Are Filipinos Asians?
In certain US government forms, the main reason Filipinos are viewed as “Pacific Islanders” as opposed to “Asians” is that in the 70′s a few Fil-Ams activists lobbied the relevant census agencies to classify Filipino-Americans separately from other Asians. If you think this is a bad idea, blame the Pinoy cultural activists “P not F” crowd at SF State and UC Berkeley. This Identity Politics movement of the 1960s was probably animated by the very real Filipino pride and exceptionalism brought about my the Philippines’ economic, military, and political dominance in Southeast Asia in the 1960s. Obviously, this dominance no longer exists–the Philippines has long been relegated to the “sick man of asia”.
From a purely cross cultural perspective, Filipino-Americans ARE different from other Asians, specially if you follow the general definition of “Asian” to read “Northern/Eastern Asian”–greater incarceration rates (Pinoy gangs), lesser educational attainment (among US born and US-raised Fil-Ams), lesser earning power on a PER CAPITA basis (on a per HOUSEHOLD basis, Pinoys rank near the top–since many retain the Pinoy cultural trait of staying with their parents until they marry), greater focus on singing/dancing, etc. Indeed, the differences seem to disqualify most non-middle and upper-class Fil-Ams from the “model minority” myth foisted on Asians.
It has been observed that many Asians in Northern California look down on Filipinos since they perceive them to take education and career issues less seriously as their Asian Indian or Chinese counterparts. Moreover, the proliferation of Filipino gangs and this gang culture’s spread to middleclass Filipino enclaves further strengthens these perceptions within Asian communities that Filipinos are DIFFERENT–somewhat similar to how they view HMONG or CAMBODIANS or non-Chinese Vietnamese.
The bottomline is that “Asian” is not just a geographic construction. It is also a “status” construction. While the Philippines’ geographic location firmly puts us in the “Asian” category, how we view others and how others view us is where the “Asian” categorization becomes disputed.
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