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Oregon’s legacy of racial segregation

January 21, 2015 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The northwestern state of Oregon is known for its liberal culture and voting patterns, but this predominantly white state has a significant history in racial segregation and white supremacy. In an article published on Gizmodo by Matt Novak (via Jeremy Adam Smith), we learn of the explicit racist history that was pervasive in Oregon at the time of its establishment as a state and how that legacy would play out to the present day, in an attempt by some quarters to create a […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: Astoria, Columbia River, exclusion laws, Gizmodo, Johanna Ogden, Matt Novak, Oregon, Racism, segregation, Sikh diaspora

Picture of the Day: Sohan Singh Bhakna

September 19, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

An article in the Portland Tribune traces the origins of the Ghadar Party movement to Oregon after a group of laborers from Punjab demanded justice for the attacks upon their community by racists mobs in 1910. The movement sought to promote revolution in India from British rule: Though there wound up being only one person convicted, the fight-back was a turning point for the Punjabi community here, Ogden says. New activist leaders emerged, including mill worker Sohan Singh Bhakna and […]

Categories: Picture of the Day • Tags: Astoria, Bruce La Brack, Ghadar, Ghadar Party, Johanna Ogden, Oregon, Sohan Singh Bhakna

"Indians, many of whom were Sikh, worked at the Hammond Mill before its demise in 1922. During that time period, the Indians left their mark on Astoria, participating in wrestling matches, occupying Alderbrook also known as "Hindu Alley," and forming the Ghadar political party. Courtesy of Clatsop County Historical Society." (source: The Daily Astorian)

Celebrating the centenary of the Ghadar Party, in Oregon

April 8, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

One of the legacies of the earliest Sikh and Indian immigrants to the United States at the turn of the twentieth century was the creation of the Ghadar Party, a political movement based in northern California that sought to promote India’s liberation from British rule. Led by Indian expatriates in the United States, the Ghadar Party was formed in 1913. One of its main activities was the publishing of literature to promote resistance to British rule and for a free […]

Categories: Events • Tags: Astoria, Bruce La Brack, Daily Astorian, Ghadar, Ghadar Party, Johanna Ogden, Oregon, San Francisco, Stockton

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Astoria

Oregon’s legacy of racial segregation

Picture of the Day: Sohan Singh Bhakna

Celebrating the centenary of the Ghadar Party, in Oregon