Filipino American Generations
A book by Juanita Tamayo Lott
Rowman & Littlefield
www.rowmanlittlefield.com
Filipino Americans, like many ethnic groups in America, are complex. This book documents how Filipino Americans have grown within the context of political forces, the prevailing social order, rights and responsibilities of individuals, economic success, and the American Dream. Lott shows how Filipino Americans have become active participants in the American democracy and why active civic participation is crucial to any emerging ethnic group. Her controversial thesis is that the twenty-first century will not be defined by the color line but by a more basic human relationship—the adult/child connection—because no society can survive without sustained commitment and shared sacrifice by adult men and women for the welfare of future generations.
This work by Juanity Tamayo Lott explores the mind and character of the Filipino American in relation to America's history within its four generations of expanding influence in American society, culture, economy, and politics. The second largest immigrant population in the United States is still preserving a resilient famly-centered, caring and hospitable culture amidst a vast shift in American culture. She recreates this phenomenon by going into her own family past, present, and future from family members from 6 years of age to 90.
Tamayo Lott recreates for the reader through personal and historical naratives the struggle, the courage, and determination in pursuit of the American dream. From the early 1898 migrants, she takes us back to the seaman who jumped ship off Acapulco, Mexico during the Spanish Galleon trade era and settled up north to Alta California which is now our present day California. Then she fast-forwards the view to the first 3 decades of the 20th Century when the first wave of migrant workers, the "pensionados" (scholars), non-sponsored students, unskilled workers, who mostly found jobs in Hawaii plantations, California agricultural fields (during the time of Cesar Chavez), and Alaskan canneries helped shaped the U.S.
She describes the second wave of this migration (1946-1965) of the military personnel who served with the USAFFE during World War II with the U.S. Armed Forces in the Philippines. They are the "Manong" generation. Next were the coming in of the professionals: doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, and entrepreneurs in the post 1965 era who called themselves "expatriates." These two pioneer generations gave birth to the naturalized Filipino American citizens born here and raised in the U.S. but were taught by their parents to be proud of their Filipino Heritage and of their extended families. These are the children we call Generation X, the millenial generation. The digital and highly skilled Fil-Am generation of today. Whether they can build on the pioneering spirit of the previous generations remains to be seen. With the capacity to compete in high income specialized occupation, this generation will indeed change the landscape of American society.
This book by Juanita Tamayo Lott presents us with the challenge of the choice of continuing the strong foundation of the past generations and the great impact it can have on the America of the future. Through the foundation of the past, this great work gives us a large window of understanding for the future of Filipino Americans, now a vital part of the United States cultural map. Indeed, for Filipino Americans today as well as the rest of the American Society plays a critical role in America's direction for the future. It is after all our "Common Destiny."
(Jay Fermin ppp-usa)