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

America

A Nation of Immigrants A “Permanently Unfinished

Society” (Nathan Glazer)

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

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

Sakadas in Action(Sugar and pineapple workers)

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)

Filipinos in USA

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

Filipino Labor Organizing in Hawaii (1910s-30s)

Pablo Manlapit

Sakadas organizing

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

City & County of Honolulu – Council Members

Romy Cachola Donovan dela Cruz

Nestor Garcia

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

Mahalo!

Maraming salamat!

Thank you!