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| The Tape family |
Things were very difficult for Chinese immigrants in the United States during the late 1800’s. They were denied or had limited access to the simplest things we take for granted today, especially education. In September 1884, an eight year old Chinese-American girl named Mamie Tape was denied admission to the all-white Spring Valley School because of her Chinese ancestry. Her parents, both Chinese immigrants, were practically well-to-do citizens; her father (Joseph Tape) was a businessman and an interpreter for the Chinese consulate, and her mother (Mary Tape) was a photographer and artist. When they found out that the school’s principal, Jennie Hurley, refused to admit their daughter, they sued her and took their case to the Supreme Court.
Principal Jennie Hurley’s defense cited the school board policy that Chinese students were not allowed to be enrolled because they were deemed “dangerous to the well-being of the state.” However, Supreme Court Justice James Maguire handed the case in favor of the Tapes, stating that “To deny a child, born of Chinese parents in this state, entrance to the public schools would be a violation of the law of the state and the Constitution of the United States.”
Although the Tapes won the case, Mamie was still denied enrollment because she didn’t get her vaccinations in time. Mary Tape wrote a letter to the Alta California newspaper expressing her frustration and anger towards the prejudiced school system in America:
“What right have you to bar my child out of the school because she is Chinese...You have expended a lot of the Public money foolishly, all because of one poor little Child …It seems no matter how a Chinese may live and dress…they are hated…I will let the world see sir what justice there is when it is governed by the Race of prejudice men!”
And just when things couldn’t get any better, the San Francisco school board also proposed a school system for Chinese children, which still kept them separate from white children.
Even though the case didn’t eliminate prejudice from education right away, it was a landmark case for the Chinese community. Actually, it was a landmark case for all Asians in America. It was a first step to further integrate schools after the Brown v. Board of Education case, which desegregated public schools in America. The resulting decision of Tape v. Hurley brought hope to Chinese American children for an education in white public schools.
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Posted by Natasha Rivero
"It was a first step to further integrate schools after the Brown v. Board of Education case, which desegregated public schools in America. "
ReplyDeleteActually this was in 1885, almost 70 years before brown vs. board of education, so it attempted to end segregation in schools long before the brown case.