that when the chinese exclusion act was voted on in congress, there was one black senator named blanche bruce, the only african-american in the u.s. senate, voted against it. similarly, we work side-by-side for semel -- civil rights and improve public education. in '86, and laundry owner sued the san francisco board of supervisors for a racially discriminatory law, and it brought equal protection to minorities, and that overturned the 1857 dread scott case, which held that minorities were not protected by the u.s. constitution. we have the landmark case of brown harris is board of education, 1954, to thank for equality in education. -- brown v. board of education. seven years later, the chinese community here worked shoulder to shoulder with the african- american community to expand civil rights and public education. we have a history of working together. mayer brown, and reverend brown knows very well. in the early 1970's, a community leader from japan town and let the board informed of the african american roundtable to improve relations between japanese and african americans in the western