By Josh Hughes
On Saturday, April 21, the City of Bellingham unveiled the Arch of Healing and Reconciliation, a monument honoring the Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and South Asian immigrants, among others, who have been forcibly removed from their homes in Bellingham at various intervals throughout the last 150 years.
The Arch seeks to solidify Bellingham’s progress with immigrants and inclusivity, promote a stronger future and issue a permanent apology to the communities that have been wronged by racial exclusion and segregation.
The unveiling was accompanied by a ceremony, in which Western President Sabah Randhawa and many others spoke about the importance of the monument.
The morning started with a welcoming by Tim Douglas, vice-chair of the arch committee. He got right to the thick of the traumatic history between Bellingham and the predominantly Indian Sikhs who were removed from Bellingham during riots in the early 1900s.
“When my wife and I first moved to Bellingham, we met an interesting elderly resident who told us, with pride, how her husband had driven the Sikhs out of Bellingham in 1907,” he said with an air of disgust.
Plans for the Peace Arch began a decade ago in 2007, exactly a century after the anti-Sikh riots occurred.
East Indian immigrants, mostly Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus, used to work in lumber mills in Bellingham, and the riots occurred because other Bellingham citizens believed that they were taking their jobs away. It’s the all too familiar racist narrative that produced hateful slogans, rhetoric and action that resulted in the East Indian community getting violently driven out of the area.
Besides these acts of hatred, the Peace Arch also commemorates the individuals affected by the Chinese exclusion act from 1882 and the Japanese Internment camps that started in 1942 during WWII. More broadly, it stands for all of the immigrants who have been wronged throughout Bellingham’s history.
“With regret— but hope— never again,” concluded Douglas, just before passing the mic on to an array of other individuals directly involved with either the Arch or the events that have led to its existence.
Bellingham Mayor Kelli Linville gave a brief address, followed by Sukhwant S. Gill, President of the Lynden Sikh Temple. Gill performed a brief song for the crowd and expressed that the Arch stands not just as a remembrance of the past, but as a symbol of love.
“It does not matter how much money we put into [the Arch], but it matters how much love we put in,” said Gill.
Whatcom County Councilmember Satpal Sidhu then introduced a couple of guests who had, in some direct way, been affected by the forced removals.
First was Mr. and Mrs. Singh Johl from Yuba City, California. Mr. Singh Johl’s grandfather, Nand Singh Johl, was one of the first Sikh residents of Bellingham back in 1907 before he was evicted. Additionally, Mr. Singh Johl’s son was the first Indian physician in California, but unfortunately, he could not attend.
Second were Pat and Shiyoji Kawabata. Pat was 6 years old when her family was incarcerated in Bellingham because of their Japanese heritage. Coming back to visit 76 years after being in an internment camp, Mrs. Kawabata expressed how deeply excited she was to see the arch right outside Bellingham City Hall.
Western President Sabah Randhawa then gave a brief talk as the keynote speaker, readdressing the significance of the monument and the installation.
“Regardless of where we were born or raised, or where we call home, we come here today as one community”, said Randhawa. “Let us acknowledge that against the background of thousands of years of indigenous culture in this region, virtually all of us are immigrants”.
After the ceremony of speakers concluded, the crowd moved across the street, between City Hall and the Bellingham Public Library, to unveil the arch. Made of red granite from India, the arch is inscribed with the word “Welcome” in many different languages, starting with the language of the Lummi and Nooksack tribes.