The Kindness of Color Exploring the Enduring Legacy of Mendez v. Westminster

On Thursday, November 14, 2024, the Leatherby Libraries hosted a panel event discussing the Mendez, et al. v. Westminster decision that ultimately desegregated public schools in the state of California. This event, inspired by panelist Janice Munemitsu’s book, The Kindness of Color, tells the story of the Munemitsu family’s connection to the Mendez v. Westminster case.

Pictured left to right: Brendan Bubion (Panelist), Annie Tang (Moderator), Janice Munemitsu (Panelist), Christine Cordon (City Manager for the City of Westminster), Jeff Hittenberger (Panelist), and Adolfo Ozaseta (Assistant City Manager).

The event featured a panel of researchers who discussed how they utilized Chapman University’s Mendez, et al. v. Westminster School District of Orange County, et al., Archives to research the case’s role in desegregating Mexican-only public schools in Orange County, California, while considering the context of World War II and the Japanese American incarceration. Each panelist has worked on a project that amplifies their understanding of the case, including books, a documentary, and the Mendez Historic Freedom Trail. 

If you missed the event, feel free to view the recording on our institutional repository here.

About the Moderator and Panelists:

Annie Tang, the University Archivist and Chair of Special Collections and Archives, organized and moderated the panel. From 2022 to 2024, Annie was a fellow in the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Heritage. An archivist at heart, she has worked for several repositories, including those at the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of California, Santa Cruz; and Johns Hopkins University. 

Brendan Bubion is an Emmy® Award-winning video producer and educator. In 2022, he received an MFA in Documentary Filmmaking from Chapman’s Dodge College.  His thesis film, “Growing Up Behind Barbed Wire,” shares the experience of the Munemitsu Family during World War II. Currently, he is a Senior Video Producer at Caltech. Formerly, he was the lead producer of the award-winning “Weekly Arts” series for KCET/PBS SoCal. As an educator, he has taught courses in filmmaking at Cal Arts and Champlain College. 

Jeff Hittenberger serves as a Professor of Education and the Dean of the School of Education at Vanguard University. He previously served as Chief Academic Officer at the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) and Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs at Vanguard University. Dr. Hittenberger earned a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. He has worked closely with the City of Westminster and OCDE on the Mendez Freedom Trail and Tribute Monument Park project, honoring the legacy of Mendez v. Westminster.

Jessica Lander is an award-winning teacher, writer, and author. For much of the last decade, she has taught history and civics to recent immigrant students in a Massachusetts public high school. She has won numerous awards for her teaching, including being named the 2023 Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year and one of the 2023 Top Ten National History Teachers of the Year presented by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History; a 2023 MA Teacher of the Year Finalist, presented by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; and a Top 50 Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize in 2021, presented by the Varkey Foundation. Jessica writes frequently about education policy and teaching. She is the author of Making Americans: Stories of Historic Struggles, New Ideas, and Inspiration in Immigrant Education, recently awarded the 2024 George Orwell Award, presented by the National Council of Teachers of English to “writers who have made outstanding contributions to the critical analysis of public discourse“; a coauthor of Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher’ Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success; and the author of Driving Backwards.

Janice Munemitsu is a native of OC and a Japanese American Sansei. Her career included leading consumer brands at The Clorox Company, Mars, and ConAgra Foods, managing over 500 million dollars in business revenue. As a board member for several non-profits, Janice participates in the US-Japan Council. She has a BS/MBA from USC and a Masters from Biola University. She is the author of The Kindness of Color, which tells the story of how her family, the Munemitsus, leased their farm to the Mendez family during the proceedings of Mendez v. Westminster while being incarcerated in internment camps during World War II. Janice hopes The Kindness of Color will be a source of light and hope, inspiring us to cultivate kindness in our communities.

* The Kindness of Color Panel event was co-sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Heritage in collaboration with the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

About the Mendez v. Westminster Archives

The Mendez v. Westminster case was filed by the Mendezes of Westminster, the Estradas and Guzmans of Santa Ana, the Palominos of Garden Grove, and the Ramirezes of Orange, whose children were forced to attend schools reserved for Mexican American students. (Source: City of Santa Ana) The families sued the Westminster School District, Garden Grove Elementary School District, Santa Ana City Schools, and El Modena School District. In 1946, Judge Paul McCormick ruled in favor of the families, finding that the social, psychological, and pedagogical costs of segregated education were damaging to Mexican American students. Though the school districts later appealed, in 1947, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the initial decision, finding that the school district’s actions violated California law. The Mendez v. Westminster case has a significant legacy in California due to its desegregating schools within the state. However, its legacy extends to the national level, where it influenced the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling that desegregated schools nationwide.

Learn More about Mendez v. Westminster

The Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections and Archives possesses several collections related to the case, including the Palomino Family Papers, Munemitsu-Sakai Papers, and more. If you want to learn more about Chapman University’s resources for the Mendez v. Westminster case, please reach out to the Chair of Special Collections and Archives, Annie Tang, at awtang@chapman.edu.

You can also visit the Leatherby Libraries’ Mendez v. Westminster Story Room, which is designed to teach the Chapman community about this essential piece of Orange County history.