Editor’s observe: Below is an edited account from the forthcoming ebook, ‘White Riot: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver,’ by Henry Tsang (Arsenal Pulp Press).
On Sept. 7, 1907, a crowd gathered at 7 p.m. on the Cambie Street Grounds, now often known as Larwill Park in downtown Vancouver. Led by Major E. Brown from the British Columbia Regiment on the Beatty Street Drill Hall, a cavalcade, made up of labour and church leaders and Mayor Alexander Bethune and his spouse, Catherine, was accompanied by 5,000 folks, many waving white banners studying, “A White Canada for Us.” They proceeded downtown towards metropolis corridor.
The occasion was organized by the conservative Asiatic Exclusion League, based simply months earlier than by the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council. The mayor and several other metropolis councillors had been founding members, together with many Christian leaders. Its first assembly was held on Aug. 12 and attended by 400 white males.
The league was modelled after the Japanese and Korean Exclusion League in San Francisco and lots of others prefer it alongside the West Coast. These teams advocated for a “white man’s country” and the prohibition of Asian labour, to be achieved via laws and, if crucial, violence. A decision calling on the federal authorities to exclude Asians from Canada was enthusiastically handed by the newly shaped group.
By the time the group reached metropolis corridor, many extra hundreds had joined in. Estimates of the group vary from 25,000 to 30,000 folks – over a 3rd of the town’s inhabitants on the time. Guest audio system included clergymen, legal professionals, politicians and anti-Asian activists from New Zealand and the United States.
As the rally grew, an offended mob shaped; and marched towards Chinatown. The folks there have been initially taken abruptly. But they started to prepare and to struggle again. The Daily Province reported that, “the Chinese armed themselves as soon as the gun stores opened. Hundreds of revolvers and thousands of rounds of ammunition were sold before the police stepped in and requested that no further sale be made to Asians.”
Police couldn’t include the mob
The police pressure referred to as in all of their off-duty officers, totalling about two dozen. The hearth brigade was additionally referred to as in to assist. Badly outnumbered, they had been unable to have any influence.
Although there have been no documented deaths as a result of riots, there have been shut calls. Arrests had been few, partially as a result of the group would rescue anybody captured. Only 5 rioters had been ultimately discovered responsible and given jail phrases of 1 to 6 months.
The native English-language press blamed American labour leaders for inciting the riot. However, native Chinese-language newspapers positioned the blame on white unions, most of which had been concerned in anti-Asian activism and provocation.
The rioters encountered resistance
On late Sunday afternoon, the rioters regrouped to assault the Japanese residents, who had nearly a full day’s warning to organize for the assault.
They stockpiled bricks and rocks to throw on the rioters and armed themselves with weapons and knives. Hand-to-hand fight passed off on the streets. From rooftops, rocks, bricks, bottles and blocks of wooden had been thrown on the rioters, who made it so far as the Powell Street Grounds (now Oppenheimer Park).
The mob didn’t anticipate such resistance, nor the escalating variety of casualties.
By Monday morning, the riots had died down, partially attributable to heavy rains. The Chinese Benevolent Association and clan associations organized a basic strike that continued till Wednesday morning, shutting down many components of Vancouver, together with the sawmills and a 3rd of the eating places.
The Japanese went to work Monday, however left within the afternoon to attend a public assembly on the Powell Street Grounds to demand reparation from the town. Mayor Bethune got here to handle the group’s considerations – ironic, provided that he was one of many Asiatic Exclusion League’s co-founders.
A federal inquiry and calls for for compensation
The Japanese and Chinese communities petitioned the federal authorities to pay for damages.
Ottawa despatched the federal deputy minister of labour, William Lyon Mackenzie King, to conduct a Royal Commission inquiry.
Pressure utilized to England by Japan resulted in a swift response, with over $9,000 in settlement for damages. Compensation for the Chinese was slower, as they lacked the political assist of an up-and-coming nation, however ultimately the compensation was nearly $27,000.
King’s investigation revealed that a few of the Chinese claims had been for companies associated to opium. This ultimately led to the creation of Canada’s first anti-drug regulation.
Shortly after, Japan and Canada reached a “Gentlemen’s Agreement” to scale back Japanese immigration to 400 folks a yr. In 1928, that quantity was additional lowered to 150.
The Chinese head tax remained at $500, however in 1923, the Chinese Exclusion Act got here into impact. Under the act, Chinese immigration to Canada was utterly banned. The exclusion act was repealed in 1947, primarily because of Canada’s signing the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
100 years later: A surge in anti-Asian sentiments
Since the formative many years of Vancouver’s founding, a lot has been gained from a human rights perspective. But 2020 ushered within the COVID-19 pandemic, and with it a dramatic rise in anti-Asian violence, fanned by anti-China sentiment.
Read extra: Anti-Asian racism throughout coronavirus: How the language of illness produces hate and violence
Vulnerable folks, particularly lower-income seniors and ladies, had been focused. Such situations, together with anti-Black, anti-Muslim and anti-Indigenous attitudes, are all a part of the legacy of historic and present racism.
Raising consciousness of the 1907 anti-Asian riots will hopefully encourage dialogue and reflection on who has the precise to reside right here as we pursue equality and justice for all.
‘White Riot: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver’ is predicated on 360 Riot Walk, an interactive 360 video strolling tour that traces the route of the mob that attacked Vancouver Asian communities. It will be streamed on location with a cellular gadget or remotely on an internet browser, and is obtainable in 4 languages: English, Cantonese, Japanese and Punjabi. The occasions occurred on the unceded land of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), xÊ·məθkÊ·É™yÌ“É™m (Musqueam), and sÉ™lilÌ“ilwÌ“É™taʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Contributors embody the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance, Michael Barnholden, Paul Englesberg, Melody Ma, Angela May, Nicole Yakashiro, Jeffery R. Masuda, Aaron Franks, Audrey Kobayashi, Trevor Wideman, Andy Yan, and Patricia E. Roy.
Author: Henry Tsang – Associate Dean, Associate Professor, Emily Carr University