The Untold Segregation Laws

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Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation

By: Duncan Tonatiuh

Hello Bloggers and welcome to another edition of Little Reader's Paradise, for this week I read the 2015 Pura Belpre award winner Separate is Never Equal.  This novel was a great read between how it opened my eyes to an issue I never was fully aware of (I was aware of segregation before but not of how it affected Mexicans as well) and revealing to a young audience the challenge that these students and families had to overcome just to enter the school system, and even the unique art style.  I really enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it for any classroom library.  

My best suggestion would be to make this a read aloud book because of the significance of it's message.  Student's need to understand not only how cruelly people were treated because of their but also how hard people like the Mexicans had to work to just get their children into the regular schools.  The fact that Sylvia's father had to spend just about all his time working for signatures or to build their case with his lawyer and the fact that the Principal lied under oath when on the stand just to support his case really opens children's eyes in a way they need to be opened if we are ever going to prepare them for the world and for life outside of the classroom.  Sadly, prejudice, bias, and racism still exist around the world even in our colorblind society, just look at the Republican party in the Presidential Election.  If we are going to send our students out into the world then I want to ensure that they go into it understanding how hard the minorities worked for where they are now and they don't deserve any harsh words or criticism for who they are and for what color their skin is.

Lexile Score: No score

Recommended Grade Level: 3-6 (the content of this book alone makes it necessary for all grades)

Before the Reading

Because of how big the message is behind this reading it'd be a great idea to start a lesson by placing several pictures around the room that represent both equality and inequality, make sure though that you don't explain why you choose these pictures or where they are from.  Get the students into groups so that there is a group at each image and then have the groups go around and spend about 2 minutes at each image.  When at the image have them write about what the image makes them feel, what they think is going on, and what the picture represents to them.  After the students have gone to each table ask them to share their notes about the images in order of the images, so pick up image one and place it on the board and ask them the three questions about it, then the second, the third, and so on.

During the Reading

Since this is a perfect book for a read aloud make sure to identify points at which you stop and ask the students how they feel about what has transpired, what they notice in the pictures, and how they would feel if they were the Mexicans.  This can be done at every page, it can be done every other page but I would make sure not to give too much of a gap between stopping points because the more times you pause and reflect (as long as it's not every page) the more times you're having them think about the value of equality in our society and the cruelties of inequality which as I've said are extremely crucial teaching points and should be taken very seriously.

After the Reading

Once the students complete the reading have them write a letter to Sylvia, and this can be done in one of two ways:

1. Have them write a letter after listening to the following excerpt from a teaching guide for the book which you can find here. "Sometimes we see someone being treated unfairly, being bullied, or made to feel bad about themselves. Fear can keep us from standing up for them or offering to be a friend. Imagine that you are in Sylvia’s class on her first day at the Westminster School. You see her being bullied and treated unkindly. You know that how she is being treated isn’t right, but you’re afraid to say anything. You’re afraid that you will also be bullied if you say something. After school you keep thinking about Sylvia. You decide that you care more about being a friend to Sylvia than being bullied by the other students. You make a plan for what you are going to do at school the following day and how you are going to support Sylvia and help her to handle the bullying situation."  Once they listen to this have them explain to Sylvia how they're going to help her and support her at school in a way that fits whatever grade level they are in since I gave such a broad range for this.
2. Have them write actual letters to Sylvia explaining what her families fight meant to them and how they felt about how people treated her family.  You can also explain to them what she's done since the book to push for equality and they can include their opinions about those actions as well.  They can also write about what they would've done to help her if they were one of her classmates.

Great Electronic Resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7-kzJVcOUw
Here's a short video in which the author explains his reasoning for writing about Sylvia and answers other questions about the book

http://sylviamendezinthemendezvswestminster.com/
This is a great website for learning more about Sylvia Mendez

Vocabulary to go over: 

• brief = a legal term that refers to a summary prepared for a lawyer at a trial
• degrading = causing a loss of self-respect
• ethnicity = a group of people who have a common national or cultural tradition
• race = skin color
• petition = a formal written document requesting a right or benefit from a person or group in authority
• inferior= of lesser quality
• integrate = to open to all members of all races, ethnicities, and other groups