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The '''Bellingham riots''' occurred on September 4, 1907, in [[Bellingham, Washington]], United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_intro.htm |title=1907 Bellingham Riots}}</ref> A mob of 400–500 white men, predominantly members of the [[Asiatic Exclusion League]], with intentions to exclude [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|East Indian]] immigrants from the work force of the local lumber mills, attacked the homes of the South Asian Indians.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=8039 |title=White workingmen attack Bellingham's East Indian millworkers on September 4, 1907}}</ref> The Indians were mostly [[Sikhs]] but were labelled as [[Hindu]]s by much of the media of the day.<ref name="depts.washington.edu 1907">{{cite web |title=News Coverage: 1907-2007 - Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project |website=depts.washington.edu |url=https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_news.htm |access-date=2021-01-11}}</ref>

==Events==
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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_history.htm |title=1907 Bellingham Riots}}</ref> "By the next day 125 South Asians had been driven out of town and were on their way to British Columbia".<ref>Erika Lee, "The "Yellow Peril" and Asian Exclusion in the Americas," Pacific Historical Review 76, no. 4 (November 2007):551</ref> 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.<ref>Robert E. Wynne, "American Labor Leaders and the Vancouver Anti-Oriental Riot." ''Pacific Northwest Quarterly'' 57.4 (1966): 174</ref>

Some victims of the riots migrated to [[Everett, Washington]] where two months later, they received similar treatment.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnic.navy.mil/Everett/AboutCNIC/History/The%20City%20of%20Everett/index.htm |title=The City of Everett}}</ref> Similar [[riot]]s occurred during this period in [[Vancouver]], BC<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=27e737a2-acbb-4671-a6c1-5f39adaee1d8&k=77221 |title=Two-day conference examines city's 1907 race riot |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104211807/http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=27e737a2-acbb-4671-a6c1-5f39adaee1d8&k=77221 |archivedate=2012-11-04 }}</ref> and [[California]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/echoes/chapter4/chapter4.html |title=Echoes of Freedom: South Asian Pioneers in California, 1899-1965 |chapter=4: The Great White Wall}}</ref>

==Legacy==
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.<ref>http://archofhealing.org/archwp/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Proclamation-Day-of-healing-reconciliation-Sept-4-2007.pdf {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309005304/http://www.cob.org/documents/features/hrcp-leaflet.pdf |date=March 9, 2014 }}</ref>
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. <ref>https://www.bellingham.org/press-releases/arch-healing-reconciliation-honor-diversity-immigrants-washington-state/</ref>

==See also==
* [[Pacific Coast race riots of 1907]]
* [[Anti-Oriental Riots (Vancouver)]], Canadian riot that followed Bellingham
* [[List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Englesberg, Paul. "The 1907 Bellingham Riot and Anti-Asian Hostilities in the Pacific Northwest." [http://www.canadiansikhcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Paul-Englesber-Bellingham-Riots-read-on-9.22.12.pdf 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.

==External links==
* [http://www.saadigitalarchive.org/collection/bellingham-riot Bellingham Riot materials in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)]
* [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/echoes/chapter4/chapter4.html Echoes of Freedom: South Asian Pioneers in California, 1899-1965]
* [http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/h_es/h_es_korit_histical.htm A Historical Perspective of Americans of Asian Indian Origin, 1790-1997]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051217160400/http://www2.iisg.nl/esshc/programme.asp?selyear=8&pap=3720 The Racial Politics of Empire: South Asian Revolutionaries on the Pacific Coast]

{{Bellingham}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellingham Riots}}
[[Category:1907 riots]]
[[Category:Anti-immigration politics in the United States]]
[[Category:Asian-American culture in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Whatcom County, Washington]]
[[Category:Anti-Indian sentiment in the United States]]
[[Category:Indian-American history]]
[[Category:Riots and civil disorder in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:White American riots in the United States]]
[[Category:History of Bellingham, Washington]]
[[Category:1907 in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:September 1907 events]]
[[Category:Sikhism in the United States]]
[[Category:Racially motivated violence against Asian-Americans]]

Bellingham riots - Revision history

imported>Chienlit at 09:08, 26 July 2021