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September 15 marked the beginning of Latinx Heritage Month, a period during which the nation recognizes the important contributions of people of Latinx/e heritage. In California, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, California鈥檚 population has become increasingly diverse, 鈥渕ore than half of young Californians (52% of those 24 and under)鈥� identifying as Latino.  As we know, Latinos have made significant contributions to the nation and to the state of California.  One of these is civil rights activist Sylvia Mendez.
 
Mendez and her siblings, who were of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, were the subject of a legal case that de-segregated schools in four districts in California. This case became the legal precedent for the 1954 landmark decision in the case, Brown v. The Board of Education, which ruled that school segregation based on race was unconstitutional.
 
In the mid-1940s, Sylvia Mendez鈥檚 parents brought a lawsuit against a school in Westminster, California, for banning Sylvia and her siblings from attending because they were visibly Hispanic.  While their lighter skinned relatives with a French surname were allowed to attend the school, Sylvia and her siblings were denied admission. 

 As relayed in the biography of Sylvia Mendez,
 
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just the racial discrimination that bothered the Mendez family. The Mexican school didn鈥檛 have the same amenities as the other and were used to Americanize the children. The school consisted of two wooden shacks filled with second-hand books, faulty desks and little stimulation. Mendez recalled to the how the students weren鈥檛 taught to read and write, but instead, the boys were prepped for labor work and the girls instructed on housekeeping duties like knitting and sewing.鈥�
 
Other Hispanic families joined the lawsuit, and in 1946, Judge McCormick ruled that the schools in the four school districts named in the case could not segregate against Hispanic families (Mendez v. Westminster).  By 1947, the ban on segregation was expended to apply to all public schools in California. Eight years later, this case would prove significant in arguments in the case challenging segregation based on race in all public schools in the nation (Brown v. Board of Education).
 
Sylvia Mendez began attending 17th Street School, the formerly all-white school in the district, but endured significant racial bullying. With the encouragement of her parents, she endured, furthering her education and working for 30 years as a nurse.  Through public speaking engagements and social justice activism, Ms. Mendez has worked tirelessly to ensure that the sacrifices made by her family and other members of her childhood community would not be forgotten.  In 2011, President Obama recognized Sylvia and the legacy of her parents by awarding her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

To learn more about Sylvia Mendez, please read her biography:

 
To learn more about the contributions of other significant Latinx leaders, please read the 2024 tribute by Biography.Com:


 
Please take time this month to avail yourselves of the resources in the NVC Library and other educational venues to learn about the important contributions of the Latinx community.
 
References:
 
鈥淐alifornia鈥檚 Population,鈥� Fact Sheet, January 2024

 
23 Influential Hispanic Americans Who Have Made History

 
Sylvia Mendez and Her Parents Fought School Segregation Years Before 'Brown v. Board'


Dr. Patricia van Leeuwaarde Moonsammy
Senior Director, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers (Why is this here?)
patricia.moonsammy@napavalley.edu

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