Filipinos in the Bay Area

         As someone who was born and raised in the Bay Area, it is easy to understand the confusion over why Filipino's are so underrepresented given that they are such a large part of American migration and almost the entirety of the Bay. In my hometown of Hayward, my high school was maybe 40-50% Filipino. When the article discusses the struggle Filipino's go through to gain some traction within the Asian community, the Filipino race is not generally cited when discussing Asians in the same way that Chinese or Japanese populations are regarded. Filipinos, although such a large percentage of California, often become victims of erasure due to what popular media deems as the "proper" Asian. As my partner Angelika discussed in our presentation, the common dark and tan features that Filipino's share could be a very large reason as to why a Filipino is not generally described under the Asian label, revealing the negative effects of the colorism present in American culture as well as every culture.
      Also, the authors of the article, Vergara Jr. and Benito M., note that a huge percentage of Filipino's that make up part of the American population are "foreign born", 65% having been born in the Philippines. This xenophobic tradition of the United States is further revealed through it's judgment of the less assimilated members of society. The need to be absolutely affluent to be able to fit under the Asian-American label cannot entirely be applied to all Filipinos, the large migration not being long ago enough for a wider American-born population to arise. In the United States, treatment of Filipino people provides great insight into what this country values, and where their bigotry lies.