Sylvia Mendez Brings the Spirit of Hispanic Heritage Month to Cypress College

Julia Mcintyre (Reporter)

Civil Rights Activist Sylvia Mendez speaks to the students of Cypress College about what her family achieved to end desegregation in schools and encourages students to stand up for what is right.

Sylvia Mendez has been traveling the world for the past twenty five years informing the public on segregation through all academia. Mendez overcame obstacles brought on by injustices throughout her life- but one has motivated her to When the Civil Rights Activist was eight years old, she and her brothers were denied admission into 17th Street Elementary School due to the color of their skin.

Mendez’s parents, Gonzalo Mendez and Felicitas Mendez, decided to stand up against the establishment with four other families of Latino decent who had dealt with similar inequalities. The case, Mendez vs Westminster, paved the way to integration of public schools in California making history that many people today are unaware of.

Gonzalo Mendez, was forced to leave school in the fifth grade to work on his family’s farm due to financial trouble. Mendez’s parents then decided to do anything in their power to give their daughter and sons better education opportunities than they had in their childhood.

When their children were facing segregation, the parents of Mendez decided to hire David Marcus, a lawyer who was winning similar cases at the time. The Mendez family, along with the help of the Gomez, Palomino, Estrada and Ramirez families, filed the lawsuit against the Orange County school districts. “Once we went to court, it wasn’t just Latinos fighting, everyone joined in to fight,” Mendez recalled. Mendez vs Westminster went to court in 1945, and in 1946 Judge Paul J. McCormick sided with the families- without hesitation. Although McCormick ruled in favor, the school district appealed the case. It was not until 1947 when Governor Earl Warren decided to integrate the schools of California.

This was an exceptional win not only for the Mendez family and others who stood by them, but every Latino and minority family now and in the future. When remembering back to the fight for their freedom Mendez stated, “we were fighting because under God we are all equal.”

Before Mendez’s mother passed away, she asked Mendez to tell people about the case and their family’s story. She wanted people to know that this case was an immense part of the history of California. Mendez has been fulfilling this goal for the past twenty five years, traveling around the world to pass on the incredible story of Mendez vs Westminster, with a goal of improving the segregation and injustices minorities continue to face today.

In 2011, Mendez was awarded the Medal of Freedom along with the National Hispanic Hero Award in 2018, finally being recognized for all the importance her family had in ending segregation and injustice in public schools.

This past September, Mendez spoke to the students of Cypress College about her story and the importance of understanding the past, to avoid any injustice in the future. Mendez ended her speech with instrumental advice for the students of Cypress College and their futures. “There’s nothing that can keep you from being that engineer, that professor… all you have to do is settle on that dream and you can do it.”