citizenship and race

[russian_armenian 4]

Just stumbled upon...So, 100 years ago only Caucasians were permitted to naturalize in US. Below is cutoff from Act. Interesting, so Mid East folks were classified Caucasians officially. Even Egyptians ...which is North Africa. So, there is a common ancestor for Europeans and Mid East.

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The above interpretation gave rise to a difficult situation in regard to those races who were not white of skin, but who were classified as Caucasian by ethnologists because of a remote common ancestry with admittedly white persons. In an early leading case generally followed in subsequent decisions, 3/ little or no consideration was given to the ethnological reasoning and Caucasian was said to mean a white person within the understanding of the common man. The court indicated that Congress intended the term to mean European peoples, the source of virtually all immigration to the United States, and that Asiatics inhabiting an area from which immigration was statutorily barred 4/ could hardly be deemed acceptable as citizens. Left open for future determination was the eligibility of Asiatic from without the barred zone, 5/ some of whom were found to be eligible under later decisions. It was generally held in the case of mixed races that the applicant must be preponderantly of an eligible race or races.

Bases primarily upon the principles set forth in the decision cited above, Burmese, Filipinos, 6/ Japanese, 7/ Koreans, 8/ Malayans, polynesians, Samoans, and Siamese 9/ were held to be racially ineligible, whereas Afghans, 10/ Arabs, 11/ Armenians, 12/ Egyptians, Kalmuks of Southeast European Russia, 13/ Persians, Syrians, Tartars of East Russia, 14/ and Turks were deemed qualified in the racial sense.

In order to dispel any doubt concerning the racial ineligibility of Chinese, they were specifically barred from naturalization by the Act of May 6, 1882.