In 1943, Sylvia Mendez and her brothers were turned away from a school in Westminster and told to attend a “Mexican school.”
Now, legislators want to ensure their story — and the subsequent court ruling in Mendez v. Westminster that led to the repeal of segregation laws in California — are taught in schools across the state.
A bipartisan effort, the newly filed legislation from Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, and Assemblymember Tri Ta, R-Westminster, would incorporate the Mendez v. Westminster case into history and social science curriculum standards for public schools. The federal case is considered to have set the stage for the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education case that said segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.
“Westminster played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement, and California students should learn about the courageous story of the Mendez family,” said Ta. “People know Brown v. Board of Education, but Mexican Americans were facing similar struggles. This lawsuit moved the desegregation movement forward and helped protect the rights of everyone regardless of their ethnic background.”
After their children were denied admittance into the Seventeenth Street School in Westminster, the Mendez children’s parents, along with four other families, ultimately filed a class-action lawsuit against four Orange County school districts. The families were successful, and the decision led to the repeal of segregation laws in California.
Umberg, who helped secure funding for the Mendez Freedom Trail in Westminster, said he knows “the power of the Mendez v. Westminster story and its importance for Orange County history.”
That history, however, was not something taught to former Westminster Councilmember Sergio Contreras when he was brought up in the city’s schools. Instead, he learned about it later, while reviewing microfiche for a research paper as a student at Long Beach State.
“I attended Westminster School District, and I had never heard of it,” Contreras said of the case. “I’m excited to hear that Assemblyman Ta and Sen. Umberg are moving this forward.”
While on the City Council, where he served alongside Ta, Contreras helped spearhead Westminster’s Mendez Park project. Now, Contreras leads education initiatives at the Orange County United Way, helping students navigate paths toward well-paying careers.
Sylvia Mendez, in a news release about the bill, says her family is “very excited” about the legislation.
“This will ensure that all students learn an important part of California history and is a milestone that our family has pursued for several years,” she said.
In other news
• In an effort to curtail retail theft, Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, D-Anaheim, is behind a bill to add additional penalties for retail theft suspects who have at least two prior theft offenses. Those suspects could be punished by imprisonment in county jail for up to three years, according to the bill from Valencia and San Bernardino’s Assemblymember James Ramos.
“An increase in theft has left our businesses defenseless and Californians feeling vulnerable and uneasy,” said Valencia. “Insufficient consequences allow individuals to become brazen, recommitting theft over and over again.”
Of note: While it’s still too early for the bill to be up in a committee, the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee has, in recent legislative sessions, not been known to pass bills that increase or add penalties. But there’s a new chair of the committee this year, Assemblymember Kevin McCarty of Sacramento, and it did OK legislation last week that increases penalties for those who assault physicians, nurses and other hospital healthcare workers.
And Valencia says he’s optimistic “that the sentiment around penalties has changed.”
“Californians have expressed their frustrations around increases in crime and the softening of penalties on the individuals committing these acts,” he said. “It is imperative that we pay attention to the data and listen to residents’ concerns about the safety of our communities.”
• Two Senate committees gave the green light to legislation last week meant to make constructing bike lanes easier. From Sen. Catherine Blakespear, who represents southern Orange County, the bill allows local governments to convert existing vehicle lanes into bike lanes without conducting a traffic study first.
“Bike lanes are an important component of transportation in coastal areas, and we need to make sure local agencies can install bike lanes as quickly and easily as possible to keep cyclists safe,” Blakespear said.
