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Ozawa v. United States (1922) |
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The Court held that §2169 of the Revised Statutes
placed limitations on the Naturalization Act,
and therefore certain groups could be excluded
from applying for citizenship. The Court examined
the history of the passage of the act and
remarked that if Congress had intended to
make so fundamental a change to the definition
of eligibility for naturalization, and one
so vital to national policy, there would have
been on record indications of the ensuing
debate. Briefly considering the question of
whether Ozawa was a "free white person,"
Sutherland states that he "is clearly
of a race which is not Caucasian and therefore
belongs entirely outside the zone," later
asserting that, "Of course there is not
implied -- either in the legislation or in
our interpretation of it -- any suggestion
of individual unworthiness or racial inferiority.
These considerations are in no manner involved."
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In the first decade of the twentieth century,
hundreds of Japanese Americans were naturalized
due to some ambiguity about the term "white,"
but an order from the Attorney General soon
prohibited Japanese naturalization. In a major
setback not only for Japanese immigrants but
also for Asian immigrants in general, this
decision confirmed such a prohibition. Ozawa
is for many a symbol of perseverance, despite
his ultimately futile battle. At the time
of the case he was about to finish college
at the University of California at Berkeley,
and wrote his own brief. He first argued that
his skin was as white as or whiter than a
Caucasian's, but his second argument was even
more powerful. He wrote, "My honesty
and industriousness are well known among my
Japanese and American friends. In name Benedict
Arnold was an American, but at heart he was
a traitor. In name I am not an American, but
at heart I am a true American."
For a full summary of this case, go to:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl? court=US&vol=260&invol=178
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