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History and historical background of the 1931 court case on desegregation and the first successful challenge on segregation in the nation.
In 1930, a small rural community in the county of San Diego, California, called Lemon Grove was home to a hundred or more Mexican-American families. These families were mostly situated on Olive and North Avenue Streets near the central avenue called Broadway. The only elementary school was called Golden Avenue School and it is at this site that this story begins.
The Lemon Grove School Board members voted to build a separate school on Olive Street for the seventy-five Mexican-American students who were attending the Golden Avenue School. As the Spanish speaking members of this quiet community became aware of the board’s decision to remodel an existing barn-like structure for all the Spanish speaking students, and create a separate school for these students, the families of these children dissented. They organized a parent organization to challenge the school board’s decision which led to the first successful desegregation ruling in the nation. Judge Claude Chambers ruled that the separation of the Mexican-American students was unconstitutional, as these students were from the Caucasian race and could not be legally segregated.
The dramatic and significant court case occurred in March 1931 where the working class members of the Mexican-American community began a boycott of the school and then filed a suit against the school board. They were successfully and legally represented by attorney Fred C. Noon. The case, which has become the first landmark ruling against desegregation in the nation is called Roberto Alvarez vs. Board of Trustees of Lemon Grove School District. It would become the nation’s first successful desegregation court case in the nation.
The Lemon Grove School Board members voted to build a separate school on Olive Street for the seventy-five Mexican-American students who were attending the Golden Avenue School. As the Spanish speaking members of this quiet community became aware of the board’s decision to remodel an existing barn-like structure for all the Spanish speaking students, and create a separate school for these students, the families of these children dissented. They organized a parent organization to challenge the school board’s decision which led to the first successful desegregation ruling in the nation. Judge Claude Chambers ruled that the separation of the Mexican-American students was unconstitutional, as these students were from the Caucasian race and could not be legally segregated.
The dramatic and significant court case occurred in March 1931 where the working class members of the Mexican-American community began a boycott of the school and then filed a suit against the school board. They were successfully and legally represented by attorney Fred C. Noon. The case, which has become the first landmark ruling against desegregation in the nation is called Roberto Alvarez vs. Board of Trustees of Lemon Grove School District. It would become the nation’s first successful desegregation court case in the nation.
