A Filipino in America - Essay Example

A Filipino in America The family roots of my neighbor Samantha Wayne came from a small island in Southeast Asia called the Philippines. His grandfather Protacio arrived in the United States in 1946 in what was called the post war immigration decade. Grandfather Protacio came from the northern part of the country which is Ilocos region where rice farming is the main source of income. Farming supported the education of grandfather Protacio and his five other siblings but the Philippine economy has not yet recovered from the war, poverty rate was high, and farming was not enough to send the children to reputable schools. When the opportunity came for Filipinos to be in America as Navy recruit or contracted worker, grandfather Protacio’s parents seized the opportunity and enlisted him to join the latter. As the oldest child in the family, grandfather Protacio was forced to accept the opportunity to help his family and build a better future for himself in the United States. Grandfather Protacio left the Philippines to be one of the “1946 boys” who arrived in U.S. territory as a contracted worker in farmlands. Much like the Syrian immigrants who were awed with the grandeur of New York (Holt 249), grandfather Protacio was equally awed by the richness of American farms compared to the ailing farms in his province and spent so much time at the farm during the day and exploring the city at night that he forgot his responsibilities in the Philippines for a while. Grandfather Protacio has heard a lot of America and its greatness as “the land of freedom and civilization” (Holt 257) thus, he was caught off guard to the racial discrimination when he arrived the same with the Japanese who felt humiliated because of discrimination and abused in his domestic job (Holt 260). At the time grandfather Protacio arrived in the U.S., the Congress has passed a law that permits Filipinos to qualify as American citizens. Despite of this, racial discrimination to Filipinos was very high. According to Melendy in his article “Filipino Americans”, Filipinos were discriminated due to their skin color and inability to speak English like the white Americans. Like the story of the Chitkara family and the Indian Ab-nen-la-de-ni who experienced the language barrier, grandfather Protacio had difficulty expressing his thoughts and feelings at work due to his limited English. He must “speak English or remain silent” (Holt 210) not only as a requirement but because the other employees were also immigrants of different nationalities and the only language they can communicate to each other is in English. Although farm works were not new to grandfather Protacio since he came from a family of farmers, the intense labor requiring more hours in the field, irregular meal provision, and unfit clothing for different seasons has taken its toll on his health. Striving to get off in his current situation, grandfather Protacio bargained with his employer to allow him to be a working student. Like Ab-nen-la-de-ni, grandfather Protacio “went to school in the morning and work in the afternoon” (Holt 211) and did his home works at night in a dimly lit room shared with the other farm workers. The bargain though has been difficult because the wife of his employer did not agree to allow non-American workers to attend school. If the Indian suffered from the attack and mismanagement of the Head Directress in the Institute (Holt 216), grandfather Protacio suffered from mistreatment of his employer’s wife by working unpaid overtime and was accused of stealing and selling boxes of fruits in the city. Worst of all, his employment visa was not renewed forcing him to resign and looked for another job that could ensure his stay in the country since he cannot afford to go back empty handed in the Philippines. Grandfather Protacio was desperate but his desire to succeed and help his family fueled him to continue despite the meager amount of money left in his wallet. Fortunately, he found a job in the mess hall at a restaurant owned by a Chinese who married an American. It was there that grandfather Protacio earned his resident card and eventually married a Filipina nurse immigrant. Like the Indians, family tie is very important to Filipinos as well as preservation of cultural values and traditions (Holt 221). Grandfather Protacio and his wife Miranda have not forgotten their roots and went back to the Philippines in 1961 to visit their hometowns. The cross culture though has assimilated differently to the children of grandfather Protacio up to the generation of Samantha. Born and raised in America, they do not know how to speak the national language in the Philippines which is Tagalog and behaves differently from the Filipino’s who were born and grew up in their own country. They were viewed the way Indians view those who do not return to their land as people who “thinks himself above us” (Holt 221). On the other hand, Samantha and his Filipino mother have desires to visit the Philippines and even help some relatives in need but never to settle in the country as their home because like the Syrians, they too have built their roots here and they find America more attractive and livable (Holt 255) despite its current financial crisis. The article on “American President” of the Miller Center of the University of Virginia state that year 1946 in America was a year of labor strikes with union laborers from the industrial sector seeking higher wage, soaring food prices specially the meat, and communism threats from Soviet Union. The President, Harry Truman, was told to be besieged with the issues of corruption and capitalism of his appointed political aides and left the White House in 1953 as the most unpopular president in the country. The same article revealed that post-war year in America opened employment opportunities to American women in the labor sector but received lesser pay compared to men. Majority of the American women whether white or black were forced to stay at home to rear the children and took care of household chores. Housing then was seen affordable in 1946 due to the inexpensive government mortgages paving to the rise of the suburbia until 1950. Ironically, 65 years after grandfather Protacio arrived in the U.S. territory America still suffers the same fate only at different intensity. The communism threat during 1940’s was now replaced with even a bigger threat of terrorism with the 911 tragedy in 2001 as a grave reminder of its destructiveness. Labor strikes continuous to soar with the Wall Street stand off against capitalism as the new strategy influencing other countries to do the same. Although women have gained power in the economic sector, the recent work force recession forced them to stay at home and went back to their original plain house parent cum wife role. Increase in the prices of commodities continuous to besiege every American due to oil price hike and growing demand. The current U.S. President Barack Obama is repeatedly blamed by the public on the inability of the government to solve the poverty crisis in the country, and the Republicans and Democrats are still seated at the far ends of the table causing delays in implementing economic solutions for the welfare of the people. Housing dropped to its lowest level but only because the market suffered from the recession and only the affluent can buy new properties with cash. The only difference now from the time when grandfather Protacio arrived was the paradigm shift of the white Americans and the government to accept immigrants from other countries with the amendment of the National Immigration Act, with the goal to bring equal opportunities and eliminate racial discrimination. The survival of grandfather Protacio amidst poverty, discrimination, and changes in American environment was largely due to perseverance, the will escape the conflict in his homeland, and to give a better life to his family by living the great American dream. It is the great American dream which evolved in the stories of the Syrian, Japanese, and Indian immigrants, who acknowledged the changes and embraced the American culture in order to escape poverty in their countries. Unlike the story of the Syrian immigrants, grandfather Protacio though felt no hostility to his country despite its unstable political condition. But just like the former and the Indian, he used the American paradigm and took advantage of its technology to influence his family and friends in the Philippines to pursue education as the key to escape poverty and develop the country. Works Cited Holt, Hamilton. The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans as Told by Themselves. James Pott and Company. New York, 1906 : 200-260. Print. Melendy, H. Brett. “Filipino Americans”. Countries and their Cultures. Advanmeg, Inc., 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2011. Miller Center. “American President: A Reference Resource”. University of Virginia. 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2011. Read More