1. The Mendez Case

2. Perspective BROWN vs. BOARD of EDUCATION results 1954
Presidential Medal of Freedom 2010
(13-14:00)
LEMON GROVE INCIDENT

3. Background.
During the 1930s, Mexican students were regularly sent to separate schools. The schools that Mexican students attended were called "Americanization schools".
The Lemon Grove incident brought attention to Southern California's segregated schools.
Some Mexican and White students attended the same schools,but Mexican students were still treated poorly.
January 5, 1931 Lemon Grove Grammar School, while white and Mexican studenst return from Winter break, Principal Jerome Green stopped the schools 75 Mexican student from entering the building .Green ordered them to report to a 2 room building that had been hastily put together for them across railroad tracks.

4. Mendez vs. Westminster
The WWII veteran Gonzalo Mendez, had sued the Orange County school district for segregating non-Englsih speaking children.
the defendants of the case had continually argued that Mexicans were unfit to attend schools with Anglo students because they had the prejudice that all Mexicans were unsanitary and carried various diseases and saw them as incapable of learning English because they spoke only Spanish at home.
the plaintiffs argued that racial segregation violated the 14th amendment, which guaranteed "equal protection of the laws" and because of the racial prejudice it violated the "due process of law" clause in the 14th amendment

5. M. vs W. (continued)
NAACP, American Jewish Congress, ACLU, League of United Latino American Citizens (LULAC), and the Japanese American Citizens League
Federal Judge McCormick ruled the suit was an educational issue and therefore the State of California had to jurisdiction on the suit and so could the Federal government because of the Constitutional violation.
California law did allow for racial segregation but "Mexican" is not an identified race in the U.S. so their legal race was white and therefore it was unconstitutional to segregate them
Judge McCormick also stated that "Spanish speaking children were retarded in learning English due to the lack of the exposure.." and that it "suggest inferiority among them [students] where none exists"