Missouri seems not to have lost an opportunity to express its belief in separate schools for the races. The Constitution[[390]] of 1865 made that requirement, adding that the school fund must be appropriated in proportion to the number of children without regard to color. Such separation is required by the laws of 1865,[[391]] of 1868,[[392]] of 1869,[[393]] by the Constitution of 1875,[[394]] and by a law of 1889,[[395]] which last made it unlawful for colored children to attend a white school, or white children, a colored school.
The Constitution of North Carolina[[396]] of 1875 declares that “the children of the white and the children of the colored shall be taught in separate public schools, but there shall be no discrimination made in favor of, or to the prejudice of either race.” According to the statute[[397]] of 1901, a child descended from a Negro to the third generation inclusive should not attend a white school. This was amended[[398]] in 1903 to the effect that no child with Negro blood in his veins, “however remote the strain,” shall attend a school for the white race. The present statute[[399]] also provides that the descendants of Croatan Indians now living in Robeson and Richmond counties shall have separate schools for their children. It will be remembered that it is the Croatan Indians who are prohibited from intermarrying with Negroes.
The Territory of Oklahoma[[400]] had the following peculiar arrangement for separate schools till 1901: In each county an election was held every three years at which all the qualified school electors could vote for or against the maintenance of separate schools in that county. If a majority voted against separation, then the white and colored children might attend the same school; but if a majority voted for separation separate schools had to be provided. In counties which separate schools were voted in the schools for whites and blacks had to be equal in length of terms and in facilities. Any failure to comply with the law rendered the act for establishing separate schools void, and immediately the schools were opened to both races. In 1901[[401]] separate schools were required all over the Territory. In case the children of one race in a district did not exceed ten, they were to be transferred to a school for their race in another district instead of a separate school being maintained for them, provided the distance was not over two miles and a half. The white and colored schools were to be furnished with the same kind of furniture and equipment. No white teacher should teach in a colored school and vice versa. The Constitution[[402]] of the State of Oklahoma, adopted September 17, 1907, provides: “Separate schools for white and colored children, with like accommodation, shall be provided by the legislature and impartially maintained. The term ‘colored children,’ as used in this section, shall be construed to mean children of African descent. The term ‘white children’ shall include all other children.” An Oklahoma statute[[403]] of 1907 requires complete separation of the races in schools, with impartial facilities for both races. By “colored children,” it means those that have any “quantum of Negro blood.” The teacher who knowingly and willingly permits a child of one race to be taught in a school for another race is guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be punished by a fine of between ten and a hundred dollars and, in addition, may have his certificate cancelled and be unable to secure another for a year. The separation applies to private schools and colleges as well as public schools.
The South Carolina government was, like that of Louisiana, early under Reconstruction. The Constitution[[404]] of 1868 provided that “all the public schools, colleges and universities of this State, supported in whole or in part by the public school fund, should be free and open to all the children and youths of that State, without regard to race or color.” In fact, the University of South Carolina was open to Negroes directly after the War.[[405]] But the Constitution[[406]] of 1895 requires separate schools, and adds that “no child of either race shall ever be permitted to attend a school provided for children of the other race.” The Negro public schools of the city of Charleston are taught by white people, mostly Southern-born white people.
Tennessee, by its laws[[407]] of 1866, by its Constitution[[408]] of 1870, and by its laws[[409]] of 1873 requires separate public schools for the white and colored children. A statute[[410]] of 1901 prohibits the co-education of the white and colored races in private schools.
The Texas Constitution[[411]] of 1876 provided for separate schools and impartial accommodations for both races. A school-house constructed in part by voluntary subscription by colored parents and guardians and for a colored school community shall not be used without their consent for the education of white children, and vice versa.[[412]] The separate school requirement was repeated in the laws of 1884,[[413]] 1893,[[414]] and 1895.[[415]] The Texas provision is that a school which receives both white and colored pupils shall not receive any of the public school fund, which amounts to saying that it is not unlawful to educate white and colored children together in private schools.
The Constitution of Virginia of 1870 did not declare that the races must be separated in schools. But statutes of 1882[[416]] and 1896[[417]] provide that white and colored persons shall not be taught in the same school but in separate schools, under the same general regulations as to management, usefulness, and efficiency. The Virginia Constitution[[418]] of 1902 has the terse statement that white and colored children shall not be taught in the same school.
(b) In States Outside of South
Besides the Southern States, which have just been considered, there are other States which require or permit a separation of the races in schools. The separation of the white and Japanese children in the public schools of San Francisco has already been discussed. That was only a part of the legislation of California. A statute[[419]] enacted during the session of 1869–70 read: “The education of children of African descent and Indian children shall be provided for in separate schools. Upon the written application of the parents or guardians of at least ten such children to the board of trustees or board of education, a separate school shall be established for the education of such children; and the education of a less number may be provided for by the trustees in separate schools in any other manner.” In 1874 a Negro child was refused admission to a white school in that State. In a test case which arose the constitutionality of the statute was supported, the court[[420]] being of opinion that the statute did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment if appropriate schools for colored children were maintained. But, it added, unless such separate schools are actually maintained, colored children must be admitted to the regular public schools along with the white children. This latter ruling became part of a statute of 1880. Prior to 1880 the law had been that “every school, unless otherwise provided by law, must be open for the admission of all white children....” This was amended in 1880[[421]] by the omission of the word “white” and by repealing the sections providing for Negro and Indian schools. On the strength of this amendment, a Negro, upon being refused admission to the white schools, brought suit,[[422]] and it was held that, as the law stood, colored children had equal rights with white children to admission to any public school, even though separate schools were maintained. The court said: “The whole policy of the legislative department of the government upon this matter is easily gathered from the course of legislation shown therein; and there can be no doubt but that it was never intended that, as a matter of classification of pupils, the right to establish separate schools for children of African descent, and thereby to exclude them from white schools ... should be given to such boards [of education].” It was earlier, in 1872, that the provision for separate schools for Mongolians was made. The law of California seems now to be that Negro children may attend the same schools as whites, but Japanese, Chinese, and Korean children must go to separate schools if the board of education sees fit to provide them.
The legislature of Delaware,[[423]] in 1881, appropriated two thousand four hundred dollars annually for the education of colored children. In 1889 three colored schools[[424]] were incorporated and placed in control of boards of trustees elected by the voters of the district. These incorporated schools[[425]] as such were abolished in 1893, and after that they were placed under the supervision of the regular county superintendent just as the other public schools. The same State,[[426]] in 1898, provided for the establishment of separate kindergartens. Thus, Delaware is as strict as the Southern States in requiring separate schools for the races.