The Largest Minority

March 31st, 2009 by Guest

This Cesar Chavez Day (March 31) reminds us how forgotten stories can perpetuate stereotypes.

Charlotte, an Asian American student leader at Pomona College, asked me how do we ignite people into political action and sweep away the tired public perception of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) as passive and docile. I asked her if she knew the story of Pilipino or Japanese American farm workers in the fields and she admitted she knew very little. Considering the last of the Pilipino farm workers from an earlier period died in 1997 and very little has been written in any depth, most of the students across all races I met that day shared this common amnesia.

The story of Latino labor leader Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) has been widely circulated to the point of Cesar’s birthday being designated as a California state holiday and President Obama declaring public support of it becoming a national one. It is a story that has both inspired and been used to awaken the sleeping giant of Latina/o political activism. The UFW battle cry of “Si Se Puede” has been adopted by the current burgeoning immigrant rights movement and its English translation, “Yes We Can,” by Obama in his recent successful presidential run.

However, the story of AAPI farm workers has been lost as well as the true face of AAPIs.

Many do not know that the 1965 Delano Strike, which gave birth to the UFW, was started by Pilipinos, not Cesar Chavez and the Mexican farm workers.

As the summer heat of 1965 ripened the grapes of the Delano fields, Pilipino farm workers walked off the job and struck for dignity and better working conditions. Earlier, Cesar Chavez of the mostly Mexican National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) had refused the request of Larry Itliong of the predominantly Pilipino Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to join the strike. A week after the strike began, Larry approached Cesar again and this time Cesar relented, with pushing from Dolores Huerta and his wife Helen Chavez, and the Mexican workers overwhelmingly voted to join the Pilipino farm workers. Both unions merged to form the UFW. Cesar became the head of the union with Larry as second in command. Dolores Huerta became First Vice President and the Pilipino farm worker leaders filled the rest of the top six leadership positions with Philip Vera Cruz as Second Vice President, Andy Imutan as Third Vice President, and Pete Velasco as Secretary Treasurer.

Additionally, the strike led to large support from the Pilipino American community with an alliance forming between Pilipino farm workers and Pilipino professionals as the Filipino American Political Alliance (FAPA), the first national political Pilipino organization with Larry Itliong eventually becoming its president. By 1970, over 30 cities had active chapters.

By the time of this strike, many of these Pilipino farm workers had over thirty years experience fighting and striking in the field since they arrived in the late 1920s and 1930s. Most struck within the first year on the job in the US . Even earlier, Japanese American workers actively battled in the fields. Growers thought AAPI workers were too militant and confrontational and began vigorously seeking out Mexican workers, who they saw as passive, subservient and docile.

Over 40 years later, the narrative has flipped. Many perceive Latino/as as central to the revival of the US labor movement and swinging many important political elections in different places like California . Whereas, a number of people label AAPIs as culturally obsequious and compliant.

Like the growers in the past who saw Mexican farm workers as submissive, many people today assume AAPIs come from a place which emphasizes obedience and passivity more than other cultures (Passivity is present in all communities). Community leader Myung Soo Seok once told me that defining Asian values as “not making waves” is an inaccurate “American” interpretation.

This Cesar Chavez Day, we must restore the forgotten heritage of all people forged through struggle and remember the stories of AAPIs as a vibrant political force again.

source

July 26th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Three white teens were charged Friday in what officials said was an epithet-filled fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant in a small northeast Pennsylvania coal town…

…According to a police affidavit, the defendants and three 17-year-olds encountered Ramirez, 25, and a teenage girl in a park the night of July 12.

The youths goaded Ramirez and the girl, saying, “You should get out of this neighborhood” and “Get your Mexican boyfriend out of here,” documents said. After Ramirez and the girl began walking away, someone yelled an ethnic slur at him, court documents said. He responded, “What’s your problem?”

A fight ensued, during which police said Walsh punched Ramirez in the face. The victim fell and hit his head on the street, leaving him unconscious, after which Piekarsky kicked him in the head, police said.

All three suspects used ethnic slurs during the fight, which ended with Ramirez in convulsions and foaming at the mouth, authorities said. The attackers fled the scene; Ramirez underwent surgery but died July 14 of head injuries.

read more…

May 26th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Those of you familiar with Jewish-American professor Norman Finkelstein may recall the politically motivated decision to deny him tenure at DePaul University, along with the decision to put him on administrative leave for the academic year, followed by his eventual resignation. This clear assault against academic freedom was due mostly to an aggressive campaign headed by his bitter Zionist opponent Alan Dershowitz.

Above is the trailer for an upcoming film titled “American Radical“, which documents Finkelstein’s struggle prior to this latest incident.

After landing at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport on May 23rd, Professor Finkelstein was detained by the Israeli security service Shin Bet. He was interrogated for 24 hours before being deported and told that he was banned from Israel for 10 years.

In 2006, after Israel launched a pre-planned war of aggression against Lebanon as a test-run for Iran, Finkelstein publicly expressing solidarity with the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah. While detained by Shin Bet, the high-profile critic of Israeli occupation was questioned about whether he had met with al-Qaeda operatives or had been sent by Hezbollah. Finkelstein rejected the accusations, explaining that he had traveled to Israel to visit an old friend. Regardless, Shin Bet said the professor was “not permitted to enter Israel because of suspicions involving hostile elements in Lebanon,” and because he “did not give a full accounting to interrogators with regard to these suspicions.”

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May 15th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Scottish artist Jane Frere discusses in length her inspiration and reason for creating the Nakba Project here.
h/t Return of the Soul

May 14th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

The US has given professional bigots like Arnon Soffer enough credibility on the international scene to demand that every other country in the region accept Palestinian refugees, with the exception of the one country which is actually obligated to do so - Israel.

Half of Palestine’s Arab population was forced to flee from their homes upon Israel’s creation in 1948. Palestinians have the inalienable right of return under international law, and Israel has no right to exist as a “Jewish State”. So why is this “conflict” still unresolved?

May 1st, 2008 by Manila Ryce

The workers’ struggle has no borders. As always, fantastic documentarian work from nauiocelotl.

May 1st, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Aside from the immigration-centered protests which took place in LA today:

Terminal operators say West Coast cargo traffic has come to a halt as port workers stage daylong anti-war protests.

Pacific Maritime Association spokesman Steve Getzug says thousands of dockworkers did not show up to work Thursday morning, leaving ships and truck drivers idle at ports from Long Beach to Seattle.

February 20th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

The border fence isn’t just an insanely stupid idea to solve a perceived “problem” to our national security and economy. It also comes with the added bonus of destroying the environment and violating the land rights of indigenous tribes and other peoples too. Xenophobia comes with a heavy price tag.

However, what’s just as interesting as the people who are getting screwed over by this waste of time and money are the ones which aren’t.