City, county will mark 'day of healing' Tuesday

MARY LANE GALLAGHER

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BELLINGHAM BELLINGHAM — City and county officials will mark Tuesday’s anniversary of the 1907 race riots with a joint proclamation calling for a “Day of Healing and Reconciliation.”

Organizers hope the noon event at the Whatcom County Courthouse Rotunda will give people a chance to think about what healing and justice really mean, said Barbara Rofkar, chairwoman of the Whatcom Human Rights Taskforce, and what people can do to ensure past acts of discrimination aren’t repeated.

“To me, that would be the use of history, instead of just repeating it,” Rofkar said. “If it doesn’t become our wisdom, it just becomes repeated patterns.”

EVENTS SCHEDULED

Events marking the 100th anniversary of the 1907 race riots:
- “A Day of Healing and Reconciliation,” Whatcom County Courthouse Rotunda, Tuesday at noon.
- “The Curse of Bellingham,” a documentary about how the events of 1907 echo in the treatment of immigrants today, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Community to Community Development, 203 W. Holly St., Suite 318.
- Open House at Guru Nanak Gursikh Temple, 176 E. Pole Road, 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 13.
- Displays at the Bellingham Public Library and Western Washington University’s Wilson Library.
RELATED WORKSHOP

“History of Immigration 101,” developed by the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 18 at the office of Community to Community Development, 203 W. Holly St., Suite 318. Information: 738-0893.
1907 Bellingham mob forced East Indian workers from town

Rofkar is part of the Human Rights Commemoration Project, formed to make sure people don’t forget the anniversary.

Whatcom County Executive Pete Kremen and Bellingham Mayor Tim Douglas are scheduled to read the proclamation Tuesday. Other speakers will be on hand.

In addition to Tuesday’s short ceremony, the county’s main Sikh temple is planning a commemorative gathering Sept. 13.

And Paul Englesberg, who develops curriculum about Asian Americans for area school teachers, is putting together visual displays about the riots for the Bellingham Public Library and Wilson Library at Western Washington University.

Anniversaries are useful times to learn about events such as the 1907 riot, said historian Joan Jensen, who wrote a book about East Indian immigration. When people are calm and reflective, they can learn more about the event, she said, and learn to recognize warning signs before situations are repeated.

“Once something happens and it escalates,” she said, “it’s almost hopeless to try to deal with those issues.”