p. 6 | The Japanese in the San Francisco Public Schools

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 3, 1907

The Japanese in the San Francisco Public Schools

WHAT seems to us the most reliable and fair-minded setting forth of the San Francisco-Japanese school imbroglio we give below in a clipping from one of our exchanges. This clipping is based on an editorial in the California Christian Advocate, printed at the seat of trouble, and gives some inside facts in reference to the animus of the agitation which it is well for us to bear in mind. The article appeared under the heading, “The Japanese in the San Francisco Public Schools,” and reads as follows:—

Under this head the California Christian Advocate gives some interesting statements. We are assured that the writer is careful and reliable, and that what he says may be accepted as true. The number of Japanese in attendance in all the schools of the city is “just ninety-three—no more, no less.” In grade they range from the first to the eighth. In age they are below the average of their grades. Only two are so much as twenty years old; four are nineteen; six, eighteen; twelve, seventeen; nine are sixteen; and the others are all the way down to five. They are scattered in twenty-three different schools. Of the whole number, sixty-eight were born in Japan, and twenty-five in this country; sixty-five are boys, and twenty-eight are girls. That is the extent of the peril and the danger of contamination. To bring all these from all parts of the city into one school is as wrong as it is impracticable.

The Advocate says further: “The class of Japanese pupils which attend these schools are well dressed, well cared for, and almost without exception they are favorites with the teachers. The pupils also like them. They are bright in their studies, and charming in their manners.”

The anti-Japanese movement had its origin in an association formed a year and a half ago, composed largely of the rougher foreign element. The danger of the “yellow peril” was exploited until some good men were drawn into the movement. The labor unions took up the movement, and soon inflamed the public mind to such an extent that the school board adopted the order for separation. The better elements of the people do not support this policy. The protest of Japan gave the question a national importance.

Certain San Francisco newspapers have for the last two years been currying favor with the labor unions by demanding the exclusion of the Japanese. This element is largely responsible for the present trouble.