Can you spot what these images are about?

These pictures from the Anthology of Argentine Mural showcase some of the segregation that occurred within the community.

Segregation is not unique to Argentine. In fact, starting in 1905, Kansas City, Kansas, was the only city in the state legally allowed to have both segregated high schools and middle schools. Black Americans were forced to attend segregated schools, the most notable example being Sumner High School. Mexican-Americans were allowed to attend White schools on a case-by-case basis, but were still segregated within those schools. Clara Barton School was established in 1925 in nearby Armourdale as Kansas City’s first segregated school for Mexican students.

Saturnino Alvarado, a resident of Argentine, became one of the first notable protesters of school segregation in the community. He believed that his children, Jesse and Luz, and any other children deserved to get educated at Argentine High School, an all White school. After protests and threats from White parents, his children were enrolled for the 1926-1927 school year. Despite Brown V. Board of Education, schools within KCKPS were still segregated as determined by the U.S. District Court in 1977. It was not until 1997 that the U.S. District Court removed the distinction.

In order to move forward together, it is important to recognize our past and strive to never create that community of hostility and hate again!