Webercise: The Significance of Mendez V. Westminster (1947) to Brown V. Board of Education (1954).

Watch the following video: Mendez vs. Westminster: For All the Children/Para Todos los Nios. (Click on link below) http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/osi04.soc.ush.civil.mendez/imendezv-westminsteri-desegregating-californias-schools/

Answer the following questions: 1. Gonzalo Mendez asked ________________ to enroll the children in the school. 2. Why werent Gonzalos kids allowed to attend the school? 3. Why were Sallys kids allowed to attend the school? 4. What was the percentage of school districts in the Southwest that segregated Mexican children? 5. What was the name of the Mexican segregated school? 6. What did attorney David Marcus argue in court? 7. How many years before did the Mendez case occur than the Brown case? 8. Other than segregated schools what other sort of segregation did Mendez put an end to?

1. Who was Earl Warren in the year 1946? 2. Go to the following website: http://sshl.ucsd.edu/brown/calcode.htm Read the California Constitution, education code, sec. 8003 and 8004. Summarize what the two codes say in 2-3 sentences.

3. The Bill that governor Earl Warren signed to put an end to segregation in California was called the ____________ Bill.

4. What was Earl Warrens position during Brown V. Board of Education (1954)?

1. Who was Thurgood Marshall? (1-2 sentence summary) 2. What was his significance in the famous Brown V. Board of Education (1954) case? 3. What famous organization did he work for during Mendez V. Westminster (1947)? Open the following link: http://www.esauboeck.com/index/ThMarshall.html 1. Summarize Marshalls three main arguments.

2. What infamous law is Marshall attacking in Part II of this amicus brief? (Hint: its from 1896)

1. What Non-Bill of Rights Amendment do you think the Mendez case used to argue against segregation? http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html

2. What other court case(s) was/were influenced by Mendez? Underline your answer(s) (Hint: all emphasize answer to number 1) A. Delgado V. Bastrop Independent School District (1948) http://www.texasbar.com/civics/High%20School%20cases/delgado-vbastrop.html B. Gonzales V. Sheely (1951) http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17369262541411124523&q=Gonza les+V.+Sheely+(1951)&hl=en&as_sdt=2006&as_vis=1

C. Hernandez V. Texas (1954) http://www.texasbar.com/civics/High%20School%20cases/hernandez-vtexas.html D. All the above.

The following are excerpts from the opinions of Judge Paul J. McCormick during the Mendez vs. Westminster case and excerpts from the opinions of Chief Justice Earl Warren during the Brown vs. Board of Education case. (Continues to next page)

(Dont forget to answer the last question. Its worth 30 points!) 1. Mendez: Commingling of entire student body instills and develops a common
cultural attitude among the school children, which is imperative for the perpetuation of American institutions and ideals. Brown: Education is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today, it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values.

2. Mendez: The evidence clearly shows that Spanish-speaking children are retarded
in learning English by lack of exposure to its use because of segregation. Brown: Segregation with the sanction of law therefore has a tendency to retard the educational and mental development of Negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racially integrated school system.

3. Mendez: It is also established by the record that the methods of segregation

prevalent in the defendant school districts foster antagonisms in the children and suggest inferiority among them where none exists. Brown: Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law; for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group.

4. Mendez: The equal protection of the laws pertaining to the public school systems
in California is not provided by furnishing in separate schools the same technical facilities, text books and courses of instruction to children of Mexican ancestry that are available to the other public school children regardless of their ancestry. Brown: We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate education facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs are deprived of the equal protection of the laws.

5. Mendez: A paramount requisite in the American system of public education is

socially equality. It must be open to all children by unified school association regardless of lineage. Brown: In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.

Please write 2-3 paragraphs on how these excerpts from these two men are related.