The 'Whitecaps' of North Yakima
After local authorities arrested a Chinese man on allegations of public indecency, a mob of vigilantes seized him from jail, stripped him, and whipped him out of town.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
NORTH YAKIMA, April 29.—For some time past complaint has been made to the authorities that a Chinaman has, on several occasions, been exhibiting his person to little school-girls. Yesterday the culprit was arrested and placed in the city jail. There was much deep feeling over the outrage, and about 11 o'clock last night a band of about fifty or sixty men organized for the purpose of dealing with the Celestial. A strong committee of their number stopped the night watchman, and, flashing revolvers in his face, demanded the keys of the jail, which he yielded up. They then took the Chinaman to the city limits, stripped him of his clothes, and with a blacksnake gave him an unmerciful beating. They then told him to go, admonishing him that if he ever returned to Yakima his life would not be spared. No effort is being made to punish the law-breakers, sentiment generally favoring the 'whitecaps,' as they are called.
“A band of about fifty or sixty men organized for the purpose of dealing with the Celestial... with a blacksnake gave him an unmerciful beating.”
This act of domestic terrorism, carried out under the guise of 'community protection,' reflects the pervasive exclusionary violence that defined Washington in the 1880s and 90s. The 'whitecap' moniker—a term for vigilante groups targeting perceived social 'offenders'—highlights how easily civic institutions like local jails were bypassed or intimidated when the target was an outsider or person of color.
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