WESTMINSTER, Calif. — In 1944, Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez’s children were turned away from a local school and told to attend a “Mexican school.”

A year later, the Mendezes joined several other families who said were discriminated against and sued four Orange County School Districts.

The families won the legal battle in 1947, leading to the desegregation of California schools.

Now, newly proposed state legislation hopes to incorporate the Mendez vs. Westminster case into social studies curriculum for public schools — a move that comes as subjects that deal with racism and critical race theory are being banned nationwide.