Elvia Mendoza

English1T
February 10, 2016
Activism for Our Education
People of color were always treated differently, and a majority of
the time in a negative fashion. People, who were white, saw
themselves better than all the colored people and were treated with
respect. Because white people thought so highly of themselves, they
wanted to keep their areas refined, and that was by dividing
themselves from the colored people. Segregation means to require, by
law or custom, the separation of (an ethnic, racial, religious, or other
minority group) from the dominant majority. That is how white people
saw themselves, dominant. They did everything they could to keep
themselves away from colored people. They kept them away from the
same markets, diners, restrooms, towns, and even schools. How could
one group think so much of themselves? How could anyone, see
themselves with such authority over another?
There then came a day where that one colored individual had
enough. They could not believe what was happening to the world. They
did not want to believe that this is what they were going to have to live
with for the rest of their lives. No one would want to believe that such
hatred, such hostility, could even continue on to their children and
even their childrens children. What that one individual wished for was

change. Who knew that one wish, could one day change history? One
example of a brave individual was Paula Crisostomo, from the movie
Walkout, by Edward James Olmos.
Crisostomo was a Latina living in East Los Angeles, who wished
for better education for not only herself, but her peers as well.
Crisostomo was a phenomenal student in her class and would have
been the first in her family to go off to college, but her only struggle of
not being able to further her education was the struggle of finance.
When she would speak to her other classmates, they expressed to her
that she had what it took to go off to college, but Crisostomo wished
for her peers to be able to get just as far with her. Teachers and
counselors would tell the other students what profession they could
obtain after high school but were basically professions such as
mechanics and secretaries. By school staff declaring those professions
to the students, students already knew that the faculty did not see
them going anywhere further than a high school diploma.
It was discouraging to Crisostomo to hear that the school saw so
little of their students. This made her want to make a change in the
school. Another person, who helped her believe that she could achieve
that goal, was her teacher Sal Castro. Castro wanted to show
Crisostomo and her friends that change could happen if they put in all
their effort. His solution to grabbing the attention of their school as
well as the school administration was to become activists. Crisostomo

and her friends were worried about taking part of such concept, but
were then influenced by the amount of fellow East LA students from
different schools who also wanted better education for themselves and
their peers.
All the schools in the East LA district took part in doing simple
projects such as handing out surveys which listed simple changes such
as being able to use the restrooms during lunch, or being able to speak
Spanish and not get punished for it. Shortly after handing out surveys,
Crisostomo and her friends had grabbed the attention of the entire
school. After another meeting with the other East LA student
representatives, Castro had given the students the idea of protesting.
The way that these students would protest, was by walking out of the
classrooms. Crisostomo was feeling a little doubtful of the situation,
but believed in her fellow classmates and followed the idea. When the
students first attempted the walkout, it seemed like a success. There
were news casters and people out in the public stopping what they
were doing and watching what the students were doing. In a way, they
grabbed everyones attention.
When Crisostomo attempted the second time, she feared no one
would participate again because the other schools that attempted to
walkout the following day, students were brutally beaten. As she
stepped out with her signs, chanting, she noticed around the corner
that her mother was walking with a larger group of adults that were

supporting the students. These students had grabbed the attention of

a bigger audience that would help them push for the changes that they
were hoping for.
Around the 1930s, Mexican Americans became one of the larger
minority groups in many California school districts. According to Maria
Blancos Before Brown, There was Mendez: The Lasting Impact of
Mendez v. Westminster in the Struggle of Desegregation, At times,
depending on the city or county, the segregation of Mexican Americans
was prescribed by law; other times it was a practice carried out by
public and private entities. This, again, demonstrates how history has
a hard time changing. In the cases that were given in this article, the
Mendez family, the named plaintiff, had moved from Santa Ana to
Westminster to operate a farm for a Japanese family. The location of
the farm was very close to the White school in Westminster. When
the father tried enrolling his three children, they were denied and were
advised by the school that they had to attend the Mexican school. The
Mendez family was appalled by such demand that they, and other
parents, put together protests to fight against the segregation in the
schools. Other families had hired lawyers including David Marcus, who
had successfully argued other public-facility desegregation cases in
Southern California, to represent them.
The Mendez plaintiffs did not argue that their segregated
schools were unconstitutionally inferior; instead they opposed

segregation itself as violating the 14th Amendments Equal Protection

clause. In essence, the case challenged the doctrine of separate but
equal. Most of the students who were placed in the Mexican schools
spoke English. The White school had made such decisions with the
Mexican American students because they purposely wanted to
discriminate those children. This trial soon after won, allowing the
decision of Brown v. Board of Education to then also be answered
seven years later.
No student should ever get discriminated because of where they
came from or who their family is. Everyone should embrace different
cultures and treat other equally. It sickens me that there are still people
out there that discriminate innocent people who are practically no
different. Everyone should be learning our history. History is the record
of past events and times, especially in connection with the human
race. No one should repeat history, they should be learning from it. For
those individuals that wish to make a change in the world, believe that
it can be done. There have been many examples in history that
demonstrate that if one pushes hard enough, they can make the
biggest impact. That impact could create history one day.

Works Cited
Blanco, Maria. "The Lasting Impact of Mendez v. Westminster In The Struggle For
Desegregation." Before Brown, There Was Mendez: (2010): n. pag. Print.
Valencia, Richard R. "The Mexican American Struggle for Equal Educational
Opportunity in Mendez v. Westminster: Helping to Pave the Way for Brown v.
Board of Education." Teachers College Record Teachers College Rec 107.3
(2005): 389-423. Web.
Walkout. Dir. Edward James Olmos. Prod. Moctesuma Esparaza and Robert Katz. Perf.
Alexa Vega, Michael Pea, and Efren Ramirez. HBO, 2006. DVD.
Yosso, Tara J. "Whose Culture Has Capital? A Critical Race Theory Discussion of
Community Cultural Wealth." Race Ethnicity and Education 8.1 (2005): 69-91.
Web.