Many people from Asia, especially China, moved from their home country to California during the Gold Rush creating a community in the area.

However, the white people in the area were afraid that their jobs and power were going to be taken from them, so they passed laws that prevented the Asians from being treated as equal citizens.

Mamie Tape, an 8-year-old American, was the oldest of three children to Chinese immigrants Mary and Joseph Tape. Joseph was a well-respected businessman, and they lived in a majority-white neighborhood in San Francisco.

In 1884, her parents decided to put Mamie in school, so they went to their neighborhood public school, Spring Valley, to enroll her. Despite the fact that 4 years earlier, California had passed a law saying non-white students could not be denied admission, the school refused to admit her.

With the help of the Chinese consulate, where he worked as an interpreter, Joseph wrote a letter to the San Francisco school superintendent expressing that denying his daughter admission was against the Constitution.

However, the San Francisco superintendent and Board of Education, backed by the state superintendent, insisted that they conformed with all relevant laws. The Tapes then sued the San Francisco Board of Education and Jennie Hurley (the principal) for denying their American children admission which was a violation of the California Political Code.

Once they filed their suit against the Board of Education, they went to the San Francisco Superior Court where they argued that denying their children admission was not only against the Constitution but that they paid taxes for that school and deserve admission just like any of their neighbors.

Tape v Hurley

The Board of Education did not agree with the court’s decision, so they appealed. The case moved on to the California Supreme Court (the highest court in the state of California). 

Tape v Hurley