Sixty years ago, a landmark desegregation ruling opened the door toward equality in education for Mexican American students in California — and ultimately for all students in the United States.
Last month, many of the students who attended desegregated schools for the first time in 1947 were on hand when the U.S. Postal Service dedicated a stamp to honor the case that made it possible, Mendez et al v. Westminster School District et al.
“This stamp captures the vision and inspiration of a group of parents who fought the odds to make a difference for all Americans,” said Thurgood Marshall Jr., a member of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors and stamp dedicating official.
Marshall’s father, Thurgood Marshall, represented the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as a friend of the court in the case. Marshall drew upon key legal points from Mendez et al. v. Westminster School District et al. seven years later in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, which abolished segregation in schools nationwide.
–Diverse staff
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
