Page:Race distinctions in American Law (IA racedistinctions00stepiala).pdf/212

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and colored persons in the same private school. Other States—as Georgia and Texas—declare that, if a school admits both races, it shall have none of the public school fund, saying, by implication, that one may operate a school for both races if he will give up his claim to State aid. On the other hand, Minnesota has enacted a statute to the effect that, if a school refuses to admit pupils of both races, it shall have none of the public school fund, thus saying, by implication, that it is not unlawful to conduct a private school exclusively for one race. The recent decision of the Supreme Court of Michigan to the effect that a private school may exclude Negroes even though the law of the State requires public schools to be open to all, regardless of race or color, has been considered.


EQUALITY OF ACCOMMODATIONS

In general, the "accommodations, advantages, and facilities" of schools for Negroes are to be equal to those for white children, but the requirement has, in many cases, been loosely construed. It has been held in Missouri[155] and Ohio,[156] for instance, that it is not an unjust discrimination for the colored children to have to walk farther to school than the white children. The Supreme Court[157] of Kansas in 1903 decided that uniformity of schools for white and colored children did not require equality of buildings. The court said: "True, for the accommodation of a numerous white population a much larger and more imposing school building is provided than that set apart for the few colored children in the district. This, however, is but an incidental matter, and necessarily