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Home History Timeline of South Asian Organizing Early 1900s - Asian Exclusion League
Early 1900s - Asian Exclusion League |  |  |
The number of migrant European workers was growing in the Northwest. The migrant Indian workers were seen as not really American and a movement was started to ban them from working in the lumberyards. This was the beginning of the Asian Exclusion League (AEL). Consequently, a number of Indian workers moved down to northern California and worked on the farms. The AEL gained popularity and had meetings commonly featured songs such as White Canada. The lumberyards were forced to lay off all Indian workers and were banned from hiring anymore. The living conditions of the Indians deteriorated drastically. They were forced into slums. A large number of these workers lived in Bellingham in Washington State. In Bellingham, the AEL triggered a riot in which a huge mob of around 500 white men attacked Indian dwellings and workplaces. While the police stood by and did nothing, six Indians were injured and hospitalized. 410 Indians were held in the Bellingham Jail for Protective Custody. By the end of the day of the Bellingham riot, all Indian workers and businessmen had been forced out of Bellingham. Related Links and Resources: Echoes of Freedom: South Asian Pioneers in California 1899 to 1965 Historical Timeline Details - USAsians.net
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