Library Articles and Research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2020
Abstract
"Many Orange County, California schoolchildren know the name 'Mendez.' After all, the iconic name is front and center of the landmark civil rights case that desegregated several of the county’s public schools in 1947, preceding the 1954 Brown v. Board case on a national level. The Mendez family, one of five Latino families which challenged several school districts in the county on their practice of Mexican-only schools, had their name immortalized in history. But the Mendezes would not have been able to lead the legal charge if it was not for another family of color, the Munemitsus, the Japanese American farming family behind the story of the Mendez v. Westminster."
Copyright
The author
Recommended Citation
Tang, A. (2020). The Munemitsu legacy: The Japanese American family behind Mendez v. Westminster: California’s first successful desegregation case. Pacific Citizen, 171(11), 17-20.
Included in
American Studies Commons, Asian American Studies Commons, Latina/o Studies Commons, Law and Race Commons, Legal Commons, Legal History Commons, Other History Commons, Political History Commons, Public History Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons
Comments
This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Pacific Citizen, volume 171, issue 11, in 2020.
This article may not exactly replicate the final published version. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at https://pacificcitizen.org/wp-content/uploads/archives-menu/Vol.171_%2311_Dec_18_2020.pdf.