The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1921-12-09
PROUD AMERICANS

The good American is a believer
in his country and in his fellow
countrymen. He will not readily con
cede that any other people have a
greater capacity for intellectual
achievements-he resents the infer
ence that Americans are mentally
inferior to members of other races
and cannot hold their own in free
and Unrestricted competition.
The proud American is insulted
at the suggestion that in matters of
intellectual competition between him
and members of other races there
should be handicap in the latters'
disfavor To agree to such a sug-
gestion would be an admission of
inferiority.
From this point of view, the high
school students of Oakland, Califor-
mia, have committed an offense
against American pride.
Yuki Furuta, a Japanese girl,
was selected as speaker at the COM
mencement day exercises of the Oak
land high school. The choice was
based entirely on her merits, as she
beat all former records of the school.
But the other students are angry.
They are not willing to abide by the
rules of the game and let the Japan
csc girl deliver the grafton. They
say they will absent themselves
from the exercises unless another
speaker is substituted by the faculty
Evidently, any white student would
pacify them. Because the rules of
the game did not produce results to
please their whim, they are deter
mined to change the rules and to
change them in an ex post facto
manner.
Those students should have got
excited earlier in the season. Among
all the white boys and girls there
were, no doubt, half dozen who
could have beat the record of Miss
Furuta-if they had been willing to
try hard enough. They have neg
lected the problem till it is too late
to solve it, They have let the little
Jap lick them because they were
lazy, and their efforts to eliminate
the girl by physical force will only
serve to advertise their defeat II
might have caused little comment if
the white students had accepted
matters as good sports.
The tendency to revolt against the
rules of the game when they do not
result according to ones private de-
sires is a grave menace to peace
and civilization. little boy or :
girl gets caught several times in
in the game of "hide-and- =
SEEK lido they still play that?) and ,
goes home crying, Il won't play =
4 nation signs treaty but later dis y
covers that it is opposed to certain 6
If her intentions; thereupon, she
'alls the treaty a "scrap of paper
nd tries to forget it, Students go :
nto a contest that is to be decided Il
N purely intellectual lines; but a y,
japanese girl achieves the intellect
tai triumph: and so the white stu
ents say, We've changed our !,
minds about this. If a white stu =,
ent had won, we should have been a
eartily in favor of making the de- =,
ision on the basis of intellectual !,
chievements; but since an japanese =
as surpassed us in these attain :,
nents, we believe the choice should
e made on some other ground
re don't care great deal what g
round. ust so it results in the selec- "
ion of a white student
We may be mistaken. but it seems Y
hat the students, have. in effect, ia fl
en- such a stand
As believers in fair play. those
should reoice that somebo- =
y broke the records. Hats off 70 -
Iiss Furuta, As proud Americans,
ley should insist that commence tr
ime basis in the future; and then al
ent speakers be selected on the dc
icy should prove that white Ameri- tn
ms can beat Miss Furuta's record. be