Thind established common knowledge, not race science, as the Whiteness test.

Evidence

In 1923, the US Supreme Court affirmed that being Caucasian was insufficient to qualify an applicant as White. In United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, the Indian applicant, a Hindu, could prove he was anthropologically Caucasian, but the Court rejected his naturalization application by replacing the scientific inquiry rule with the common knowledge rule. A darkskinned Indian, even if anthropologically Caucasian, simply could not be White. Not until Congress amended immigration laws in 1943 and 1946 would Asians be permitted to immigrate and naturalize. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 548

Categorization

• XREF: Thind is the canonical statutory interpretation case resolving race/national-origin boundaries; directly parallel to how courts must now resolve religion/race under equal protection.
• DEFINE: Illustrates the definitional shift from science-based to common-knowledge racial categories.