September 4, 1907: The Bellingham Riots

As I reflect about my own immigrant experiences and the challenges that come with integrating into an unknown world, I am humbled by those who have walked before me. Their struggles and the battles they have courageously fought have allowed me to be here. I am really grateful for their sacrifices, especially now in a time when the state of our union is uncertain.

This post is in honor of the 200 hundred some men who were brutally assaulted on September 4th, 1907 in Bellingham, WA by the Asian Exclusion League. They wanted to exclude the Sikh men, who were wrongly identified as Hindus, from the lumber mill jobs in the local areas. While the authorities watched, the Sikh men were beaten, robbed and humiliated. They were then taken into custody for “protection,” while the racist mob went unchecked and free. This is just one story of my people and the struggles they faced to make a home in America–a country that they truly believed was the promise land. Their struggle is not in vain even though 100 years later we are still fighting similar battles with racism and questions of who is justified to be in the United States of America.