Punjabi (Short Story)

In this groundbreaking historical short story, David Joseph brings to light one of the most shameful incidents in American history—“The Bellingham Riots” that, as the papers read, “wiped the Punjabi off the map.” The story reveals the plight of Sikh and Japanese in the U.S. who fought discrimination and established a proud legacy in the history of a country that is truly a “melting pot.” The story opens up with a fifteen-year-old boy and a young Japanese couple that flee Bellingham to escape the violence. “Punjabi” is a signature David Joseph story that begins with tragedy and ends with the reader in tears of joy. Using notes from a conversation with an elderly Punjabi man, David Joseph met in a café in West Virginia, and notes from interviewing elderly Japanese, David Joseph considers it an obligation to the Sikh and Japanese to write this story.