The Expulsion Continues
A group of Chinese travelers is forcibly escorted out of Tacoma by local longshoremen, confirming the city's rigid policy of exclusion.
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.
The arrival of ten Chinese men from Olympia yesterday caused some excitement at the Commercial dock. Long before the boat landed, a crowd of longshoremen had gathered at the slip, prepared to demand an explanation for the emigration of the group to Tacoma. Since it was announced a few days ago that there were attempts to get a foothold in this city, a close watch has been kept, and when the boat came in sight, the first thought of the waterfront men was that they were coming to stay. The men were informed as soon as they landed that they could not remain in the city. A committee was appointed to look after the foreigners and see that none of them stopped over. They were escorted to the Northern Pacific depot and watched until they boarded a southbound passenger train.
“The men were informed as soon as they landed that they could not remain in the city.”
This incident occurred nearly two decades after the infamous 1885 expulsion of Tacoma's Chinese residents, illustrating how the climate of exclusion remained institutionalized long after the initial violence. It serves as a stark reminder of how Tacoma’s labor unions and waterfront workers enforced racial borders through direct action, a legacy the city continues to confront.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.