Abstracts History

A History of California Anti-Miscegenation Law: Legalizing White Supremacy

by Julia Kay Torres

California has often been viewed as a rather lenient and progressive state in terms of being accepting of people and beliefs. However, the exclusionary and restrictive legal history of California has also been around since the addition of California into the Union. These laws were used to exclude and restrict non-white racialized people in a multitude of ways. Some of these included laws about citizenship, property, immigration, and marriage. All of these restrictive laws support and influence each other by being focused on one main goal, upholding white supremacy through the legal system. These laws all worked together and were important parts of supporting white supremacy but the focus of this thesis will be on anti-miscegenation laws in California from the beginning of California to the mid-twentieth century. Anti-miscegenation laws in California were both similar and different from the typical law found in the United States. The laws were more restrictive than many anti-miscegenation laws found throughout the United States as they excluded more groups; however, California was also less restrictive in terms of the punishments and voiding of marriages. Since California was both more restrictive and less restrictive than many states it makes for an interesting case study. Yet, there has not been much focus on California except for the groundbreaking court case of Perez v. Sharp (1948). So, this thesis focuses on not only the court case but also how California gained their anti-miscegenation law in the first place and how there was a struggle over its support even after the laws were declared unconstitutional within the state.