Here’s a bit of Asian American history most people don’t know:
Nearly a century before Brown vs Board of Education, a Chinese American family in San Francisco made one of the first legal pushes towards school integration.
Mary and Joseph Tate tried really hard to assimilate into American culture, but in spite of this, their daughter Mamie was denied entry into Spring Valley Primary School.
The family took them to court and in Tape vs Hurley, both state and federal courts ruled in their favor because all children had the right to education.
The school district was so committed to discrimination that they found a way around the ruling by creating a separate school in Chinatown for Chinese children.
In a sharp letter, Mary Tape drew on Christian rhetoric to hold the district accountable.
“Didn’t God make us all!!! What right have you to bar my children out of the school because she is a chinese Decend”
#AAPIHeritageMonth #MamieTape