The Lasting Impact of Mendez v. Westminster in the Struggle for Desegregation
by Maria Blanco, University of California – Berkeley Law
March 26, 2010
Washington, D.C. – In IPC’s latest Perspectives on Immigration, Maria Blanco, Executive Director for the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute at Berkeley Law, examines the impact of a federal circuit court’s 1947 decision which found the segregation of Mexican American school children in California unconstitutional. The Ninth Circuit Court’s historic decision in the case Mendez v. Westminster proved to be critical in the strategic choices and legal analysis used seven years later in Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case which ended racial segregation in U.S. schools.
More than just a history lesson, however, the connective tissue that links Mendez and Brown demonstrates how individuals from vastly different backgrounds, races and ethnicities were brought together to overturn a history of discrimination and segregation.
This paper is released in conjunction with the American Immigration Council’s Immigration Achievement Awards on Friday, March 26, 2010. This year’s theme is African Americans, Civil Rights & Immigration: A Legacy of Inspiration and Leadership.
• Before Brown, There was Mendez: The Lasting Impact of Mendez v. Westminster in the Struggle for Desegregation (IPC Perspectives, March 25, 2010)
• Immigrants, African-Americans and the Struggle for Civil Rights (IPC Blog Post, March 25, 2010)
###
For more information contact Wendy Sefsaf at 202-507-7524 or wsefsaf@immcouncil.org
