When you think of segregation in America, you usually think of the southern states, not southern California.  But the truth is segregated schools, swimming pools, movie theaters were all a part of life in Orange County and Los Angeles up until 1947.  That's when and OC case, Mendez v. Westminster was decided by the Ninth Circuit Court.  Though it only applied to four OC school districts, it had the impact of making California the first state to end school segregation...seven years before Brown v. Board of Education.  Among many surprises, NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall and then-California governor Earl Warren were involved in both the Mendez and Brown cases.

Sandra Robbie grew up in Westminster but she never heard of Mendez or Calfornia segregation until about ten years ago when she read a news article about a school that was going to built named in honor of the Mendez family.  "I remember the kitchen walls spinning around me as I read about the segregation that happened in my hometown.  When I looked up from the article, everything in my world looked different.  I knew this was a story my children had to know...every child had to know.  The truth is the American civil rights struggle didn't just happen in the South.  It is a struggle that continues today and it is about every single one of us."

Sandra is committed to seeing that Mendez in sharing the ispiring story and secrets of this civil rights victory all across America.  "Sure, civil rights is a tough subject to talk about, but I want Mendez to seen as a celebration of the civil rights strides we have made together."

The U.S. Postal Service is issuing a commemorative Mendez v. Westminster stamp in September 2007. Sandra wants teachers and students to put that stamp on an envelope with a letter to their legislators saying Mendez should be included in the curriculum for  California and all of America.