At the turn of the century, Asian immigrants faced discrimination, including segregated schools for Chinese students. However, when the city of San Francisco passed a law requiring Japanese students to attend the Chinese school, President Theodore Roosevelt quickly and publicly denounced the law. In this lesson, students contextualize Roosevelt's speeches and letters to investigate why he opposed the segregation of Japanese students, while supporting the segregation of Chinese students.
Image: Photo of Japanese men in California published by Bain News Service in 1913. From the Library of Congress.