Gong Lum v. Rice - 275 U.S. 78, 48 S. Ct. 91 (1927)

Rule:

The establishment of separate schools for white and colored children has been held to be a valid exercise of the legislative power even by courts of states where the political rights of the colored race have been longest and most earnestly enforced.

Facts:

Gong Lum is a resident of Mississippi, resides in the Rosedale Consolidated High School District, and is the father of Martha Lum. He is engaged in the mercantile business. Neither he nor she was connected with the consular service or any other service of the government of China, or any other government, at the time of her birth. She was nine years old when the petition was filed, having been born January 21, 1915, and she sued by her next friend, Chew How, who is a native born citizen of the United States and the State of Mississippi. The petition alleged that she was of good moral character and between the ages of five and twenty-one years, and that, as she was such a citizen and an educable child, it became her father's duty under the law to send her to school; that she desired to attend the Rosedale Consolidated High School; that at the opening of the school she appeared as a pupil, but at the noon recess she was notified by the superintendent that she would not be allowed to return to the school; that an order had been issued by the Board of Trustees, who are made defendants, excluding her from attending the school solely on the ground that she was of Chinese descent and not a member of the white or Caucasian race, and that their order had been made in pursuance to instructions from the State Superintendent of Education of Mississippi, who is also made a defendant. The state officials informed Martha Lum that she was to attend the "colored" high school. A lower state court granted Gong Lum’s petition for a writ of mandamus, but the state supreme court reversed that judgment based upon Miss. Const. § 207 (1890). Section 207 provided that separate schools were to be maintained for children of the white and "colored" races. The state supreme court interpreted that provision to mean that white students were to attend one set of schools and all other races were to attend a separate set of schools. 

Issue:

Was Martha Lum denied the equal protection of the laws by being classed by the State among the colored races who are assigned to public schools separate from those provided for the whites?

Answer:

No.

Conclusion:

The Court agreed with the state supreme court's interpretation of § 207 and ruled that it was within the state's power to operate separate school systems. The Court held that the operation of dual school systems did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.