This year marks the 50th anniversary of Lau v. Nichols, a landmark court case that served as a major civil rights victory in bilingual education and language access.
The 1974 Supreme Court case expanded rights for students with limited English proficiency by arguing that English-only instruction to Chinese-speaking students violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This provision prohibited discrimination on the grounds of “race, color, or national origin,” according to Dr. Xigrid Soto-Boykin, Director of Language Justice and Learning Equity at the Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University.