Pivotal San Bernardino case fought discrimination against Latinos

*Every once in a while relevant history bubbles to the top of some mainstream media publication, somewhere. It’s important history that is often relegated to a shelf, where it gathers dust. This is precisely why Mexican-American studies and Latino studies programs are important in high schools, colleges and universities. This is American history that needs to be taught in classrooms. In the 1940’s, as a precursor to the civil rights movement, Latinos were fighting for the simple right to use a public swimming pool. This is a great read, share it! VL


ON_ON_A01_042611.psBy Joe Blackstock, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

[tweet_dis]If you were Latino in Pomona and tried to use the municipal pool on the wrong day 70 years ago, you were unceremoniously turned away.[/tweet_dis]

The same thing happened in San Bernardino where “Mexicans” (the all-purpose term in those days for anyone of Latino heritage) could only swim in some city pools on Sundays — the day before they were cleaned — and were barred entirely from the Perris Hill Park pool.

[pullquote]Latino children were pretty much forced to attend so-called “Mexican schools,” established in many California cities during that time.[/pullquote]

In movie theaters in Upland and other cities in the region, Latinos could sit only in balconies or along the walls. At least one popular Ontario restaurant barred them entirely while some San Bernardino businesses boldly had “Whites Only” signs in their front windows.

And Latino children were pretty much forced to attend so-called “Mexican schools,” established in many California cities during that time.

[pullquote][tweet_dis]In 1944 Lopez v. Seccombe argued San Bernardino Mayor W.C. Seccombe and the city barring Latinos from pools and other city recreational facilities was illegal under the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments.[/tweet_dis][/pullquote]

These details paint a picture of discrimination most of us would visualize as more common to the Deep South, but it festered here for many years.

It was under these conditions in the early 1940s, a group of Latino activists led by muckraking Pomona newspaper editor Ignacio Lopez decided the time had arrived to take action.

Click HERE to read the full story.


[Photo cpourtesy of Westside Story Newspaper]
CLICK HERE
Subscribe to the Latino daily

Subscribe today!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Must Read