Mexican-American resistance to school segregation

Abstract

Mexican Americans have a long history in the struggle to end school segregation and achieve educational equality. Rubén Donato and Jarrod Hanson trace that history through a series of court cases that show how their fight for desegregation both intersects with and differs from the more well-known struggle of Black Americans. In some cases, Mexican Americans were determined to be White and therefore not potential victims of racial discrimination, even when school practices showed that their Mexican heritage, rather than differing educational needs, drove district decisions. The authors suggest that advocates of desegregation should avoid accepting the notion that segregation is a natural occurrence but should instead broaden their understanding of what intentional segregation looks like.