Primary Sources: Civil Rights in America - Events: Mendez v. Westminster School District (1947)

"The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it was unconstitutional and unlawful to forcibly segregate Mexican-American students by focusing on Mexican ancestry, skin color, and the Spanish language. This case forged a foundation upholding the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, thereby strengthening the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which found racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional."
https://guides.loc.gov/latinx-civil-rights/mendez-v-westminster

The landmark ruling in Mendez v. Westminster, in 1946, prohibited segregation in California’s public schools. The Mendez family joined with others in Orange County, California, to sue four school districts. The case underscored that the struggle for civil rights in America crossed regional, racial, and ethnic lines.