The birth of American democracy is a triumph that built a country to be one of the biggest superpowers in the world. Though freedom is granted to its citizens, it is in fact not mutually inclusive to immigrants. American education has prided American accomplishments, but not the entirety of its people.
The only time the Philippines is mentioned in history books is in reference to the Spanish-American War in 1898 and the American occupation during World War II when the country served as an important naval base to China. The paragraph would include how the Filipinos helped the American soldiers fight against the Japanese but focused less on the discrimination and violent atrocities against “the little brown man”.
United Farm Workers Movement
The Great Depression era when Filipinos migrated to the United States as farmworkers, hoping to achieve the American Dream so widely talked about around the world. However, as they sought this dream, they were taken advantage of, belittled, and manipulated of their labor and rights as human citizens.
The Delano Grape Strike Movement in the 1980s, led by Larry Itliong, is one of the labor movements that receives less attention because of the grievances also addressed by Cesar Chavez. Larry Itliong mobilized the movement but Cesar Chavez claimed the image and the spotlight.
In this video directed by Marissa Aroy, the Delano Manongs tell the story of injustice and inequities that history fails to tell its people. A history that America hides in order to propagate its own democratic reputation.
I-Hotel
In the 1960s, the city of San Francisco started to evict small businesses to pave the way for the construction of what is now the Financial District. Located on Kearny and Jackson St., the International Hotel was home to 10,000 Filipinos and thousands of other Asian immigrants who sought refuge in a center that created a cultural community.
Photo: Shaping SF
The urbanization of San Francisco triggered violent protests and the suppression of immigrant voices by local and federal forces who contradict the basic freedoms granted to human citizens. No matter how hard the Filipinos fought, the I-Hotel is another emblematic loss of trying to find a place in America.
These images taken from Shaping SF keeps a part of history Filipino@-Americans need to be aware of, as forms of discrimination and subconscious biases are targeted and manifested towards our generation today.
Filipin@-American Issues 