Prejudice, racism, and ethnocentrism are wicked things. They have been evident in the human experience from the beginning of time. 

I was talking to friends over lunch a while back. One was Taiwanese, another was Korean, and another, like me, was a white American. My Korean friend, a professor in social work, began sharing a story about a terrible crime that was committed against Chinese people in our community back in the post-Gold Rush days in northern California. 

John Bidwell, a white rancher, founded our small town. Several tribes of first-nation people also populated the area at the same time. They lived nearby in a ‘village’ and were often paid to work for Bidwell on his ranch. A large percentage of Chinese lived here, as well. They had come to California to work in the gold mines in the mid-19th century. Later, they worked building the railroads. By the time of the crime, they made up 20 percent of the population in Butte County, where our city is. Many Chinese worked in agriculture. Some were hired as house servants; some grew vegetables on their farms and sold them in town. Some were hired to work in Bidwell’s orchards.

My Korean friend told me she had heard about violence against Chinese families back then. Several houses were allegedly burned down with women and children perishing inside. In thinking of this horrible scene, she was haunted by the sounds of their cries. She poured out her anguish about the cruel treatment the Chinese suffered by white “oppressors,” such as John Bidwell.

I listened as her anguish turned to anger. She felt someone should make amends for the crimes committed against the Chinese people back then. My anger began to rise, too, but mine was from a need to defend myself. I am white. Some today associate all whites with the ‘evil’ colonists.

“Could there be any race more evil on the planet than white people? Hasn’t it been white people who have been responsible for subjugating the rest of the human race?” That seems to be the sentiment swirling around these days.

I wanted to defend myself and my “race.”

“I wasn’t there,” I insisted. “Do I have to take responsibility for all the sins of the white people?” There are many, that is certain.

Since my friends and I are all passionate Christians, I suggested that though the crime was evil, all of us have sinned, and are capable of injustice. Since the beginning of time, humans have hated others because of jealousy, pride, greed, and self-promotion (you can add to this list). All races and people groups have committed horrible deeds, some against other groups, some against their people. 

“But shouldn’t John Bidwell pay for what he has done?” she demanded.

I suggested that he had no doubt done just that upon his death if he was guilty. He answered to God for all he had done while on earth. One hundred and fifty years later, we have to trust that God is the only judge who can parse out truth from lies and justice from injustice. We all have to answer before God, for all of us have fallen short, if not in action then in our thoughts and motives. We cannot make John Bidwell (if he was guilty) pay now since he is in the grave. 

But responsibility weighed heavily upon me. I felt I was expected to atone for the sins of my white race. I felt the need to defend myself. 

“My ancestors came to the United States from Scotland in the 1920’s. I am not descended from the Bidwells or anyone else who did evil deeds to the native people, the slaves, or the immigrants who came later. Should I, because I am white, atone for the sins of all the white people who have ever lived?” I asked with increasing frustration.

Even though I was embarrassed by my emotional response, I kept pouring out my thoughts. I even accused her of having a wrong attitude about white men in particular, to which she apologized.

My friend suggested that though I couldn’t atone for the sins of all white people everywhere, I could at least apologize and seek reconciliation for the things done to the Chinese people here in my town, even though it was over a century ago. She argued that Asian people are shy and reserved and often hide in fear of American people’s reaction to them. 

I remembered the negative reaction against Asian people in our country during the Covid-19 virus, which some called the “Chinese virus” since it originated there. It was horrific to see news that an elderly Vietnamese man was attacked on the streets of New York because the perpetrator thought he was Chinese. That is a more recent incident we can agree was a despicable, hateful reaction to people just because of their race, even though they had nothing to do with the virus themselves. Those actions by our countrymen should be condemned. We should stand by the Asian people living in our country, not attack them senselessly. Unfortunately, some American people are ignorant and cruel enough to do that. 

I don’t make excuses for American people who acted that way, but I remember living in China when the American government ‘accidentally’ bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. It was a dangerous time for a white person living in China. Emotions ran high and Chinese people reacted by beating foreigners who looked American. A friend experienced their fury. An angry crowd beat on the taxi he was in. They would have pulled him out of the car if they could have. He got away only because he yelled “I am Canadian!”

I don’t share this to make excuses for us, but to point out that all human beings are capable of committing atrocities. This is often more apparent when we are the victims, rather than the perpetrators. 

I have heard of Christian individuals and groups who have organized reconciliation efforts with the First Nation people in our area. My son was part of a drum circle organized by a woman who wanted to express sorrow over the evil done to the native peoples here in northern California. In 1863, four local tribes were resettled to a coastal area 100 miles away. Of the 463 forced to walk over steep, dangerous terrain, only 277 made it alive. It is called the Konkow Trail of Tears. 

The organizers of the Drum Circle invited representatives from tribes who wanted to participate. They had a ceremony celebrating native culture. The white representatives asked forgiveness for the crimes the white settlers and soldiers had committed, even though those asking forgiveness were not descended from the perpetrators. They acknowledged the evil that was done and mourned the loss of life, culture, and livelihood. 

This positive movement toward reconciliation brought peace to those who participated. The organizers felt this would honor God and release the land from any curse that resulted from the deaths of many native people. I wondered if there is a Biblical precedent for this.

In our conversation, my Korean friend in her anguish mentioned the cries of Abel, the first victim of murder recorded in the Bible. When Cain killed his brother Abel because of his jealousy, God came to him and asked him, 

“Where is your brother?”

Cain replied, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

To which God replied, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” (Genesis 4:10–12)

She felt the blood of those killed in Chico was crying out for justice. 

So, I asked myself later, “What is my responsibility to my fellow humans in this case?” God expects us to care for our brothers and sisters, not murder them. But are we responsible to make reconciliation for the sins of our ancestors?

I apologized to my sister for overreacting to her appeal. I had to search my soul to see why I had to defend myself, my race, and my country. It sent me on a search to uncover the history of our town. 

I learned that in 1877, six Chinese men were shot in their bunkhouse on the outskirts of town because they were Chinese. Two men escaped with their lives. The others were left dead in the bunkhouse which was set on fire by the murderers. Many cities and towns in the West witnessed such violence. Many white people felt the Chinese were stealing their jobs since they worked for lower wages than any other minorities, including blacks and First Nation people. That was when the U.S. Government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, forbidding new immigration, to quell the unrest over this issue. 

The historical accounts I read from archived news articles did not implicate John Bidwell, the founder. The Chinese men worked for him as hired hands. He wanted to keep the peace in town. The despicable incident was committed by ignorant, lawless men who were arrested, put on trial, and sent to jail. (Unfortunately, they were later released from prison before their time was up because of white sentiment for them.)

My search for evidence of the fire that allegedly killed women and children in Chico came up empty. There was evidence that Chico’s Chinatown was burned down, but I couldn’t find details. Eventually, most Chinese left Chico for San Francisco where the mood favored them. 

I have prayed about what my responsibility is in this situation. Daniel prayed a prayer of repentance for the sins of his people Israel (Daniel 9). He asked God’s forgiveness for the decades of disobedience to the commands God had given Israel. Some Christian groups believe this is a pattern we can use in asking God for forgiveness for the collective sins committed in the past in our communities. They testify that this has brought a regional change that has broken through spiritual darkness and brought revival. I have not reached a conclusion about this. 

One scripture that many Christians are familiar with is 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says,

 “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land”. (NIV)

We often quote this classic scripture when we pray for our country and communities. It calls for humility, prayer, seeking and turning from wicked ways. My question is, do we repent of sins we are committing now in our generation, or is it calling us to repent of sins committed in past centuries? I don’t have an answer here. This is what I am struggling with.

Credits

The No Place Project: Chico
In 1877 a group attacked six Chinese farm workers near Chico, killing three of them. This is the story of what…www.noplaceproject.com

Nome Cult Trail – Wikipedia
The Nome Cult Trail also known as the Concow (or Koncow) Trail of Tears refers to the state-sanctioned forced removal…en.wikipedia.org

Picture from : https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r5/home/?cid=fseprd1156187