Topic:  Education, School Segregation, Mendez v. Westminster, Mexican-American,
Segment: History of Memories: Mexican School Segregation
Participants:  Gabe  Flores,  Historian.  Doctorate Candidate in History department, UC Riverside
Broadcast Air Date: 11/22/19
Time: 5:15 PM (PST)
Station: KUCR 88.3 FM Riverside, CA
Archive pages: https://soundcloud.com/stoppretending, http://www.dreport.org

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Segment produced in KUCR, the radio station of the University California in Riverside.

Disclaimer: The views expressed are the sole responsibility of the respective speakers and do not represent the endorsed position of the UC Regents, UC Riverside or KUCR.

Discussion Topics:
– Mendez v. Westminster (1947)   remembered?, https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/background-mendez-v-westminster-re-enactment

• How do you convert history into a tangible and living experience?
• What is the role of memory in writing history?
• How does the 1947 Mendez v. Westminster case lead to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education?  
• How does the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo establish a promise of equal rights  under the classification of “White,” to people within the US Southwest as annexed Mexican territories?
• How did the new settlers classified as “White/ Anglo” deal with the perceived “Mexican problem” as California was converted into an Americanized model of racialized hierarchy?
•  Why were Mexican groups classified racially as White yet treated as non-White?
•  Was school segregation of Mexican children legally mandated?
• Why is California in 2019,  the most  segregated state in the US in terms of  “Mexican/ Latino”  children?
• (1930) case of Independent School District v..Salvatierra,
• (1931) Roberto Alvarez vs. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District
• (1951) Gonzales v. Sheely et al.  District Court D. Arizona.
• (1970) Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School District
• (1973) Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver, 413 U.S. 189
•   How were the Californios, soon after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), incorporated into the dominant Anglo structures?
•  What is the relationship between school segregation, mid-19^th century stereotypes of Mexicans and presumptions of the expected role of being Mexican in US Southwest?
• What is the justification used by school boards throughout California and the US Southwest for the segregation process of Mexican children?
• The argument of cultural deficiency was falsely created to justify the school segregation practices.
• History doesn’t necessarily repeat itself, but it rhymes.
• In the 1850’s, what are the racial requirements of Whiteness to access the full American rights?
•  Why were the Mexican citizens re-classified as White after the Mexican-American war?
• How do the systems of inequality rely on production and reproduction of “common sense”  understandings of race ideology?
• Was the status of white applied only to the Mexican elite?
• How did the colonial experience establish the outline for Mexican and American relations?
• How Did the United States incorporate parts of the Mexican nation into its own nation after 1848?