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One grand prize of $5,000!
3 finalist prizes of $1,000 each!
This contest seeks to inspire young people to learn about and share aspects of Asian American history of interest to all Americans through the medium of video presentations. We are asking participants to introduce and highlight the impact of one case selected from our list of cases in a thoughtful and creative way that will bring attention to this event in Asian American legal history.
We challenge participants to retell these stories in their own way, using their own personal perspectives and displaying their own unique skills. The goal is to create content of such excellence that it will inspire others to learn more about Asian American history.
ELIGIBILITY
  • Participants need to be between the ages of 13 and 18 and currently enrolled in middle school or high school.
  • There is a limit of one (1) entry per person, per case.
  • Submit by: March 31, 11:59 PM EST
AWARDS
  • One Grand Prize of $5,000
  • 3 Finalists will be awarded $1,000 per Finalist.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the United States and the District of Columbia and territories who are between the ages of 13 and 18 and currently enrolled in middle school or high school at the time of entry. Void where prohibited. Starts 12:01 am ET on 11/7/24 and ends 11:59 pm ET on 6/30/25. For Official Rules and detailed eligibility requirements visit https://binkd.co/asianamericanhistory Sponsors: The Center on Asian Americans and the Law, Fordham University School of Law W62nd St. New York, NY 10023 and the AAPI Crime Victims and Education Fund, c/o 3986 Ashford Dunwoody Rd, Brookhaven, Georgia 30319.
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The Pigtail Ordinance Case
Ho Ah Kow v. Nunan (1879)
In 1876, California passed the "Cubic Air Law," which required at least 500 cubic feet of space for each adult in a residence. The law targeted the Chinese, who lived in cramped quarters in Chinatown. As the city jails filled with Chinese men who failed to pay the $10 fine, San Francisco passed the "Pigtail Ordinance," which required all male prisoners in the city jails to have their hair cut to one inch from the scalp. The ordinance was only enforced against Chinese men, most of whom kept their hair in a pigtail -- or queue. Ho Ah Kow, a laborer, was imprisoned for violating the Cubic Air Law. On his first day in jail, the sheriff cut off his queue. Ho Ah Kow sued the sheriff for $10,000 -- and won. The court found that the Pigtail Ordinance violated Ho Ah Kow's right to equal protection of the laws, as it held that the Equal Protection Clause applied not just to citizens but to noncitizens, including the Chinese.
The Eureka Expulsion Cases
Wing Hing v. City of Eureka (1886)
In 1885, in Eureka, California, a white man was shot and killed when he was caught in a cross fire between two Chinese men shooting at each other. An angry mob formed, shouting "Burn Chinatown, Burn Chinatown." They decided to drive the Chinese out of town. Within 48 hours, the mob expelled the entire Chinese population of Eureka -- several hundred of them. They were put on two steamships and taken to San Francisco. Some 56 Chinese business owners and residents of Chinatown sued the City of Eureka, bringing what was essentially a forerunner of a class action, seeking damages against a municipality for failing to control a rioting mob. The lawsuit eventually failed, but it sent a message that the Chinese were willing to fight back.
The Birthright Citizenship Case
United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)
In 1894, a Chinese cook named Wong Kim Ark took a trip from San Francisco to China. When he returned a year later, he was denied reentry, as the authorities cited the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred most Chinese from entering the United States. But Wong argued that he could not be denied admission because he was an American citizen -- he was a U.S. citizen because he had been born in California. The case went up to the Supreme Court, and the Court ruled in Wong Kim Ark's favor, holding that the words of the Fourteenth Amendment -- "[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside" -- meant that Wong Kim Ark was a U.S. citizen, even though his parents had been born in China and were "subjects of the Emperor of China."
The Bubonic Plague Cases
Wong Wai v. Williamson (1900)
Jew Ho v. Williamson (1900)
In 1900, because of fears of a pandemic, San Francisco authorities gathered at a Chinatown "coffin shop" to examine the body of a Chinese man. They suspected the bubonic plague. Within hours, the Board of Health quarantined Chinatown, after first making sure that all white persons who could be found were escorted out of the area. The quarantine was lifted within a few days, but then reimposed a few weeks later. The Board of Health also adopted a resolution requiring all "Chinese and Asiatics" to be inoculated with an experimental serum if they wanted to leave the city and return. Two lawsuits were filed. A Chinatown grocer challenged the quarantine and a Chinatown merchant challenged the inoculation requirement. They won, as the court issued injunctions enjoining enforcement of the quarantine and the inoculation resolution, concluding that the resolutions were directed against "the Asiatic race exclusively," in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Naturalization Cases
Ozawa v. United States (1922)
United States v. Thind (1923)
For many years, to be naturalized as a U.S. citizen, one had to be "a free white person." After the Civil War, the law was amended to extend naturalization to "aliens of African nativity and persons of African descent." In the 1920s, Takao Ozawa, a Japanese man, and Bhagat Singh Thind, a Sikh born in India, applied to be naturalized. Ozawa's application was denied on the grounds he was not "a free white person," and although Thind's application was initially granted, the U.S. government sought to "denaturalize" him -- to strip him of his U.S. citizenship -- for the same reason. In two separate opinions, the Supreme Court ruled that Ozawa and Thind were not eligible for citizenship. First, with respect to Ozawa, the Court held that "white" meant "Caucasian" and concluded that Ozawa was not Caucasian and therefore not "a free white person." Second, with respect to Thind, it held that even if Thind was considered Caucasian, he was not "a free white person" as those words were understood by "the common man." The "free white person" requirement was not dropped from the naturalization statute until 1952.
The Marriage Rights Case
Roldan v. Los Angeles County (1933)
In 1931, Salvador Roldan and Marjorie Rogers decided to get married. They had met at tennis courts in Pasadena, California. But he was Filipino and she was White, and the Los Angeles County Clerk refused to issue them a marriage license because of California's law against interracial marriage. Roldan sued -- and won. The court held that the law barred marriages between Whites and, among others, "Mongolians," and that Filipinos were not "Mongolians" but "Malays." Salvador and Marjorie were married. Their court victory was short-lived, as the California legislature changed the law to bar marriages between Whites and Malays as well. Salvador and Marjorie persevered, and years later were honored for their commitment to marriage equality.