S*******e
发帖数: 525 | 1 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014209832_expe
The 1886 Chinese expulsion in Seattle was remembered Saturday as more than
100 marched from the docks to the Chinatown International District.
By Nancy Bartley
Seattle Times staff reporter
PREV 1 of 3 NEXT
ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
With the Stars and Stripes she'll carry in the Chinese Expulsion Remembrance
march, Susan Lee Woo waits at the foot of Washington Street near the
waterfront docks for participants to gather. They walked to Wing Luke Museum
in Chinatown International District.
ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Saturday morning, marchers listen to speakers at a stop en route to Wing
Luke Museum during the Chinese Expulsion Remembrance event marking the 1886
incident.
ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
A dragon, carried by students from South Shore Elementary in Seattle, heads
to Wing Luke Museum from the waterfront.
Related
Gallery | Chinese Expulsion Remembrance Project
They were rounded up and marched down the hill to the docks, and when the
captain of the ship refused to take the Chinese immigrants who worked in
this new city, the angry white settlers passed the hat to collect enough
money so the captain would take the Chinese away to San Francisco.
For decades, the 1886 expulsion of Seattle's Chinese workers was a little-
known part of city history.
On Saturday, more than 100 Chinese Americans and their friends tried to
change that by making the symbolic reverse journey — from the docks, uphill
, through the Chinatown International District's ornate "welcome" gate.
A golden dragon circled and bobbed. Drums thundered, and slowly the
procession made its way along the streets. As the cold wind seeped through
clothing and scarves, and it chilled fingers and noses, spectators snapped
photos. Others stared.
The Chinese Expulsion Remembrance event marked the 125th anniversary of one
of the darkest times in Seattle history. It's only the second time the
incident has been formally remembered. The first was 25 years ago, on the
100th anniversary of the expulsion.
By calling attention to the 1886 event again, the organizers hope those
events of the past will never be repeated with a new generation of
immigrants.
As event Chairwoman Bettie Luke said before the march started: "This kind of
dislike for people who are different and questioning who is a real American
has me alarmed."
She said her great-uncle worked as the Seattle mayor's houseboy at the time
of the expulsion. And even though it was a horrific event that ended with
the city under martial law, "many people have never heard about this," she
said.
Midway through the march, King County Executive Dow Constantine addressed
the marchers.
"We gather to remember a shameful moment in our history," he said. The
Chinese were treated in this manner "because they were immigrants. We march
so this crime against our community is never forgotten. The ... fear they
must have felt as they marched these streets toward the waterfront ...
"We need to remember the lessons of the past, that an injury to one is an
injury to all," Constantine said.
The expulsion in Washington had its roots in the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act,
which Congress passed at the behest of labor unions who wanted to get rid
of what they believed was competition from Chinese laborers, according to
information from the Washington State History Museum.
The Chinese who emigrated to the West Coast before the act were mainly from
southern China, where war, famine and persecution killed millions.
During the time of the Seattle-area expulsion — which led to 350 Chinese
being forced from their homes — three Chinese hop pickers were killed and
three others wounded in Issaquah.
Many in Tacoma were forced from their homes and put on a train bound for
Portland. In Oregon's Hell's Canyon, on the southeastern edge of Washington
state, 31 Chinese men were murdered.
A few years after the expulsion, the Chinese were welcomed back. Their labor
was in demand after the Great Seattle Fire in 1889, when the city needed to
rebuild.
Many at the march had painful memories of growing up in a city where ethnic
differences were not embraced.
"We used to wear buttons saying, 'Chinese' to distinguish us from the
Japanese at the time of World War II," said Dahlia Marr, 80, who grew up in
Seattle, and on Saturday walked carrying a sign commemorating the expulsion.
As a child, she was not allowed to swim at Colman Pool in West Seattle
because it was designated for whites only. Now her granddaughter is on a
high-school swim team and competed at the pool, a poignant moment when Marr
went to watch.
"This is an important part of American history," said William Huie, who
brought his three children to the march.
"Today is especially significant in light of anti-immigrant sentiments today
— like the roundup of immigrants in Arizona," said John Chen Beckwith, who
was at the front of the march.
As the marchers passed beneath the ornate gate welcoming them to the
International District, the smells from bakeries and dim sum shops drifted
from open doors, and children in Chinese New Year dragon costumes bumped
into each other and peeked out of costume dragon heads.
There was a feeling of homecoming. Marcher Vi Mar applauded the
International District as "one of the best areas in Seattle to visit" and
said the gate — with its messages of welcome in Chinese inscribed on the
structure that was built in 2008 — is the most beautiful and sturdy gate of
any Chinatown she's seen.
"When we come here," she said, "we're coming home."
Nancy Bartley: 206-464-8522 or n******[email protected] | t******4
发帖数: 2300 | |
|
