Let’s honor the pioneers
Date: Tuesday, February 28 @ 11:13:42 CST
Topic: Editorial
Now is the time for all Filipino Americans to appropriately celebrate the centennial of the first significant numbers of Filipino immigrants who arrived in Hawaii in 1906 to work on the islands’ sugar plantations. This batch paved the way for the subsequent immigration of more and more Filipinos to the United States which now totals more than two million.
These pioneers opened the doors for the entry up to 1935 of many more migrant laborers to work in West Coast farms and Alaskan canneries. After World War II, approximately 7,000 Filipino soldiers received U.S. citizenship and, in 1945, the War Brides Act permitted Filipino wives of U.S. military to immigrate.
This was followed by the 1965 Immigration Act which paved the way for Filipino professionals to enter the United States, many of them in the medical field. This latest wave of immigration brought major changes in gender and class in the Filipino American community which now numbers 2.36 million. Filipino Americans constitute the second largest APA group overall, second to Chinese Americans, according to the 2000 Census.
Various programs have been set up in Hawaii and around the US to commemorate this historic event. In Washington D.C., the Smithsonian Institution has prepared special events, including a possible exhibition, that will provide a historical overview of Filipino Americans in the United States. The Library of Congress has also set up programs to mark this year-long celebration.
The commemorative events will tell the stories of the unique roles of Filipino Americans in the United States-their struggles, contributions, challenges and achievements. They will not only honor the Filipino pioneers; they will also make Filipino Americans and other ethnic groups in America today aware of our history. And they will help inform and acquaint the American public with our modest contribution to America’s growth.
As the Filipino Centennial Commemoration committee puts it, “this is an important milestone in Filipino American history’s 100 years of becoming American and influencing American society.”
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