On January 12, 2009 the Kansas District Court ruled in favor of the defendants in the case of Adam Silva vs. St. Anne Catholic School, Wichita, Kansas where Latino students at St. Anne’s were asked to sign a permission slip forbidding the use of Spanish for the duration of the school day, including at lunch and recess. The Silva’s, along with the Fernandez’s and Cruz’s, sued St. Anne Catholic School on the claim that “St. Anne’s violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and 42 U.S.C. § 1981 by intentionally discriminating against the sixth-graders based on race, color, or national origin causing a hostile educational environment.” Instances of discrimination cited by the parents included staff noting behavioral concerns, which they attributed to certain Latino students individually and as a group, children were told not to sit together during lunch, resulting in Adam Silva being moved to a table by himself, an email sent by another student stating that the United States is “our country, not yours,” and one plaintiff being denied the opportunity to fold the American flag because she made a mistake and afterwards was told “we [aren’t] in Mexico.” Clearly, negative attitudes pertaining to bilingualism and against Latino students are alive and well today as this case took place only 13 years ago.
Ultimately, the Court ruled that St. Anne’s did not violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and 42 U.S.C. § 1981, citing the reason as the English only policy is objective, neutral and did not create a hostile educational environment seeing as no incident or combination of incidents was severe enough to create a hostile environment. While one can understand the Court’s reasoning, especially in a case against a private school where their own rules can be established, it is hard, as a Chicano, to feel that this was a fair ruling. Although the situations previously mentioned were “dealt with” according to St. Anne’s, the discriminatory practices and actions continued. Students were continuously targeted because of their status as Latinos. Actions just like the ones taken by St. Anne’s continue to enable discrimination against Spanish speaking students and only Spanish speaking students. These rules rarely exist for any other non English languages. Cases such as this are only more proof that the work of the Chicano Civil Rights Movement was incredibly important and is still needed.
“It is not this Court’s place to pass on the wisdom or soundness of the policy.
Nevertheless, the Court feels it is appropriate to note that things could have been
handled differently by all the parties involved. In sum, the request for injunctive relief is denied with respect to St. Anne’s English only policy because it is objective neutral. Further, the policy did not and does not create a hostile educational environment. No incident or combination of incidents was severe enough to create a hostile environment. Accordingly, judgment shall be entered in favor of the defendants.”
“In the United States District Court for the District of Kansas: Adam Silva, et al., Plaintiffs, vs. St. Anne Catholic School, Wichita, Kansas, et al., Defendants. Case No. 08-1143-JTM.” January 12, 2009. https://ecf.ksd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2008cv1143-70.