Forgotten History: Mexican American School Segregation in Arizona from 1900–1951¹

Who’s Segregated Now? Latinos, Language, and the Future of Integrated Schools

“…Viewed as a small population (estimated at 5%), relatively little attention was paid to this group although through the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s there were consistent accounts of segregation and poor treatment of Mexican-origin children in the schools of the Southwest. For example, Powers (2008) writes, In the mid-1940’s . .…”

“…Reasons given for segregating the Mexican-origin children in the Southwest generally fell into two categories: (1) it was for their own good because they could learn English and adapt to American culture in classes dedicated solely to them, and (2) it was better for the non-Hispanic children because they need not be bothered by these children who were slow learners and came to school with poor hygiene. Some Anglo parents and school board members argued that the Mexican children should be separated from the White children because they did not learn as well and did not value education as highly, thus they needed “special attention” in special settings (González, 1999; Powers, 2008). As Carter (1970) noted: “Mexican American children were isolated until such a time as they were considered to have overcome their ‘English language handicap’ and to have become ‘adjusted’ [Americanized]” (p. 67).…”

From Segregation to School Finance

“…7 In all of these cases, Mexican American parents prevailed in their challenges of their school districts' extralegal segregation practices (see Alvarez, 1986;Arriola, 1995;Donato & Hanson, 2012;Gross, 2007;Powers & Patton, 2008;Powers, 2008;San Miguel, 1987;Strum, 2010;Valencia, 2005Valencia, , 2008Wollenberg, 1976). Adopting the language-as-problem orientation, district officials claimed that "Spanish-speaking students" had to be taught in separate classrooms and schools because they lacked the English language skills they needed to learn alongside their Anglo peers, although most evidence suggests that students were placed in Mexican schools regardless of their English proficiency.…”

“Porque tenían sangre de ‘NEGROS’”: The Exclusion of Mexican Children from a Louisiana School, 1915-1916

“…Mexican Americans in the Southwest were legally White but treated as socially "colored" (Powers, 2008). That is, most Americans did not recognize Mexican Americans as White in their schools and communities, and they were barred from many public facilities in American life (Garcia & Yosso, 2013 Leis (1931) reported that 84.6% of California schools were, in the words of Garcia and Yosso (2013), segregating "Mexican children entirely or in part from the whites for educational purposes" (p. 72), and in South Texas, 90% of the schools were segregated (Montejano, 1987).…”