Separados no somos iguales: Sylvia Méndez y la lucha de su familia por la integración (Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation, Spanish Edition)

Cuando su familia se mudó al pueblo de Westminster, California, la pequeña Silvia Méndez estaba entusiasmada con inscribirse en la escuela de su vecindario. Pero ella y sus hermanos fueron rechazados y les dijeron que, en vez, tenían que asistir a la escuela mexicana. Sylvia no podía entender por qué; era una ciudadana estadounidense que hablaba inglés perfectamente. ¿Por qué obligaban a los hijos de familias mexicanas a asistir a otra escuela? Al no poder obtener una respuesta satisfactoria de la junta escolar, la familia Méndez decidió tomar cartas en el asunto y organizar una demanda.

Al final, los esfuerzos de la familia Méndez ayudaron a acabar con la educación segregada en California en 1947, siete años antes de que el fallo histórico del Tribunal Supremo en el caso Brown v. Board of Education terminara con la segregación en las escuelas de todo Estados Unidos.

Con su distintivo estilo de ilustración e incorporando sus entrevistas con Sylvia Méndez, así como información de archivos judiciales y noticias, el galardonado autor e ilustrador Duncan Tonatiuh cuenta la inspiradora historia de la lucha de la familia Méndez por la justicia y la igualdad.

When her family moved to the town of Westminster, California, young Sylvia Mendez was excited about enrolling in her neighborhood school. But she and her brothers were turned away and told they had to attend the Mexican school instead. Sylvia could not understand why—she was an American citizen who spoke perfect English. Why were the children of Mexican families forced to attend a separate school?

Unable to get a satisfactory answer from the school board, the Mendez family decided to take matters into its own hands and organized a lawsuit. In the end, the Mendez family’s efforts helped bring an end to segregated schooling in California in 1947, seven years before the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education ended segregation in schools across America.

Author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh writes in his notes, “My hope is that this book will help children and young people learn about this important yet little known event in American history. I also hope that they will see themselves reflected in Sylvia’s story and realize that their voices are valuable.”

Using his signature illustration style and incorporating his interviews with Sylvia Mendez, as well as information from court files and news accounts, Tonatiuh tells the inspiring story of the Mendez family’s fight for justice and equality, a fight that is as relevant today as it was 75 years ago.