Conditions of Mexican American Schools and Schooling

Between early and mid 20^th century, the segregation of the education system in the American south reached its peak, with the minority groups such as the Mexican Americans and African Americans being forced to take their children to separate schools designated for them. At the time, education officials established segregated facilities for elementary and high school education, which sought to ensure that the white population enjoyed better education facilities than other communities. California is one of the states that were affected by segregation[1]. History indicates that there was a fear among the education officials that the minority communities such as the Mexican Americans and African Americans would compete with the whites in the job market and industry if they were allowed to enjoy the same education facilities. It was believed that educating the minorities would make it difficult for companies and farms to benefit from cheap labor. Consequently, the education officials denied these communities the right to access proper education facilities, causing segregation.

According to Vargas, the education system in California was not only segregated, but also extremely unequal[2]. There were marked differences between the conditions in the Mexican American schools and those designed for the white community[3]. According to Vargas, the number of Mexican Americans graduating from elementary and entering high schools was increasing between 1920s and 1940s, forcing the education officials to establish segregated facilities for high school students[4]. But the conditions were relatively the same in all the schools designated for the Mexican Americans. As Vargas describes, inequality was evident, with the schools meant for the Mexican Americans receiving low quality facilities and infrastructure. For example, the buildings were generally old and dilapidated, and the school equipment was poor and inadequate. Simple but important facilities such as desks and other classroom equipment were in poor state, while the classes were often overcrowded. Also, teaching staff lacked experience, credentials and training and were often the newly graduated teachers sent to these schools to begin their career. Unlike the whites-only schools, Mexican American schools had minimal and substandard space for recreation[5]. Further, the author notes that the expenditure per pupil in the Hispanic schools was extremely low due to underfunding.

In the case Mendez v. Westminster, racial discrimination against the Mexican Americans in the school system was the main complaint that Mendez and four other Mexican American parents filed at the US District Court in Los Angeles[6]. Prior to filing the case, Soledad Vidaurri, Gonzalo Mendez’s sister, had sought to enroll her children together with three of Mendez’s children at the Westminster Elementary School[7]. But Mendez’s children could not be accepted in the school because of their skin color and race. For example, they had French surnames, meaning that they were not Mexican Americans[8]. Also, the three children had light complexion, which made them look like the whites and not Mexican Americans. But she refused to admit her children in the school, stating that she did not want to separate them from their cousins. Gonzalo Mendez sought justice for her children and was joined by four other male parents from the region. They accused the Westminster School District of discrimination based on race and denial of the right to education.

David Marcus, an American civil rights attorney of Jewish decent, represented the five parents in the case. Gonzalo Mendez became the lead plaintiff and initially funded the lawsuit. The case was brought before Paul J. McCormick, the Senior Judge in the Los Angeles District Court. In the ruling, McCormick stated that the segregation of schools was unconstitutional and was necessarily a denial of equal protection. But the school district appealed to the Federal Circuit in San Francisco. The court ruled in the favor of the parents and upheld the ruling by Judge McCormick. One of the major reasons that Judge McCormick cited in his ruling was the concept of equal protection, which is part of the fourteenth Amendment that forbids American states from denying any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of all laws that provide the citizens equal basic rights, including the right to education.

From personal experience, I have witnessed some people in my area complaining of discrimination in the education sector. Although segregation and other forms of discrimination against the black and Latino communities ended decades ago, a modern form of discrimination exists[9]. For example, a black woman recently complained that she is unable to enroll her children in the best private schools in the neighborhood because they were expensive and believed to serve only the children from the wealthy white families.

In conclusion, the story of Mendez and the case involving him teaches modern Americans a number of things. It shows that Mexican Americans have struggled for a long time to achieve equal status in the US[10]. It also shows that discrimination in the past has partially contributed to the poor social and economic status of some minority groups.

 

 

Bibliography

Cuban, Larry. As good as it gets: What school reform brought to Austin. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2010.

Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. Critical race theory: An introduction. New York: NYU Press, 2012.

Ortiz, Vilma, and Edward Telles. “Racial identity and racial treatment of Mexican Americans.” Race and social problems 4.1 (2012): 41-56.

Ruben, Donato. The Other Struggle for Equal Schools: Mexicans Americans During the Civil Rights Era New York: SUNY Press, 1997.

Strum, Philippa. Mendez v. Westminster: School Desegregation and Mexican-American Rights (Landmark Law Cases and American Society). Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas, 2010.

Vargas, Zaragoza. Crucible of Struggle: A History of Mexican Americans from Colonial Times to the Present Era. London: Oxford University Press, 2010.

[1] Zaragoza Vargas, Crucible of Struggle: A History of Mexican Americans from Colonial Times to the Present Era (London: Oxford University Press, 2010), 167

 

[2] Vargas, 168

[3] Donato, Ruben, The Other Struggle for Equal Schools: Mexicans Americans During the Civil Rights Era (SUNY Press, 1997), 136.

[4] Vargas, 168

[5] Cuban, Larry. As good as it gets: What school reform brought to Austin (Harvard University Press, 2010),29.

[6] Philippa Strum, Mendez v. Westminster: School Desegregation and Mexican-American Rights (Landmark Law Cases and American Society). (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas, 2010) 12,

 

[7] Strum, 18

[8] Strum, 21

[9] Richard, Delgado and Stefancic. Critical race Theory: An introduction (New York: NYU Press, 2012), 121.

[10] Vilma, Ortiz and Telles, Edward Telles. “Racial identity and racial treatment of Mexican Americans.” Race and social problems 4.1 (2012): 41-56.