When Sylvia Mendez was 8 years old, she was not allowed to go to the school near where she lived in Westminster, California. It was 1944, and schools were still in California. That meant it was against the law for Hispanic children to go to the same schools as white children. Sylvia’s mother was from Puerto Rico, and her father was from Mexico. So, Sylvia had to attend a separate school (Hoover Elementary) for Mexican students who had darker skin.
The Mendez family sued the school district for this and won their 1947 case, Mendez v. Westminster. At age 10, Mendez broke the color barrier in California schools when she became the only Hispanic student in her class. And her case helped pave the way for the United States to all schools. Mendez spoke with News-O-Matic (NOM) to share her story for Hispanic Heritage Month 2024. And a 10-year-old reader named Sophia Valera from San Antonio, Texas, got to ask questions to the 88-year-old of .
NOM: Can you introduce yourself?
Mendez: I’m Sylvia Mendez, proud daughter of Gonzalo Mendez and Felicitas Mendez, the lead plaintiffs in the case Mendez v. Westminster, which led to the
of California schools seven years before the rest of the nation. I am very proud to be their daughter.
NOM: What do you remember about facing discrimination growing up in California?
Mendez: I remember my aunt taking me to the school in Westminster, and we were playing with my brothers. All of a sudden, my aunt says, “We’re going home.” I didn’t realize why we were going home. My mother had braided my hair; I had new clothes, new shoes. I was so excited to go to school. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized what had happened.
NOM: What exactly happened at the school?
Mendez: The clerk at the school said to my aunt that I will have to go to a Mexican school. And my dad says, “Oh, there’s been a mistake — we live right next to the school.” And she said, “I’m sorry, they won’t accept her.”
NOM: What did your father do after that?
Mendez: My dad went and spoke to the principal the next day. And he said, “I’m sorry, but Orange County has decided to make separate schools for the minorities — for the Blacks, and the Latinos, and some Japanese. And your children will have to go to those schools. My father decided to go and hire a lawyer. His name was David Marcus, and he said, “Let’s make this a class action suit. Let’s not just make it for your children — let’s make it about everybody.” So, my father had to go and try and find other families to help join him to make it a class action suit. And that’s how it all started.
NOM: What was the Mexican school like when you were a student there?
Mendez: The school that I had to go to while they were in court was horrible. The Mexican school was all dirt with a cow pasture next to it. They had a fence around that school, and that fence had electricity. One day, one of my friends threw a ball, and it went rolling close to that fence, and she ran to get the ball. And when she went to get the ball, she touched the fence, and she couldn’t let go. It wasn’t enough electricity to kill you; it was just enough to keep the cows from coming over to the school, so she was just there shaking. We had to go and tell the teacher, “Teacher, please turn off the electricity! One of our students is caught in that fence.” The flies would come over when we were trying to eat. We didn’t have any playground. We didn’t have swings. We didn’t have anything in that horrible school. The schoolbooks were all torn; they were given to the Mexican schools after the students used them at the white schools.
NOM: What were they teaching students in that school?
Mendez: They weren’t teaching us arithmetic to get us into college. They were teaching us how to sew; they were teaching us how to cook. Because they thought maybe we would end up being maids. It was a horrible school, and that’s why my father was fighting for me to get out of that school.
NOM: Do you remember going to court during this case?
Mendez: I was in court every day, and I never knew what they were really fighting for. I thought they just were fighting for me to get into a beautiful school. A famous lawyer named Thurgood Marshall worked on the case, but I was too busy playing to remember him. The court case ended, and we won, and the Superior Court judge in Los Angeles said, “Separate is not equal.” The school board appealed it, but the U.S. Court Circuit Court of Appeal in San Francisco unanimously voted in our favor on April 14, 1947. And schools were integrated here in California — seven years before the rest of the nation.
NOM: What was it like being the only Hispanic student at your school?
Mendez: I went to a white school, and this little boy comes to me, and he says, “You’re Mexican! Who said you could be here?” He called me dirty names, but we won’t talk about that. And I started crying and crying. I went and sat down in the room, and I wouldn’t come out. I said to my mother, “Mother, I’m not going to that white school.” And she said, “Sylvia, you were in court every day when we were fighting for you. We were fighting because, under God, we’re all equal. We belong where everybody belongs, and you are going back to that school.” And guess what? I went back to that school.
NOM: What happened when you went back to the white school?
Mendez: I went back, and guess what I found out when I was 10? Everybody’s not prejudiced; everybody’s not hateful. In that white school some of the kids didn’t want me there because I was Mexican. But other students were so nice to me, and they invited me to their homes and their parties. I was very happy because I grew up in an integrated school system in Orange County.
NOM: What did you do after school?
Mendez: My dad lost all his money fighting the case. So, I worked in a cannery, canning peaches from 3 to 11 at night so I could get up in the morning and go to nursing school because I wanted to be a nurse. I became a nurse, and I worked for over 33 years as a registered nurse.
NOM: What did you do after you stopped working as a nurse ?
Mendez: I retired to take care of my mother. And my mother said, “Sylvia, you have to go out there and talk about Mendez v. Westminster. You have to start telling students about it in schools.” I said, “I can’t talk in schools. I’m not a teacher.” But my mother said, “Sylvia, you can do it.”
NOM: What was it like speaking to students in schools?
Mendez: I was so scared. My legs, they felt like rubber, and I thought I was going to fall. It was really hard for me to stand up in front of a class because nurses don’t stand up in front of people and start talking. They’re not like teachers. But I knew I had to do it because I wanted to tell this history of the United States. Students were the ones that encouraged me to go on travel around the country and talk. What they told me was “Ms. Mendez, don’t be scared of us — we’re just students.” I didn’t know I was going to be a speaker, but my mother asked me to be a speaker, and I did it. That’s why I like to speak to students. Because in this great country of ours in the United States of America, nothing can stop you. Nothing. It’s only yourself.
NOM: What was it like to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2011?
Mendez: I went to the White House with all my family, and it is the highest civilian honor. I was so pleased that Obama gave it to me, and you know what I did? My mother and father died very poor. Nobody even thanked my father for what he had done. He lost all the money fighting. Nobody said, “Gracias, Gonzalo, for what you have done for fighting this case.” And when I got that Medal of Freedom, I said, “Father, this is yours; this is the Medal of Freedom for what you have done.”
NOM: What advice do you want to give to students?
Mendez: Make sure you study; make sure you get good grades; make sure you don’t skip school. And decide what you want to be. Don’t let anybody decide for you — you’re going to do whatever you want to do. If you want to be a nurse, you become a nurse; want to be president of the United States? That’s what you’re going to be. But you have to make up your mind and go to school and study every day and do your homework. You don’t quit. You will become whatever you want to be. If you want to be a doctor, you become a doctor. Nobody’s going to tell you that you can’t do it, because you’re not going to let anyone stop you. And you’re going to persevere.
By Russell Kahn (Russ)
Updated September 18, 2024, 5:00 P.M. (ET)
