Page:Race distinctions in American Law (IA racedistinctions00stepiala).pdf/207

 a separate school for the instruction of such colored children."

The statutes[139] of Arizona, until 1909, declared that no child should be refused admission to any public school on account of race or color. Last year, however, the school law of that Territory was amended[140] so as to give the board of trustees of school districts power, when they deem it advisable, to segregate pupils of the African from pupils of the white race and to provide all accommodations made necessary by such segregation, but the power to segregate shall be exercised only where the number of pupils of the African race shall exceed eight in any school district. This amendment was passed over the Governor's veto by a two-thirds' vote of the legislature.

The Constitutions of Colorado[141] of 1876 and of Idaho[142] of 1889 provide that no distinction or classification of pupils shall be made on account of race or color, and the judicial decisions of those States do not show any attempts by the school boards to draw color lines.

Separate schools were abolished by law in Massachusetts in 1857.[143] The present statute[144] declares that no child shall be excluded from a public school of any city or town on account of race or color. In practice, the matter is not entirely at rest in Massachusetts.

The law[145] of Michigan prohibits the segregation of the races in schools. Because of objections made by white students, two Negroes,[146] in 1908, were refused admission to the Grand Rapids, Michigan, Medical College, a private institution. The Negroes appealed to the State circuit court, which issued a writ of mandamus compelling the school to admit them. When this was granted and they