Filipino Americans : transformation and identity

371 Pages·2012·35.136 MB·English

by  Maria P. P. Root (editor)

FILIPIflO
AMERICANS
To the ordinary, heroic, and tragic of all our relations. All lived a life
from which we can learn. May that which we know now and to
which we aspire promote the emotional, spiritual, and physical
well-being of future generations of Filipino Americans.
FILIPINO
FlMERICfflS
Transformation
and Identity
Maria P P Root
Editor
SAGE Publications
International Educational and Professional Publisher
* Thousand Oaks London New Delhi
Copyright © 1997 by Sage Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publisher.
For information address:
SAGE Publications, Inc.
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E-mail: [email protected]
SAGE Publications Ltd.
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SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd.
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Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Filipino Americans: transformation and identity / edited by Maria
P. P. Root.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7619-0578-2. — ISBN 0-7619-0579-0 (pbk.)
1. Filipino Americans—History. 2. Filipino Americans—Ethnic
identity. 3. Filipino Americans—Social conditions. I. Root,
Maria P. P.
E184.F4F385 1997
973'.049921—dc21 97-4591
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
01 02 03 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Acquiring Editor: C. Deborah Laughton
Editorial Assistant: Eileen Carr
Production Editor: Diana E. Axelsen
Production Assistant: Denise Santoyo
Typesetter: Danielle Dillahunt
Indexer: Mary Mortensen
Cover Designer: Candice Harman
Print Buyer: Anna Chin
Contents
Foreword ix
Fred Cordova
Introduction xi
Maria P P Root
1. The Tragic Sense of Filipino History 1
Peter Bacho
2. Demographic Changes Transforming
the Filipino American Community 11
Juanita Tamayo Lott
3. Macro/Micro Dimensions of Pilipino
Immigration to the United States 21
Antonio J. A. Pido
4. Colonialism's Legacy: The Inferiorizing of the Filipino 39
Nilda Rimonte
5. Coming Full Circle: Narratives of Decolonization
Among Post-1965 Filipino Americans 62
Leny Mendoza Strobel
6. Contemporary Mixed-Heritage
Filipino Americans: Fighting Colonized Identities 80
Maria P. P Root
7. Filipino American Identity: Transcending the Crisis 95
Linda A. Revilla
8. Living in the Shadows: The Undocumented
Immigrant Experience of Filipinos 112
Concepcion A. Montoya
9. Mail-Order Brides: An Emerging Community 121
Raquel Z. Ordonez
10. Part of the Community:
A Profile of Deaf Filipino Americans in Seattle 143
Cynthia C. Mejia-Giudici
11. The Day the Dancers Stayed:
On Pilipino Cultural Nights 163
Theodore S. Gonzalves
12. Pamantasan: Filipino American Higher Education 183
Jonathan Y. Okamura and Amefil R. Agbayani
13. Images, Roles, and Expectations
of Filipino Americans by Filipino Americans 198
Allan L. Bergano and Barbara L. Bergano-Kinney
14. Homeland Memories and Media:
Filipino Images and Imaginations in America 208
Rick Bonus
15. Deflowering the Sampaguita 219
M. Evelina Galang
16. Tomboy, Dyke, Lezzie, and Bi:
Filipina Lesbian and Bisexual Women Speak Out 230
Christine T. Lipat, Trinity A. Ordona,
Cianna Pamintuan Stewart, and Mary Ann Ubaldo
17. At the Frontiers of Narrative: The Mapping of
Filipino Gay Men's Lives in the United States 247
Martin F. Manalansan IV
18. Throwing the Baby Out With the Bathwater:
Situating Young Filipino Mothers
and Fathers Beyond the Dominant
Discourse on Adolescent Pregnancy 257
Antonio T. Tiongson Jr.
19. The Prevalence and Impact of Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Other Drugs on
Filipino American Communities 272
Jacqueline T. Jamero Berganio,
Leonardo A. Tacata Jr., and Peter M. Jamero
20. The Family Tree: Discovering Oneself 287
Emilie Gaborne Dearing
21. The Filipino American Young Turks of Seattle:
A Unique Experience in the
American Sociopolitical Mainstream 299
Peter M. Jamero
22. Filipino Americans and Ecology:
New Challenges in the Global Future 316
Felix I. Rodriguez
23. Filipino Spirituality: An Immigrant's Perspective 324
Thelma B. Burgonio-Watson
Index 333
About the Authors 341
Torcwotb
I
t is time that a book like this gathers authoritative Filipino Americans
to discuss, in scholarly fashion, their issues of the day.
It is a propitious time when throughout the United States many
Filipino Americans, and particularly Filipino American students, are
beginning to want to know more about themselves, their past, and their
future. All this is happening despite the minimal transmission of knowl-
edge, ideas, and values about Filipino Americans in American schools.
Most academics have believed that Filipino Americans and/or Filipi-
nos have made no substantial contribution to the history and development
of the United States and, therefore, perceive that Filipino American and/or
Philippine ethnic studies are inferior, valueless, not essential to education,
and not marketable to the general public. In this era, most academics
continue to believe that if something is Filipino American and/or Phil-
ippine, it is inferior. Everything Filipino American has been denied its
intrinsic value. Such an omission has led much to the ignorance of all.
Beginning with the Black Power movement, minority and ethnic
studies—notably African American, Chicano, Native American, and
Asian American studies—were introduced into some higher education
curricula. Yet in the first two decades, there was hardly a page of history
of which Filipino Americans might be proud. In academe, Filipino
IX