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For the purposes of analyzing American public policy, the best definition of white is the definition that was constructed by a century of America's discriminatory laws against non-whites. These legal opinions, authored by white judges, provide a crisp boundary that can be followed in efforts to dismantle the illegitimate power structures that were built around the white definition of whiteness. Even in a free market, power persists until it is yielded by the powerful; it does not dismantle itself. But it doesn't matter what the Government says, it matters what you believe. Are You White?
  • See, e.g., In re Ah Yup (1878) (Chinese are not White)
  • In re Camille (1880) (persons half white and Native American are not White)
  • In re Kanaka Nian (1889) (Hawaiians are not White)
  • In re Hong Yen Chang (1890) (Chinese are not White)
  • In re Po (1894) (Burmese are not White)
  • In re Saito (1894) (Japanese are not White)
  • In re Burton (1900) (Native Americans are not White)
  • In re Knight (1909) (persons half White, one-quarter Japanese, and one-quarter Chinese are not White)
  • In re Balsara (1909) (Asian Indians are not White)
  • In re Majour (1909) (Syrians are White)
  • In re Halladjian (1909) (Armenians are White)
  • Bessho v. United States (1910) (Japanese are not White)
  • In re Alverto (1912) (persons three-quarters Filipino and one-quarter White are not White)
  • In re Young (1912) (persons half German and half Japanese are not White)
  • In re Akhay Kumar Mozumdar (1913) (Asian Indians are White)
  • Ex parte Dow (1914) (Syrians are not White)
  • Petition of Easurk Emsen Charr (1921) (Koreans are not White)
  • Ozawa v. United States (1922) (Japanese are not White)
  • United States v. Thind (1923) (Asian Indians are not White)
  • United States v. Ali (1925) (Punjabis are not White)
  • In re Feroz Din (1928) (Afghanis are not White)
  • United States v. Gokhale (1928) (Asian Indians are not White)
  • De La Ysla v. United States (1935) Filipinos are not White)
  • De Cano v. State (1941) (Filipinos are not White)
  • Kharaiti Ram Samras v. United States (1942) (Asian Indians are not White)
  • In re Ahmed Hassan (1942) (Arabians are not White)
  • Ex parte Mohriez (1944) (Arabians are White).
Are Arabs White?