The 5th Annual Chinese Expulsion Remembrance March welcomed attendees in the morning with presentations at Hing Hay Park, followed by a circular march to the waterfront and back. The event commemorated the 1886 expulsion of 350 of Seattle's Chinese residents, who were forced to board a ship for San Francsico, where they were then deported to China.
“Past, present, and future merge,” University of Washington professor Dr. Connie So said, “and we continue helping others.” Prof. So was direct in conveying the overall intent and message of the march, which was to remember, but also to make clear that the city’s communities of color and immigrant communities are welcome and here to stay.
“The officials of this city (Seattle) walked into their (Chinese) homes, packed up their property … and tried to put them on a boat to deport them,” Washington Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos said, describing the expulsion, during her time at the podium. “Why? Because they looked different.” Santos ended her speech with a rousing, “Hell no, we won’t go!”
The march, which followed the presentations at Hing Hay Park, took attendees across Occidental Street—a symbolic and also literal crossing from a neighborhood of predominantly people of color to a neighborhood of predominantly white people.
Read the full article by Northwest Asian Weekly: March to remember Chinese expulsion in Seattle highlights immigrants