Delgado v. Bastrop ISD

Bastrop ISD (2014)

Delgado V. Bastrop Independent School District[1] was a Federal Circuit court case based out of Bastrop county that ruled against the segregation of Mexican-Americans in the public schools of Texas. The court's decision was argued on the standpoint of the Mendez et al. v. Westminster et al. court case and lack of Texas law for segregation of those of Mexican descent, and also stated that Mexican-Americans were separate from African-Americans as had been ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson.[2][3] This case stated that except for the instance of separating individuals based on severe language difficulties in first grade,[1] the school districts could not segregate their schools between Anglos and Mexican-Americans; moreover, the local school leaders and districts needed to take active action against it or they would also be liable for the results of segregated education.[2] Though this case helped establish a baseline in the law against Mexican-American segregation in public schools, it took many more years and future lawsuits for action to follow through with the actual rulings of the court.[3]

City of Bastrop (Mina Ward Elementary highlighted in red.) (Map from the United States Census Bureau)

The specifics of the case began when grandmother Namensia Garcia attempted to enroll her granddaughter Minerva Delgado in the public all White school in the town of Bastrop, but the superintendent refused and Minerva was denied admittance.[4] Upon discovering the situation, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) along with the American G.I. Forum[3] helped the Delgados and 19 other Mexican-American families to sue the school district for their failure to secure the constitutional rights of the students.[3] In the end, the judge ruled in favor of the families and declared the segregation of students unconstitutional.[1]

Despite the case victory, reality would take much longer to follow the court rulings. Following the court decision, de facto segregation continued in many schools and desegregation would not truly begin to take place until much later.[5]

  1. ^ a b c Rice, Ben H. (June 15, 1948). "[Judgment, Minerva Delgado et al vs. Bastrop Independent School District - 1948-06-15]". The Portal to Texas History. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Powers, Jeanne M.; Patton, Lirio (February 29, 2008). "Between Mendez and Brown: Gonzales v. Sheely (1951) and the Legal Campaign Against Segregation: Between Mendez and Brown". Law & Social Inquiry. 33 (1): 127–171. doi:10.1111/j.1747-4469.2008.00096.x. S2CID 142762585.
  3. ^ a b c d Lavariega, Jessica L, ed. (2019). Latinos in the American Political System: An Encyclopedia of Latinos as Voters, Candidates, and Office Holders. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. pp. 145–47. ISBN 9781440853470.
  4. ^ Preuss, Gene B (2016). "Delgado v. Bastrop: Civil Rights and Identity in Texas History". Texan Identities: Moving Beyond Myth, Memory, and Fallacy in Texas History. Texas: University of North Texas. pp. 217–49. ISBN 9781574416480.
  5. ^ LeMay, Michael C; Gonzales, David-James (2022). The U.S.-Mexico Border: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 129–35. ISBN 9781440874802.