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Junru Ma

Asian American Study 1


Paper 1
Professor: R. Kim
TA: Somera, Dennis
4/20/2015
A Historical Product That Has to Be
Historically, the Philippines have been colonized by America,
then Japan, and America again. Sadly, their lives were doomed by the
history of colonization. The famous Filipino writer, Carlos Bulosan,
described his experiences during his childhood in his book, America Is
in the Heart(Bulosan, 29). When he was five, he started to help his
family make money just for a living. He stated that he had no
childhood, and he left home to work at 13 years old. He did farm work,
fixed roads, was a servant, and fished. However, he still could not even
feed his belly everyday. These are experiences that not only happened
in his life, but also in most Filipinos lives. The poor quality of life has
been a significant factor to push Filipinos to America. However, the
most important factors are the pull factors from the colonizing country,
America, which significantly influence the Filipino immigrants. The
history of colonization, American education, and the influence of white
colonists were the main factors that attracted Filipino immigrants to
the United States.
Before 1946, the independence year of the Philippines, the
Philippines had been colonized by America for half of a century.
American colonization deeply influenced the worldview of Filipinos,

especially their view of America. On the one hand, America claimed to


be a new world of democracy, independence, liberty and equity,
without racial and class distinctions. On the other hand, America
stated that it played a peaceful role in Foreign Affairs, and would like to
take in people who needed any help, like political asylum. With this
alluring preaching, America built a beautiful new world for the
colonized country, and the Filipinos were forced to accept all of
Americas claims. Under this severe brainwashing influence, Filipinos
started to dream about living in a perfect country.
The public school system is one of the ways that America
colonized the Philippines. They used English as the teaching language.
All courses and institutions were an imitation of American education.
Filipino students were not only infused by the English language, but
they were also taught the idea that America is better than any other
country. Consequently, Filipinos had been assimilated as America
wished. Under the American style of education, Filipinos tried very hard
to get an education from the public school. For example, in his book,
America Is in the Heart, Carlos Bulosan mentioned that his father
sold their land just to let one of his older brothers finish his high school
studies (Bulosan, #). His whole family was so proud of his brother
because he graduated from an American style school and became a
teacher. Furthermore, not only did his brother accept the American
education, but he also taught it to his family members. He was the

megaphone for American education after he became a teacher. He


taught his brothers to read Robinson Crusoe. He wanted to tell his
brothers that in America, you could achieve your American dream
through hard work like Robinson.
Carlos Bulosan, also in his book, told a story about a boy named
Delmacio. He was a houseboy for an American teacher in one of the
citys schools and he was also one of her pupils. He told Bulosan that
he was going to America, so he was trying to learn English because he
thought English was the best weapon for him to go to America. When
he taught Bulosan how to speak English in exchange for doing some
housework, he said, dont swallow your words. Blow them out like the
Americans(69). Bulosan repeated after him, thinking of America, the
dream country. This education from the American teacher let Delmacio
forget he was a servant and he longed to the American dream. These
stories reflect the phenomenon that the Philippines had been
brainwashed by the influential so-called American education. They
idolized the wonderful and mystery country.
In addition to the influence from the colonizing country, there
was another important influence from local white families. Their
privileged lives proved that America is a good country, as they so often
claimed. They provided opportunities for Filipinos to learn about the
good side of America. Like the story of the houseboy, Delmacio,
mentioned in the previous paragraph, Bulosan also worked for a white

American, Miss Mary Strandon, by a coincidence. One day, he heard a


story about Abraham Lincoln that a poor boy became a president of
the United states! (Buloson, 70). He was fascinated by the story, so he
asked Miss Strandon and she explained and told him other stories
about America. He was not addicted by Abraham Lincoln, but the
country that allowed a poor person to get a chance to be a president.
She worked in a library and found Bulonsan had a passion for books so
she got him a chance to be close with the books, and an opportunity to
learn the American world. Everything from the books and stories told
by Miss Strandon strengthened his belief about that dreamland,
America. The local white people Bulonsan encountered in his youth
further enforced and encouraged his hope to go to America and
achieve his dreams.
Today, most immigration from the Philippines is the result of
these pull factors, and these same Filipinos affect the culture and
history of America. However, what Filipinos failed to realize before
their arrival to the United States was all of the racism and social
opposition they would face for attempting to assimilate. As a result,
they had to learn how to use their words and their writing pens as
shields to defend them from social adversity. In the article San
Francisco State University Third World Liberation Front Position, the
author mentioned the the Philippine American collegiate endeavor
(ASA1 Course pack, 9). The Filipino American students in the SF State

University actively support the Third World Liberation Front Position


and they made changes, so now Filipinos have a support group in the
United States.
No matter what America was actually like after Bulosan and
other Filipinos arrived on the land, the image that they had was
beautiful and attractive. The image that America created and diffused
to Filipino people is the most significant factor that pulled Filipinos to
immigrate. The history of American colonization settled the idea that
America was better and stronger than any other country; the American
style of education developed the idea and taught more about the
democracy, independence, liberty, equality in America; and the local
influence provided good opportunities for Filipinos to learn about
America and build an idolization of the dreamland in Filipinos minds. In
conclusion, poverty in the Philippines pushed people to move to
America, but more importantly, the pull factors from history, education
and white people have significantly influenced the Filipinos views of
American, and consequently affected the immigration.

Reference
Carlos Bulosan, (1946) America Is in the Heart: A personal History; University of
Washington Press.
San Francisco State University Third World Liberation Front Position, 1968, ASA 1
course pack

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