Watsonville apologizes for 1930 riots against Filipinos

Sparked by the Watsonville riots, Filipinos were hunted and beaten.

The City of Watsonville passed a resolution Nov. 10 issuing an apology for the anti-Filipino riots that took place 90 years ago that started in the agricultural city. The resentment against Filipinos spread to other California towns and resulted in anti-Filipino laws.

Watsonville's resolution recognizes the many contributions of the Filipinos who were recruited  to the US to work on America's farms in the 1920s and 1930s.

The formal apology for the attacks against Filipino farmworkers was spurred by  the interest of younger Filipino Americans, many of whom are descendants of the farmworkers.

One of the farmworkers' descendants is Watsonville resident Roy Recio who spoke at the city council meeting.

“[They] came here in the 1920s and ‘30s to work the land… they were brought here as cheap labor,” he said. “They did the jobs that no one else wanted to do… 10 hours a day, hauling irrigation pipes, picking strawberries, making people rich. They sacrificed, they struggled and persevered to bring us here today.”

Recio helped establish the website, "Watsonville Is In the Heart" that is collecting family stories of the Filipino farmworkers.

White mobs, who accused Filipinos of stealing jobs and dating white women, hunted and beat Filipinos. In one incident, mobs shot at a farmworkers' bunkhouse, killing Fermin Tobera.

After the riots, a peace settled on Watsonville, and the Filipino American community became part of the city”s multi-ethnic mix. For many years, Filipino businesses flourished in the city. Their descendants became a vital part of the city's culture, economy and social life.

Among those who urged passage of the resolution was Manuel Quintero Bersamin, a former city council member who was also Watsonville’s first Filipino American mayor,

“There are a lot of old-time Watsonville names her,” at the council meeting, he said. “Filipino American names, but also white names, Latino names. It’s a wonderful thing. I want to thank the council for taking this on.”

Other speakers asked for the city and school district to establish a physical memorial or naming a school after a Filipino American.

Agriculture is still an important part of the economy of Watsonville, California.
Today, most of the farmworkers harvesting the area's produce are from Mexico.

The Watsonville City Council approved the following resolution:

RESOLUTION NO.__________ (CM)

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WATSONVILLE FORMALLY APOLOGIZING FOR THE ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE CITY'S RESIDENTS AGAINST THE FILIPINOS IN WATSONVILLE, PARTICULARLY IN THE 1920S AND 1930S, AND COMMENDING THESE FILIPINO NATIONALS AND THEIR CHILDREN, THE FILIPINO AMERICANS FOR THEIR NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PÁJARO VALLEY

WHEREAS, the United States having colonized the Philippines Islands in 1898, Filipinos were American Nationals from 1898 to 1935; and

WHEREAS, as Carlos Bulosan wrote in his book, America is in the Heart, the United States sent farm and fishing labor contractors to the Philippines Islands to recruit and contract with young Filipino male nationals to come to the United States to provide physical labor in Hawaii and California in the 1920s and 1930s; and

WHEREAS, thousands of young Filipino male nationals came to reside in the Pájaro Valley in the 1920s and 1930, in order to work to help their families left in the Philippines and by their manual and intellectual labor, they assisted in developing the agricultural and material wealth of the Pájaro Valley; and

WHEREAS,during this period, 1920 to 1950, there existed numerous governmental policies and laws that unjustly targeted the Filipino Nationals, including school segregation and anti-miscegenation Anti-Asian Land laws, tight quotas on Filipino immigration, even though the Philippines was under the sovereignty of the United States until the end of World War II in 1946; and

WHEREAS, locally, in Santa Cruz and Monterey County, Filipino male nationals faced discrimination and racism, until in 1930, racial tensions boiled over and led to the infamous “Watsonville Anti-Filipino riots” of 1930, which resulted in violence against hundreds of Filipinos and the terrible death of Filipino laborer Fermin Tobera; and

WHEREAS, these Anti Filipino riots soon spread to other cities including Salinas, San Jose, San Francisco, and Stockton; and

WHEREAS, the City of Watsonville has not acknowledged this terrible historic chapter in the City's timeline for ninety years; and

WHEREAS, the Watsonville City Council will finally act to sharply repudiate the shameful treatment Filipinos received, particularly in the 1920s and 1930s, in Watsonville and in Santa Cruz County; and

WHEREAS, the City of Watsonville would like to formally apologize for the actions taken by the City's residents and formally recognize the great contributions made by the Filipino American Community of the Pájaro Valley, including indelible contributions to the history of Watsonville, the state of California and the United States that include, but are not limited to, organizing the first Asian labor unions in the US, serving honorably in the Armed Forces, fighting for the United States in many foreign wars, co-organizing the United Farm Workers, and advocating for civil rights; and

WHEREAS, the majority of these Filipino nationals, many of who became naturalized United States citizens and continued to live in Watsonville and the Pájaro Valley, and they left thousands of descendants, many of who still live in the Pájaro Valley; and

WHEREAS, celebrating the great contributions of these Filipino nationals and their Filipino American children, provides the City of Watsonville with an opportunity to recognize the achievements, contributions, and history of these Filipino nationals and their children, the Filipino Americans, including endured hardships, including unjust working conditions, prejudice, and discrimination in our state’s and nation’s history.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA, AS FOLLOWS:

1. That the City Council, now after ninety years, formally apologize for the actions taken by the City's residents against the Filipinos in Watsonville, particularly in the 1920s and 1930s in Watsonville and commending these Filipino Nationals and their children, the Filipino Americans for their notable accomplishments and contributions to the Pájaro Valley.

2. That the City Clerk is hereby directed to transmit copies of this resolution to the Filipino American Community for appropriate distribution.