Segregation in Schools
The Pensionado Program: Black, White, or something in between? (1903)
When racial segregation was first established in the South, legal rhetoric only referred to “white” and “colored” people, the latter being largely synonymous with black. The American population experienced limited diversity during the early 20th century, with immigration beginning to increase in later years, giving many Americans their first encounter with other ethnicities. In 1903, Congress established the Pensionado Program, which provided scholarships to students from the Philippines in an effort to bring culture into the classroom. A white school in Kentucky was adamantly opposed to allowing Filipino students, claiming this derailed the efforts of academic segregation, which was to ‘preserve culture.’ This sparked a conversation about whether Filipinos were considered a distinct racial group, as they weren’t white, but they also weren’t “Negro” as the students segregated into colored schools were. Ultimately, it was determined that ‘colored’ did not only refer to black Americans, but also, “Indians and other brown races.” Although a solution for the immediate discourse, this ruling led to another question: where does one draw the line between colored, Negro, and brown?
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The Kentucky Day Law (1904-1954)
Established that it was “unlawful to maintain or operate any college, school, or institution where persons of the white and colored races are both allowed to attend.”
Pong Dock (1913)
“Under the laws of the united states, a Chinese immigrant cannot become a citizen of the united states, therefore, he cannot become a citizen of this state. So far as I’m informed, there are only two races that can become citizens of the United States… there is no provision whereby a Mongolian may become a citizen of this country.“
-James Garnett, 24th Kentucky Attorney General (1912-1916)
At the age of fourteen, Pong Dock relocated to America after spending many of his formative years in China. His caretaker sought to send Pong Dock to a white school in the area, which soon became a legal debacle. Attorney General James Garnett argued that although Pong Dock was “Mongolian,” the state had a right to provide an education to “alien races,” and thus Pong Dock was allowed to attend a whites-only school.
“our legislature has provided for schools only for the white race and the colored race and the word, ‘colored,’ as used in our constitution and statute relates to the negro race.”
-James Garnett
Pong was considered non-black and Mongolian simultaneously, his family arguing that his solely Chinese heritage prevented him from being colored. Pong Dock’s family did not fight for the liberation of all colored people or even all Mongolians; on the contrary, they believed their child in particular was simply on the wrong side of the ethnic divide.
Lum vs. Rice (1924)
In 1924, Jeu Gong Lum’s daughters were denied admission to Bolivar County’s Rosedale Consolidated High School, despite having been students the previous year. Local laws segregated schools either as white or ‘colored,’ and Lum argued that because they were Chinese, his daughters were neither. The case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled that Chinese Americans were indeed colored and could not attend white schools.
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“H Mart gate” original video
A video by a TikTok creator has sparked a lot of debate online within the Asian community on white proximity, pandering, and anti-blackness among Asian Americans.
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