1927: Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of White Supremacy

On this day in 1927, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down one of its worst decisions in Gong Lum v. Rice. In a 9-0 decision, the court ruled that the state of Mississippi had not violated the 14th Amendment in insisting that a 9-year-old girl, Martha Lum, had to attend a “Colored” school rather than a white one because while she was an American citizen, having been born in Mississippi, she was of Chinese descent and that made her “Mogollon” or “yellow-skinned” and by Mississippi law, the schools could insist that she attend the “Colored” school.

This decision effectively extended the reach of segregation laws and policies in Mississippi and throughout the nation by classifying all non-white individuals as “colored,” and confirming “Separate But Equal” as the law of the nation.

Image: The Lum Family-Berta, Biscoe, and Martha, front row. Gong and Kate, back row. Courtesy of Alvin Gee and the Lum Family. 

Sources:

http://www.gonglumvrice.com/images.html

https://www.britannica.com/event/Gong-Lum-v-Rice