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Letters in Exile: An Introductory Reader on the History of Pilipinos in America (1976)
Description:An introductory reader on the history of Pilipinos in America, Letters in Exile was the first anthology published on the then little-known history of Pilipinos in this country and was the second book published by the Center. Materials selected for this book were chosen by students belonging to the Pilipino American Anthology Project to shed light on key areas in Pilipino history.
Excerpt:"The articles which we have chosen by no means represent the definitive history of Pilipinos in America. They were selected because they portray significant themes in the Pilipino experience, in addition to providing factual information. Hopefully, they will inspire further research, and at the very least, serve as building blocks in constructing a framework to view the entire Pilipino experience in America.
Like the history of other racial minorities in the United States, the experience of Pilipinos has only recently been recognized and explored. Ever since they began migrating to the United States in the early 1900’s, Pilipinos have made substantial contributions to America's economic growth. In many respects, the pattern of their history is highly similar to the history of other Asian immigrants. Recruited as cheap labor, Pilipinos, as well as Chinese, Japanese and Koreans, became the focus of intense widespread racial antagonism which eventually led to the prohibition of continued immigration.
However, within that fabric of Pilipino history is woven one significant thread. From their initial immigration in 1907 to their eventual exclusion in 1935, Pilipinos came to the United States as migrants from an American colony, as opposed to a foreign country. This single fact, which in political terms accounted for the flow of migration, also had ramifications on a human level. Migrant Pilipinos nurtured in a system preaching American democracy and equal opportunity found to their bitter disappointment that these creeds were not upheld in the very country which fostered them.
We have organized this anthology to introduce the elements which resulted in this experience. In the first section, entitled "Conflict and Contact" are articles which illustrate that Pilipino immigration was rooted in conflict, with racism evident from its inception. In the following section, "Exile and Exclusion" are materials relating how discriminatory practices and policies of various groups eventually led to the social exile and legal exclusion of the Pilipino. Finally, in "Crisis and Construction" we have selected articles demonstrating the present plight of elderly Pilipinos who lived through this history and how concerned and active persons are helping them to meet their needs." (From the "Preface") Table of Contents
Letter in Exile Carlos Bulosan
Exile and Exclusion
Crisis and Construction
Pilipino Highlights Related Center Press PublicationsAmerasia Journal 24:2 Essays into American Empire into the Philippines: Part I. Legacies, Heroes, and Identity (1998) |
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