Introduction

Seventy years ago, a key case in the battle for equality for Mexican Americans¹ was fought, forging a path for other court cases that challenged the legality of discriminatory practices in our public institutions such as Hernandez v. Texas and Brown v. Board of Education. In 1947, Mendez et al v. Westminster School District of Orange County (Mendez) desegregated California schools and was adjudicated in the federal courts. In the 1954 case, Hernandez v. Texas, the Supreme Court—in a unanimous ruling—held that Mexican Americans and all other nationalities in the United States were covered under the 14^th Amendment of the Constitution. Followed in 1954 by Brown v. Board of Education and in 1956 by Hernandez et al. v. Driscoll Consolidated Independent School District, these cases decided the fate of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the United States along with the fate of people of color from then onward. Given the political climate of our times, these cases become newly relevant.

As contemporary debates over immigration and educational equity proliferate under the Trump administration in Washington, DC, we hearken back to these cases and find surcease and comfort. In the 1940s and 50s the dire state of affairs for Mexican and Mexican American citizens made such legal battles necessary. In the post-WWII United States, it was legal to segregate Mexican American children; it was legal to have Mexican American children repeat first grade three times by sole virtue of having a Spanish surname. The latter was the basis for Hernandez et al. v. Driscoll Consolidated Independent School District and in 1956, the case ended the discriminatory practices that persisted even after Brown v. Board of Education.

In honor of those courageous and fierce souls who fought those battles, we shape this special issue of American Studies. On the 70^th anniversary of the 1947 ruling in Mendez et al v. Westminster School District of Orange County, the case that desegregated California schools, we put out a call for papers and creative work that resonated with the spirit of such a case and of the struggle for social justice. In the 1947 ruling, US District Court Judge Paul J. McCormick stated, "The equal protection of the laws pertaining to the public school system in California is not provided by furnishing in separate schools the same technical facilities, textbooks and courses of instruction to children of Mexican ancestry that are available to the other public school children regardless of their ancestry. A paramount requisite in the American system of public education is social equality. It must be open to all children by unified school association regardless of lineage." It is this "paramount requisite . . . social equality" that we wish to highlight and that informs our selections.

We recognize and acknowledge Gonzalo Mendez, William Guzmán, Lorenzo Ramírez, Frank Palomino, and Tomas Estrada along with other parents who sued on behalf of their children challenging the practice of having separate "Mexican schools." The verdict in favor of the plaintiffs was the first ruling at the federal level against segregation potentially affecting students and schools across the country. Thus, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling; however, it did so not on equal protection grounds—rather, it held that the segregation was not racially based. But the ground had been tilled and, indeed, the success of Mendez led directly to the more famous Brown v. Board of Education (1954) court case, as has been noted by various scholars. Mendez did not end segregation in schools and in public spaces; yet, it paved the way for future legislation that did. After Mendez, California Governor Earl Warren repealed the remaining segregationist provisions in the California statutes. He no doubt thought about Mendez and his experience in California when he as Chief Justice of the United States presided over the Brown v. Board of Education case.

In this special issues, we the co-editors, Dr. Norma E. Cantú and Dr. Valerie M. Mendoza, explore the legacy of Mendez by gathering traditional scholarly essays that examine Latinx social justice issues. We also...