Jonathan Adams

New Stamp Commemorates School Desegregation

Thanks to Terry Keleher.

The U.S. Postal Service has just released a new stamp commemorating the 60th anniversary of the 1946 court decision, Mendez v. Westminster School District, which helped pave the way for school desegregation in the United States.

A group of Latino parents in California forced to attend separate Mexican schools, successfully sued to end school segregation. A federal court ruled in their favor in early 1946, a decision that was upheld in a higher court the following year.

Thurgood Marshall used the Mendez decision in arguing the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case in 1954 that desegregated schools across the country.

Despite these groundbreaking legal rulings, school segregation and inequality have persisted, resegregation is on the rise, and the conservative wing of the current U.S. Supreme Court is one vote shy of dismantling virtually all race-based remedies for dealing with institutional inequities.

The legacy of structural racism continues to racially divide our communities and even our social justice movement. But the new stamp can be a good reminder for racial justice activists across racial groups that our histories and fates are linked.

Posted at 11:19 AM, Sep 18, 2007 in Education | Permalink | View Comments