Bellingham riots

Riots against Americans of Asian descent in Bellingham

The Bellingham riots occurred on September 4, 1907, in Bellingham, Washington, United States.[1] A mob of 400–500 white men, predominantly members of the Asiatic Exclusion League, with intentions to exclude 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 labelled as Hindus by much of the media of the day.[3]

## Events[edit]

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; 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, BC[8] and California.[9]

## Legacy[edit]

To acknowledge and atone for the riots, Whatcom County Executive Pete Kremen and Bellingham Mayor Tim Douglas jointly proclaimed the 100th anniversary of the riots, Sept. 4, 2007, a "Day of Healing and Reconciliation."[10] A 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 Indians in 1907, and the Japanese in 1942.[11]

## See also[edit]

* Anti-Oriental Riots (Vancouver) – Riots against Canadians of Asian descent in VancouverPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets, that followed those in Bellingham
* List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
* Pacific Coast race riots of 1907 – Race riots on the American Pacific coast in 1907

## References[edit]

1. ^ "The 1907 Bellingham Riots". Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project. University of Washington. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
2. ^ Lieb, Emily (December 26, 2006). "White workingmen attack Bellingham's East Indian millworkers on September 4, 1907". HistoryLink.org. Essay 8039. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
3. ^ "The 1907 Bellingham Riots: News Coverage 1907-2007". Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project. University of Washington. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
4. ^ Cahn, David (2008). "The 1907 Bellingham Riots in Historical Context". Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project. University of Washington. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
5. ^ Lee, Erika (November 1, 2007). "The "Yellow Peril" and Asian Exclusion in the Americas". Pacific Historical Review. 76 (4): 537–562. doi:10.1525/phr.2007.76.4.537. ISSN 0030-8684. JSTOR 10.1525/phr.2007.76.4.537. OCLC 6965417308.
6. ^ Wynne, Robert E. (1966). "American Labor Leaders and the Vancouver Anti-Oriental Riot". The Pacific Northwest Quarterly. 57 (4): 174. ISSN 0030-8803. JSTOR 40488175. OCLC 9972703563.
7. ^ Labovitch, Lisa (June 4, 2021). "White mob gathers to expel Asian Indian laborers from Everett on November 2, 1907". HistoryLink.org. Essay 21247. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
8. ^ Vancouver Courier (August 31, 2007). "Two-day conference examines city's 1907 race riot". canada.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012.
9. ^ McMahon, Suzanne (2001). "The Great White Wall". Echoes of freedom: South Asian pioneers in California, 1899-1965. Berkeley, CA, US: Center for South Asian Studies, University of California. pp. 23–-24. ISBN 978-0-944613-41-2. OCLC 1341891513 - via Internet Archive.
10. ^ "Human Rights Commemorative Project leaflet" (PDF). Arch of Healing and Reconciliation. Bellingham, WA. September 20, 2010 [2007-09-04]. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2014.
11. ^ "Arch of Healing and Reconciliation to Honor Diversity and Immigrants in Washington State". Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism. October 3, 2017. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020.

## Further reading[edit]

* Englesberg, Paul (March 1, 2013). "The 1907 Bellingham Riot and Anti-Asian Hostilities in the Pacific Northwest" (PDF). Canadian Sikh Centre. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016.
* Hallberg, Gerald N. (1973). "Bellingham, Washington's Anti-Hindu Riot". Journal of the West. 12: 163–175. ISSN 0022-5169. OCLC 1783221.
* Jensen, Joan M. (1988). Passage from India: Asian Indian immigrants in North America. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-03846-0. OCLC 1342141898 - via Internet Archive.
* Lee, Erika (2007). "Hemispheric Orientalism and the 1907 Pacific Coast Race Riots". Amerasia Journal. 33 (2): 19–48. doi:10.17953/amer.33.2.y263745731125524. ISSN 0044-7471. OCLC 1259572954.
* McMahon, Suzanne (2001). Echoes of freedom: South Asian pioneers in California, 1899-1965. Berkeley, CA, US: Center for South Asian Studies, University of California. ISBN 978-0-944613-41-2. OCLC 1341891513 - via Internet Archive.

## External links[edit]

* "Bellingham Riot materials". South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA). This includes a video documentary and archival print materials.
* Koritala, Srirajasekhar Bobby (December 13, 2016). "A historical perspective of Americans of Asian Indian origin". infinityfoundation.com. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
* "The Racial Politics of Empire: South Asian Revolutionaries on the Pacific Coast". Sixth European Social Science History Conference. December 17, 2005. Archived from the original on December 17, 2005.

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