Watsonville Apologizes to Filipino Community for 1930 Race Riots
For five days in January 1930, hundreds of armed white men took to the streets of Watsonville, targeting and beating young Filipino farmworkers who they claimed were stealing their jobs and women, according to multiple reports. The riots reached a head on the night of Jan. 20, when 22-year-old Fermin Tobera died after being shot on San Juan Road. The incident was a catalyst for more riots, instigated by white men around the state.
The mob attacked the dance hall and rampaged through the community for five days. On January 22, a mob ransacked and shot into farmworkers’ houses, killing Fermin Tobera. No one was charged with the murder. Seven men were convicted of rioting but received only probation or 30 days in jail.
The anti-Filipino frenzy continued in California after the Watsonville riots, with violence breaking out in Stockton, Salinas, San Francisco, and San Jose. In 1933, California amended state law to prohibit marriages between Filipinos and whites. And in 1934, in response to a long-standing request from California’s government, Congress restricted Filipino immigration to the United States to just 50 people per year.
Presentation by Olivia Sawi
Historical Background
Radical Violence in the Fields: Anti-Filipino Riot in Watsonville
By Estella Habal
Racial violence and racial discrimination are major issues that affect the entire Filipino community. Among the three waves of Filipino who immigrated to the United States, it was the first wave of Filipinos who experienced the most blatant form of racism. This first wave was also marginalized by the mainstream society, maintaining the most backbreaking jobs such as farm work, domestic service jobs, cannery jobs, and stewards on ships. The subsequent waves of Filipinos who came to the shores of the U.S. also faced racism and racial discrimination, but not to the extent and depth of the first wave. The particularly virulent racial violence against Filipinos in the late 1920s and 1930s had to do with the social and political climate of the times. READ MORE