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In the early 1900s, California's booming citrus industry attracted manyMexican immigrant workers. By 1920, the Mexican American populationin southern and central California had tripled. Local governments,controlled by whites and supported by the "separate but equal" legaldoctrine, reacted by instituting many forms of public segregation. Mostschool districts with a sizable Mexican American community had "Mexican" rooms in their schools or, more commonly, "Mexican" schools.

In 1945, Gonzalo Mendez and a group of other Latino parents, seekingto end school segregation, filed a lawsuit in federal district courtin Los Angeles against four Orange County school districts: El Modena,Santa Ana, Garden Grove, and Westminster.

The plaintiffs, who were all citizens of the United States, allegedthat the defendants had segregated students into separate schoolssolely because the children were of Mexican or Latino descent. Theydrew a distinction between discrimination based on race and that basedon national origin. The defendants argued that schools were segregatedbecause of language barriers and that non-English-speaking pupils shouldattend separate schools until they had acquired some proficiency in theEnglish language.

The judgment was for the plaintiffs. The court found that the equalprotection provision of the Fourteenth Amendment pertained to equal accessto education, and that under this provision, segregation based solely onnational origin was unconstitutional. Governor Earl Warren lobbied theCalifornia state legislature to enact legislation repealing the state'seducational codes that allowed for segregation in public schools.