage could not be segregated and was deemed unconstitutional.
Sylvia's father was from Mexico and her mother was from Puerto Rico. When Sylvia was a young child her family moved to Orange County California and her parents tried to enroll her and her siblings into the Westminster elementary school. However, they were turned away and told they would have to attend the elementary school specifically for Mexican Americans.
Her father attempted to follow protocol first approaching the principal and then the county school board, but was still not allowed to enroll his children at Westminster so he continued to take legal action against the school.
They fought beside other families who also agreed their children should not be segregated and even stated it was detrimental to them because they were not able to learn English at the Mexican American school.
In 1946, the judge ruled in favor of the Mendez family. This case helped pave the way for Brown vs. Board of Education where it was decided racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional.
This sparked my interest when I read Separate is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh. In second grade, we have an SOL for the study of Cesar Chevez as part of our Famous American study. I believe Sylvia Mendez and her family should be on that list as well. Students should know there was segregation with all races and her case actually took place before the major one we all think of when we think of segregation in schools.
I have never heard of the Mendez vs. Westminster case. It definitely is noteworthy and should be taught during segregation units of history. It wasn't just African Americans who were discriminated against. Your goal of Show, Not Tell is difficult to do when giving facts. Maybe adding something like "Her father was devastated when their family was turned away time after time." "He was fuming as he took legal action against the school." This would give a little more emotion, by showing and not telling.
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