Mendez v. Westminster: Fighting for Inclusive Democracy as the World Watches

• In Event: Inclusion, Democracy, and the Latinx Educational Experience

Abstract

This paper examines how the United States' desire for ideological and military dominance facilitated civil rights for Mexican Americans during WW ll and the early years of the Cold War. Shifting geopolitical realities increased pressure on the U.S.to project an image of inclusive democracy as the war drew to a close and as the good neighbor policy was replaced by a struggle for ideological dominance on the world stage. Within this context, civil rights organizations, plaintiffs’ attorneys, and progressive state legislators won judicial and legislative victories.

The paper relies on Mendez v. Westminster as a lens to view the connection between domestic and foreign policy.

Author

• Jennifer McCormick, California State University - Los Angeles