Last Thursday, over 60 people attended the Orange Unified School District's Board of Trustees meeting to ask the elected officials to name a school after Lorenzo Ramirez, the brave father who joined four other Mexican papis to sue against segregated schools in Orange County in the historic Mendez, et al v. Westminster, et al case. Among those there were Phyllis Ramirez, Lorenzo's daughter and someone who has long battled to get her father some recognition.
People who attended tell the Weekly that the board didn't immediately scoff at their proposal–given the kooky conservative politics native Orange, let's consider that a first good step!
]
“Every board member responded to the proposal, some with
approval and some with questions,” said one person who attended. “All seven seemed sincere in their
willingness to at least consider the proposal. They closed discussion
with recognition of two needs: first, to analyze the Board's renaming
policy itself…
second, to form a committee with administrative and community
representation to confirm the stature and significance of Lorenzo
Ramirez.”
It's true: Orange Unified has no schools named after specific individuals, but that's a bit of a hoot given that most of the schools are named after streets named after historic Orange figures (Chapman, Yorba, Portola, and such). Let's hope the trustees come to their senses and let history reign…
