ethnicity, labor and politics: the filipino experience in hawaii belinda a. aquino, ph.d. center for...
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ETHNICITY, LABOR AND POLITICS:The Filipino Experience in Hawaii
Belinda A. Aquino, Ph.D.Center for Philippine StudiesUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa
Oct. 3, 2008
California State University East Bay
AN OVERVIEW
Forces that shape political participation
Filipinos in the fabric of the American nation
Filipino experience in Hawai’i
ETHNICITY
Socially Constructed U.S. Census Bureau –Racial/Ethnic
Categories White African American Hispanic Asian American Native American Other Race
U.S. Racial/Ethnic Distribution, 2006 Estimates
White 66%Hispanics 14.8 %African American 13.4%Asian 4.4%American Indian 0.68%Pacifi c Is lander 0.14%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 Estimates
S
Emerging Paradigms on Ethnicity
Multiculturalism versus assimilation
Diversity and affirmative action Political Empowerment Diaspora – dispersion,
dislocation, globalization
ENABLING LAWS
Civil Rights Act, 1964 Immigration and Nationality
Act, 1965 Immigration Reform Act,
1986
THE PHILIPPINES
Colony of the US: 1898 to 1946 Source of cheap, plentiful labor Starting 1906, US companies
recruited Filipino farmers for Hawaii and California
Waves of Filipino Immigration to USA
First wave: 1906-before WWII sakadas in Hawaii sugar and
pineapple plantations rice and orchard farmers in
California
Waves of Filipino immigration…
Second wave: 1946-1964, Filipino military in US Armed forces and their families
Third wave: 1965-1985, Filipino professionals
Fourth wave: 1986-present, Filipino family reunifications, global opportunities
Filipinos in America: Top 10 States, Census 2000
California – 918,678 Hawaii – 170,635 Illinois – 86,298 New Jersey – 85,245 New York – 81,681 Washington – 65,373 Texas – 58,340 Florida – 54,310 Virginia – 47,609 TOTAL – 1.61 illion Nevada – 40,529 (out of 2.8 million)
Proportion of Filipinos to Population of CA & HI
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 estimates.
Proportion of Filipinos in CA, 2006 est.Total CA Population36.457M
Proportion ofFilipinos 1.093M =3%
Proportion of Filipinos in HI, 2006 est.
Total HI Population 1.285MProportion of Filipinos 192K = 15%
Filipinos in Hawaii – 2000
31.7%21.8%
26.7%
63.4%
26.9%
21.1%Kauai – 18,522
Oahu – 191,393
Molokai – 1,979
Lanai – 2,007
Maui – 34,445
Hawaii – 31,354
Total – 275,407
LABOR STRUGGLES IN HAWAII (1909-1930S)
All men – could not bring families Early Sakadas worked 10-12
hrs/day, 6 days/week $1 daily wage Participated in strikes 1924 Hanapepe Massacre
Democratization/ILWU
John Burns: led 1954 democratic “revolution”
Jack Hall: ILWU regional director
Jack Hall
First Generation Political Leaders
In the Legislature 1954, Peter Aduja - first Filipino American elected to Hawai'i Territorial Legislature
Peter Aduja
In the Judiciary
1974, Benjamin Menor appointed first Filipino American Hawai’i State Supreme Court JusticeJustice Ben Menor
State Governor
1994, Benjamin J. Cayetano becomes first Filipino American and second Asian American elected Governor of a U.S. state
Filipino-American Hawaii Mayors
Eduardo Malapit – first Fil-Am to become mayor in US (Kauai, Hawaii), 1974
Lorraine Rodero-Inouye – first Fil-Am woman to become mayor in US (Big Island, Hawaii), 1990
State Senators, 2008-present
Ron Menor [D] Lorraine Inouye [D] Donna Mercado Kim [D]
Will Espero [D] Robert Bunda [D]
State Representatives, 2008-present
K. Pine [R]L. Finnegan [R]
L. Berg [D]D. Belatti [D] R. Cabanilla [D]
J. Manahan [D]A. Sonson [D] M. Magaoay [D] R. Sagum III [D]
Reflections on Hawaii Filipino Experience
Immigration history Critical mass: base of support Labor militancy/organizing Democratization Coalitions with other groups Geographic size
Other US Fil-Am political leaders
1990, David Mercado Valderrama elected to Prince George's county seat, Maryland state legislature
1991, Seattle's Gene Canque Liddell elected mayor of Lacey City, Washington State
1992, Velma Veloria elected to the Washington State Legislature
In San Francisco Bay Area
Jose Esteves, 3-term mayor, Milpitas
Michael Guingona, 4-term mayor of Daly City, now Councilmember
Manny Fernandez, vice mayor of Union City
Gertrude Gregorio, board member of New Haven Unified School District
Critical Questions
What strategies can increase Fil-Am political participation?
How can they expand their economic base? Will Ben Cayetano’s achievement be
replicated? Will there be a first Fil-Am member of
Congress in the next 5-10 yrs? What is the future of the Filipino diaspora? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Will
the U.S. continue to be the no. 1 destination?
Major Sources
U.S. Census Bureau Edward Beechert, Working in Hawaii: A Labor
History, Univ. of Hawaii Press, 1985 Roger Daniels, A History of Immigration and
Ethnicity in American Life, 1990 Alejandro Portes & Ruben G. Rumbaut,
Immigrant America, 2nd ed., Univ. of California Press, 1986.
Ruben G. Rumbaut & Alejandro Portes, eds. Ethnicities: Children of Immigrants in America. Univ. of California Press, 2001
Luis Teodoro, Jr. ed., Out of this Struggle: The Filipinos in Hawaii. Univ. of Hawaii Press, 1981