Opinion ID: 305880
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Segregation of Mexican-Americans

Text: 28 A. Mexican-Americans and Equal Protection. In Hernandez v. Texas, 1954, 347 U.S. 475, 74 S.Ct. 667, 98 L.Ed. 866, a case that appears in the United States reports immediately before Brown I, the petitioner, a Mexican-American, sought reversal of his Texas murder conviction on the ground that he had been denied equal protection of the laws because Mexican-Americans had been systematically excluded from service as jury commissioners, grand jurors, and petit jurors in the county in which he was convicted. The State of Texas argued that there are only two classes-white and Negro-within the contemplation of the Fourteenth Amendment. 347 U.S. at 477, 74 S.Ct. at 670. The Supreme Court rejected the State's contention: 29 Throughout our history differences in race and color have defined easily identifiable groups which have at times required the aid of the courts in securing equal treatment under the laws. But community prejudices are not static, and from time to time other differences from the community norm may define other groups which need the same protection. Whether such a group exists within a community is a question of fact. When the existence of a distinct class is demonstrated, and it is further shown that the laws, as written or as applied, single out that class for different treatment not based on some reasonable classification, the guarantees of the Constitution have been violated. The Fourteenth Amendment is not directed solely against discrimination due to a two-class theory-that is, based upon differences between white and Negro. 30 347 U.S. at 478, 74 S.Ct. at 670. As the decision in Hernandez demonstrated long ago, Mexican-Americans in Texas may constitute a separate class entitled to the equal protection guarantees of the fourteenth amendment. See also Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 1886, 118 U.S. 356, 6 S.Ct. 1064, 30 L.Ed. 220. 31 The district court was clearly correct in holding that Mexican-Americans in Austin are a separate ethnic minority: 32 That Mexican-Americans constitute a separate ethnic group has been recognized by several earlier decisions: by this court in its appointment of a TriEthnic as distinguished from a BiRacial Advisory Committee, by the testimony of AISD Superintendent, Dr. Jack Davidson, and by even the most casual examination of Mexican-American culture. 33