After watching the documentary Mendez v. Westminster: For All the Children and reading Duncan Tonatiuh’s book Separate is Never Equal, I see many ways in which the outcome of the Mendez case is reflected in schools and in our society today. At the same time, however, I think there are ways in which we have not fully realized the resolution of this case.
One of the biggest changes brought about by Mendez v. Westminster is that it is no longer legal to segregate children into different schools based on race or ethnicity. In the book Separate is Never Equal, Aunt Soledad is not allowed to enroll the Mendez children in their local school in Westminster, and is told that they have to go to “the Mexican school.” One thing that was not clear in that book is that segregation wasn’t just something the school did because they could get away with it. It was actually the law. In the documentary, Professor Gilbert Gonzalez explained that “Mexican children were segregated throughout the Southwest...by 1919, the school district of Santa Ana decided to segregate Mexican children into their own schools.” Sylvia Mendez explained that her father, Gonzalo, was told that segregating schools in Orange County was the law, and that “in certain areas of Orange County, [they were] allowed to segregate.” When we were watching the documentary, I found this very surprising, because I thought that segregation was something that happened even though it was illegal. Today, it is not legal to segregate children into different schools based on race or ethnicity. Although children today usually must attend school in the same town or city where they live, they cannot be forced to go to a certain school because of the color of their skin.
In Judge Warren’s decision about this case, he wrote that “separate is never equal,” according to Christopher Arriola, a lawyer who spoke in the documentary. However, despite the fact that schools are no longer allowed to legally segregate children, many schools in the United States are not integrated, and not all schools are truly equal. One example of this is school facilities. Both the book and the documentary explained many ways in which Hoover Elementary - the “Mexican” school - was inferior to the schools for white children. For example, Sylvia Mendez spoke in the documentary about how there were no monkey bars, swings, or other playground equipment for the Hoover students to use at recess. This example of how school facilities are not equal can still be seen today. Many of the schools in Boston do not have playgrounds. These schools are mostly attended by Black students and students of color. In other places, such as Brookline and Newton, where more students are white, it is common for students to have playgrounds. There are many other examples of how school facilities are not truly equal for all children.
Mendez v. Westminster was very important because it outlawed segregation in public schools in California, and it helped to desegregate public schools throughout the United States. Although ending legal segregation of schools was significant, there are still many ways in which schools today remain separate and unequal.
