Bellingham riots

The Bellingham riots were a series of violent riots against Americans of Asian descent which occurred on September 4, 1907, in Bellingham, Washington, United States. Although this riot specifically targeted South Asians as they had contributed a wider demographic in the city at the time, it was a part of the wider Pacific Coast race riots of 1907, which had also targeted East Asians.[1] A mob of 400–500 white men, predominantly members of the Asiatic Exclusion League, with intentions to exclude East Indian immigrants from the work force of the local lumber mills, attacked the homes of the South Asian Indians.[2] The Indians were mostly Sikhs but were however labelled as Hindus by much of the media of the day.[3]

Bellingham riots
DateSeptember 4, 1907
Location
Bellingham, Washington

48°45′7″N 122°28′43″W
Caused byAnti-immigration sentiment, Anti-Asian racism, White supremacy
Parties to the civil conflict
Asian Americans in Bellingham, specifically of South Asian descent
Casualties
Death(s)Unknown
Injuries6
Arrested105 (100 Asians, 5 whites)
ChargedNone

The mob threw the East Indian workers into the streets, beat them, and pocketed their valuables. The authorities co-operated with the mob by corralling the beaten Indian immigrants into the City Hall, ostensibly for their safety.[4] "By the next day 125 South Asians had been driven out of town and were on their way to British Columbia".[5] According to one report, disputed by local leaders and newspapers, six East Indians were hospitalized; and "no one" was killed. About 100 were held overnight in the Bellingham jail, reportedly under "protective custody". Although five men were arrested, they were later released and none of the participants in the mob violence were prosecuted.[6]

Some victims of the riots migrated to Everett, Washington where two months later, they received similar treatment.[7] Similar riots occurred during this period in Vancouver, British Columbia, where East Asians were also targeted,[8] and California.[9]

In recognition of the 100th anniversary of the riots, Whatcom County Executive Pete Kremen and Bellingham Mayor Tim Douglas jointly proclaimed Sept. 4, 2007, a "Day of Healing and Reconciliation," acknowledging and atoning for those regrettable events.[10] An imposing granite monument, the Arch of Healing and Reconciliation, was erected in downtown Bellingham and dedicated in 2018 in memory of the three groups of Asian immigrants who were expelled from the region – the Chinese in 1885, the East Indians in 1907, and the Japanese in 1942.[11]

See also

References
  1. "1907 Bellingham Riots". Archived from the original on 2012-11-28. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  2. "White workingmen attack Bellingham's East Indian millworkers on September 4, 1907". Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
  3. "News Coverage: 1907-2007 - Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project". depts.washington.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-12-05. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  4. "1907 Bellingham Riots". Archived from the original on 2009-07-24. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  5. Erika Lee, "The "Yellow Peril" and Asian Exclusion in the Americas," Pacific Historical Review 76, no. 4 (November 2007):551
  6. Robert E. Wynne, "American Labor Leaders and the Vancouver Anti-Oriental Riot." Pacific Northwest Quarterly 57.4 (1966): 174
  7. "The City of Everett". Archived from the original on 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  8. "Two-day conference examines city's 1907 race riot". Archived from the original on 2012-11-04.
  9. "4: The Great White Wall". Echoes of Freedom: South Asian Pioneers in California, 1899-1965. Archived from the original on 2005-08-25. Retrieved 2005-09-11.
  10. http://archofhealing.org/archwp/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Proclamation-Day-of-healing-reconciliation-Sept-4-2007.pdf Archived March 9, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2020-11-29. Retrieved 2021-01-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Further reading
  • Englesberg, Paul. "The 1907 Bellingham Riot and Anti-Asian Hostilities in the Pacific Northwest." online
  • Hallberg, Gerald. N. "Bellingham, Washington's Anti-Hindu Riot." Journal of the West, 12 (1973): 163-175.
  • Jensen, Joan M. Passage from India: Asian Indian Immigrants in North America (Yale University Press, 1988)
  • Lee, Erika. "Hemispheric Orientalism and the 1907 Pacific Coast race riots." Amerasia Journal 33#2 (2007): 19-48.
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