An Editorial on Local Interracial Marriage
A 1909 Labor Journal editorial comments on a marriage between a white woman and a Japanese man in Seattle, reflecting the racial tensions of the era.
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.
We fail to see what there is about this marriage which took place in Seattle a few days ago between a foolish girl and a Jap to call forth such a popular outburst of indignation. If the young woman prefers the son of Nippon to a white man it is her business. Time will cure her of her folly. The woman who will estrange husband, friends and all the ties that bound her to her past for the sake of her daughter and a Jap dishwasher is strong-minded enough to make her own longings. Wish she hadn't done it. Our sympathy goes out however, to the broken-hearted father who sees the future that he had planned for his only daughter, dashed to atoms. The contracting parties to this mesalliance have taken the step with their eyes open. Much as it is to be regretted, it is their funeral—not ours.
“If the young woman prefers the son of Nippon to a white man it is her business. Time will cure her of her folly.”
This editorial captures the explicit anti-Asian sentiment that permeated Washington state labor politics and society in the early 20th century. It juxtaposes a surprisingly libertarian defense of individual choice with deep-seated racist rhetoric, illustrating the complex and often hostile social landscape for interracial couples in the Pacific Northwest at that time.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.