Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #BellinghamRiots
Most recents (3)
While I agree that historical events like the #BellinghamRiots should not be contorted to fit contemporary political narratives, we should also be wary of another error: the anachronistic imposition of labels that don't reflect the social and cultural climate at the time. 1/n
It is true that the majority of the victims in the riots were Punjabi Sikhs, and it is also true that they were identified as "hindoo" by the average American at the time. How do we reconcile this? Audrey's answer seems to be that despite the broad application of "hindoo" 2/n
the workers in Bellingham were victims of anti-Sikh or anti-Muslim religious prejudice.
This doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
"Hindoo" was not just an ethnic identifier; it was a contested cultural category that featured prominently in the American imagination for centuries 3/n
This doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
"Hindoo" was not just an ethnic identifier; it was a contested cultural category that featured prominently in the American imagination for centuries 3/n
Los Angeles Herald, 1907
"MOB DRIVES OUT HINDUS"
"HUNDREDS BEATEN AND FORCED FROM BELLINGHAM"
"Mob for Hours, Assault Mills and Lodgings -- Indians Tramp Toward Protection of Canada"
#HindooHistory #BellinghamRiots
"MOB DRIVES OUT HINDUS"
"HUNDREDS BEATEN AND FORCED FROM BELLINGHAM"
"Mob for Hours, Assault Mills and Lodgings -- Indians Tramp Toward Protection of Canada"
#HindooHistory #BellinghamRiots
"Six badly beaten Hindus are in the hospital. 400 frightened and half naked Sikhs are in the jail and corridors of the city hall under guard, and somewhere between Bellingham and British Columbia line are 750 natives of India, beaten, hungry, and half clothed..."
"making their way along the Great Northern railway, bound for Canadian territory and the protection of the British flag."
Hawaiian Star, 1907
"THE GOVERNOR APPROVES RIOTS"
"SASYS BELLINGHAM PEOPLE TOOK BEST MEANS OF SETTLING HINDOO QUESTION"
#HindooHistory #BellinghamRiots
"THE GOVERNOR APPROVES RIOTS"
"SASYS BELLINGHAM PEOPLE TOOK BEST MEANS OF SETTLING HINDOO QUESTION"
#HindooHistory #BellinghamRiots
"'The state of Washington will not be a dumping ground of the Orient. The white laborers of Bellingham have long felt the necessity of taking some drastic action against the Hindoo competitor in the labor market and I am not surprised that the recent outbreak occurred.""
"'I am very glad no lives were lost and that no one was injured.' This is Governor Albert Meed's summing up of the recent race riots in his home town of Bellingham, Washington."
