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The Latinos of Asia: How Filipino Americans Break the Rules of Race by Anthony Christian Ocampo
rcxanne's review against another edition
5.0
i finally finally finally finished this work and wow. i have tons and tons of thoughts on this work, and i’ll surely forget them while writing this.
i suppose my one gripe with this work is that ocampo draws from two specific communities in california — los angeles specifically — and attempts to describe the racial experience of a diaspora that exists well beyond those two communities. this is not so much a complaint as it is just an observation, as this work in itself is a huge undertaking already. as a filipino-american that was born in the south and lives on the east coast (and whose fil-am friends are mostly from the tri-state area or the midwest), i could and couldn’t relate to an equal amount of experiences mentioned in the work. so i guess this is to say that i hope this kind of research doesn’t stop here but also examines the experiences of the filipino diaspora in the whole united states.
one thing that this book does really well is that it makes you consider race and racialization on both personal and systemic levels. so i really believe that this is a book not only for filipino-americans to read, but for everyone. in terms of writing it is also very accessible for an academic text, and is really only dense in terms of ideas!! so read if you can!
uhhhhh there’s more thoughts in my head but i haven’t had my matcha yet so maybe i’ll come back later when i’m more caffeinated but these r my main thoughts lol
i suppose my one gripe with this work is that ocampo draws from two specific communities in california — los angeles specifically — and attempts to describe the racial experience of a diaspora that exists well beyond those two communities. this is not so much a complaint as it is just an observation, as this work in itself is a huge undertaking already. as a filipino-american that was born in the south and lives on the east coast (and whose fil-am friends are mostly from the tri-state area or the midwest), i could and couldn’t relate to an equal amount of experiences mentioned in the work. so i guess this is to say that i hope this kind of research doesn’t stop here but also examines the experiences of the filipino diaspora in the whole united states.
one thing that this book does really well is that it makes you consider race and racialization on both personal and systemic levels. so i really believe that this is a book not only for filipino-americans to read, but for everyone. in terms of writing it is also very accessible for an academic text, and is really only dense in terms of ideas!! so read if you can!
uhhhhh there’s more thoughts in my head but i haven’t had my matcha yet so maybe i’ll come back later when i’m more caffeinated but these r my main thoughts lol
borderlineatoms999's review against another edition
4.0
A great read!
This book affirmed so many of my life experiences growing up as a Filipino in southern California. More importantly, the author also captured experiences where I too felt out of place in different social settings. I will definitely recommend this book to friend's.
This book affirmed so many of my life experiences growing up as a Filipino in southern California. More importantly, the author also captured experiences where I too felt out of place in different social settings. I will definitely recommend this book to friend's.
tora76's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really good look at how Filipino-Americans identify and why. However, it was a super narrow focus, with the author basically only interviewing Filipinos from two cities in the Los Angeles area. Admittedly these are cities with huge Filipino populations, but it would have been interesting to see how things differ for those in other parts of the country (or even outside of the US, though that obviously widens the scope a whole lot more).
The writing was a little repetitive (he's very fond of doing the "closing paragraph" type wrap-up for each chapter where he summarizes what he just said, and that could easily have been cut out) but overall an easy and interesting read.
The writing was a little repetitive (he's very fond of doing the "closing paragraph" type wrap-up for each chapter where he summarizes what he just said, and that could easily have been cut out) but overall an easy and interesting read.
hilaryreadsbooks's review
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Primarily focused on the Filipino American community based out of Southern California, Ocampo uses ethnographic research, personal anecdotes, and the Philippines' history of Spanish and American colonization to delve into how Filipinos share connections with both the Latino and Asian communities—and how Filipinos, crucial to Asian American history and activism, have somehow been rendered invisible within the panethnic identity of "Asian American."
Colonial legacies set the background for many of the Filipino Americans Ocampo interviewed in different ways. Because the US forced an Americanized school system in the Philippines, most Filipino migrants were already fluent in English, which led to lower levels of bilingualism in future generations of Filipino Americans as well as diverse immigrant neighborhoods that differ greatly from ethnic enclaves like Chinatown. Yet the strong ties to the Philippines were learned from family, community, church, and even pamilya formed in tight-knit Filipino student groups on college campuses. A lot of these differences from other Asian American groups actually led many of the interviewees to not identify as Asian American, instead preferring to specify that they were Filipino, or even to identify as Pacific Islander. Outside-group stereotypes and assumptions about Asian American identity further exacerbates this feeling of alienation—after all, Ocampo points out, when the media covers "Asia," it is rarely referring to the Philippines.
I learned so much from this book and was particularly excited to see dedicated sections on PCNs, or Pilipino Cultural Nights, which is how I first got involved with the Filipinx community on my campus ❤️
Colonial legacies set the background for many of the Filipino Americans Ocampo interviewed in different ways. Because the US forced an Americanized school system in the Philippines, most Filipino migrants were already fluent in English, which led to lower levels of bilingualism in future generations of Filipino Americans as well as diverse immigrant neighborhoods that differ greatly from ethnic enclaves like Chinatown. Yet the strong ties to the Philippines were learned from family, community, church, and even pamilya formed in tight-knit Filipino student groups on college campuses. A lot of these differences from other Asian American groups actually led many of the interviewees to not identify as Asian American, instead preferring to specify that they were Filipino, or even to identify as Pacific Islander. Outside-group stereotypes and assumptions about Asian American identity further exacerbates this feeling of alienation—after all, Ocampo points out, when the media covers "Asia," it is rarely referring to the Philippines.
I learned so much from this book and was particularly excited to see dedicated sections on PCNs, or Pilipino Cultural Nights, which is how I first got involved with the Filipinx community on my campus ❤️
laurensilva's review against another edition
3.0
This book by Anthony Christian Ocampo is a fascinating look into Filipino-American identity. It really opened my view to the many ways Filipinos identify and then navigate their lives in America, a country so heavily focused and dictated by race and racial perceptions.
In his final chapter, Ocampo closes out by writing that his hope for the book was that we can better
address the social problems that continue to hinder the full inclusion of the Filipino American community within the imaginary of American society." And I do think that if more people read this, not just everyday people but sociologists, activists, academics, and more, we could definitely fulfill Ocampo's goal. He gives an example of the Asians for the National Marrow Donor Program Registry group at UCLA handing out flyers for organ donation to students they perceived as Asian - which meant they ignored several Filipinos who walked by, including Ocampo himself. This narrow view of Asian identity ends up harming Filipinos who could benefit from Filipino students' donations.
On the other hand, many Filipino Americans themselves don't identify as Asian at all, instead more closely tying themselves to Latino groups. Many Filipinos are also often perceived as Latino or more Latino by outsiders, including Latinos themselves. Racial and ethnic identity is so complicated, and Ocampo really explores how magnified that is for Filipinos. It even made me look into my identity as a Filipino, and threw me into a bit of an existential crisis, wondering whether as a Filipino, I was Latino and not Asian, as I have identified for my whole life.
This is one drawback to the book, in my opinion. Ocampo does say at the start that he hoped to learn "how Filipinos carved out their racial place within American society" and that he was "especially interested in studying Filipinos in Los Angeles, because the region, in many respects, foreshadows the America of tomorrow." But it feels strange to give a book such a broad title when the focus is on such a small, specific sample size (85 second generation Filipino Americans in two LA neighborhoods). I found myself often wishing that the book's scope was broader. Do Filipinos in Texas feel the same way? What about the Filipinos in Jersey? Are they as unlikely to identify as non-Asian? What were their experiences with white people like? Ocampo's findings are definitely interesting, but I worry that readers may forget that they reflect only general sentiment among second-generation Filipino Americans in LA, and instead apply these findings to all Filipino Americans as his wording often suggests.
It was also interesting how Ocampo didn't dive into Filipinos' penchant for glorifying and idolizing whiteness (thanks to years of colonization) especially in chapter 6 '"Filipinos Aren't Asian" and Other Lessons from College' when talking about Fil-Am college students experiencing whites en masse for the first time. These students were culture shocked, rightfully so. But Filipinos have a history of craving proximity to whiteness, wanting their kids to marry whites, wanting more Caucasian noses, etc; it's such a big part of the culture that it feels off to ignore.
Finally, as a small nitpick, even though it's an academic book, Anthony does offer uncited commentary at times, and so I do wish that he had pushed back on some of his interviewees comments when they veered towards closed mindedness or even racist. He shows he can do it (pg 148) for his readers, when categorizing an interviewee's generalizations of "other Asians" as "reductionist and problematic." But that's really as far as he goes, and I think it would be beneficial for readers (especially other Fil-Ams) to see him push back.
In his final chapter, Ocampo closes out by writing that his hope for the book was that we can better
address the social problems that continue to hinder the full inclusion of the Filipino American community within the imaginary of American society." And I do think that if more people read this, not just everyday people but sociologists, activists, academics, and more, we could definitely fulfill Ocampo's goal. He gives an example of the Asians for the National Marrow Donor Program Registry group at UCLA handing out flyers for organ donation to students they perceived as Asian - which meant they ignored several Filipinos who walked by, including Ocampo himself. This narrow view of Asian identity ends up harming Filipinos who could benefit from Filipino students' donations.
On the other hand, many Filipino Americans themselves don't identify as Asian at all, instead more closely tying themselves to Latino groups. Many Filipinos are also often perceived as Latino or more Latino by outsiders, including Latinos themselves. Racial and ethnic identity is so complicated, and Ocampo really explores how magnified that is for Filipinos. It even made me look into my identity as a Filipino, and threw me into a bit of an existential crisis, wondering whether as a Filipino, I was Latino and not Asian, as I have identified for my whole life.
This is one drawback to the book, in my opinion. Ocampo does say at the start that he hoped to learn "how Filipinos carved out their racial place within American society" and that he was "especially interested in studying Filipinos in Los Angeles, because the region, in many respects, foreshadows the America of tomorrow." But it feels strange to give a book such a broad title when the focus is on such a small, specific sample size (85 second generation Filipino Americans in two LA neighborhoods). I found myself often wishing that the book's scope was broader. Do Filipinos in Texas feel the same way? What about the Filipinos in Jersey? Are they as unlikely to identify as non-Asian? What were their experiences with white people like? Ocampo's findings are definitely interesting, but I worry that readers may forget that they reflect only general sentiment among second-generation Filipino Americans in LA, and instead apply these findings to all Filipino Americans as his wording often suggests.
It was also interesting how Ocampo didn't dive into Filipinos' penchant for glorifying and idolizing whiteness (thanks to years of colonization) especially in chapter 6 '"Filipinos Aren't Asian" and Other Lessons from College' when talking about Fil-Am college students experiencing whites en masse for the first time. These students were culture shocked, rightfully so. But Filipinos have a history of craving proximity to whiteness, wanting their kids to marry whites, wanting more Caucasian noses, etc; it's such a big part of the culture that it feels off to ignore.
Finally, as a small nitpick, even though it's an academic book, Anthony does offer uncited commentary at times, and so I do wish that he had pushed back on some of his interviewees comments when they veered towards closed mindedness or even racist. He shows he can do it (pg 148) for his readers, when categorizing an interviewee's generalizations of "other Asians" as "reductionist and problematic." But that's really as far as he goes, and I think it would be beneficial for readers (especially other Fil-Ams) to see him push back.
mpjustreading's review
5.0
In THE LATINOS OF ASIA, we learn how places, life stages, and people around us mold our racial consciousness. How the rules of race differs from place to place. And how for Filipino Americans shifting social worlds requires assessing which rules apply, a factor that plays a big role in how we perceive our racial identity. Anthony Ocampo’s research focuses on the experience of middle class, second-gen Filipino Americans living in Eagle Rock or Carson, CA.
As a first-gen Filipino American living near Los Angeles, I found myself relating to a lot to the people interviewed in the book. And interestingly, I also found a lot of differences in our experiences in the US. Like many of the Fil-Ams interviewed, I also joined a Filipino club in college and found a sense of home. But unlike most, that was the first time I’ve felt a sense of Filipino community among my peers in the US.
Most of the people interviewed grew up in a multiethnic neighborhood, in which roughly 20% are Filipino. My first look of the US was a neighborhood predominantly white and Latinx. The race demographics of my old HS is currently 45% white, 40% Latinx, 10% Asian (includes Filipinos), and 4% Black which also reflects the demographics of the neighborhood. These differences motivated me to deeply reflect on the panethnic moments I grew up with and currently experience. How my own racial identity changed over the years.
If I was asked which race I would choose form the options: Asian, Latinx, Pacific Islander, or other, before college I would have checked the box for Pacific Islander. Given the race demographics of the neighborhood I grew up in, I distinctly saw how different white, Latinx, and Asian peers socialized and presented themselves. I hung out with a multiethnic group, but in many ways felt like an outsider because of my experience with immigration. I distinctly remember not wanting to select ‘other,” because I didn’t want to perpetuate my feelings of already being the “resident alien.” If presented with the same question today, I would probably select ‘other.’ But I’d look at the Latinx option, thinking of all the cultural parallels from the shared history of Spanish colonization, and really consider it. I find my own experience reinforcing the author’s point that racial identity is fluid and dependent on shifting social contexts.
This book is also reveals how panethnic moments can influence and shape negative stereotypes we overtly/covertly hold. There were times when some Filipinos interviewed blatantly used negative stereotypes when referring to Latinx and Asian American communities. Anthony Ocampo highlights the need to be aware of this. These stereotypical tendencies and the topic of race in general aren’t commonly discussed in the Filipino community. But it’s important we talk about it and hold ourselves accountable, to stand up for BIPOC communities -because ultimately, we’re all beating against a society that prizes white supremacy.
Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about the Filipino diaspora in the US.
As a first-gen Filipino American living near Los Angeles, I found myself relating to a lot to the people interviewed in the book. And interestingly, I also found a lot of differences in our experiences in the US. Like many of the Fil-Ams interviewed, I also joined a Filipino club in college and found a sense of home. But unlike most, that was the first time I’ve felt a sense of Filipino community among my peers in the US.
Most of the people interviewed grew up in a multiethnic neighborhood, in which roughly 20% are Filipino. My first look of the US was a neighborhood predominantly white and Latinx. The race demographics of my old HS is currently 45% white, 40% Latinx, 10% Asian (includes Filipinos), and 4% Black which also reflects the demographics of the neighborhood. These differences motivated me to deeply reflect on the panethnic moments I grew up with and currently experience. How my own racial identity changed over the years.
If I was asked which race I would choose form the options: Asian, Latinx, Pacific Islander, or other, before college I would have checked the box for Pacific Islander. Given the race demographics of the neighborhood I grew up in, I distinctly saw how different white, Latinx, and Asian peers socialized and presented themselves. I hung out with a multiethnic group, but in many ways felt like an outsider because of my experience with immigration. I distinctly remember not wanting to select ‘other,” because I didn’t want to perpetuate my feelings of already being the “resident alien.” If presented with the same question today, I would probably select ‘other.’ But I’d look at the Latinx option, thinking of all the cultural parallels from the shared history of Spanish colonization, and really consider it. I find my own experience reinforcing the author’s point that racial identity is fluid and dependent on shifting social contexts.
This book is also reveals how panethnic moments can influence and shape negative stereotypes we overtly/covertly hold. There were times when some Filipinos interviewed blatantly used negative stereotypes when referring to Latinx and Asian American communities. Anthony Ocampo highlights the need to be aware of this. These stereotypical tendencies and the topic of race in general aren’t commonly discussed in the Filipino community. But it’s important we talk about it and hold ourselves accountable, to stand up for BIPOC communities -because ultimately, we’re all beating against a society that prizes white supremacy.
Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about the Filipino diaspora in the US.
ursamajor's review
5.0
As a hapa Fil-Am raised in the Bay Area, reading this felt both incredibly familiar and unbelievably alienating. Ocampo's research showed me moments of "yep, I recognize those elements of 1st-gen Filipino-American families from my interactions with more 'pure' Fil-Am families through my grandparents," alternated with revelations about why my mixed family was mostly not like those described, and how whiteness affected this. Still, even if I still didn't "see ME" in this, it was an informative next step.
spencernoble's review
4.0
Having both Filipino and latino friends, this book articulated well thoughts I had after seeing them engage with one another and being around both families. It was interesting because even I had made a subconscious separation of Filipino from East/South Asians just because of differences in culture, personalities, family and academic life, as well as appearance.
The part about being treated as 'Asian' in some regards to schooling and then 'Latino' in others was fascinating to see. The book did a good job delving into the differences and similarities Filipinos have with Latinos and other Asian groups as well as how that affected Filipino people at different points in their life. Particularly in regards to their education at the elementary, middle, high school, undergraduate, and post-graduate stages.
Recommended if you have Filipino friends or are interested in learning about how 'race' is categorized, how because of the cultural differences many Filipinos don't personally feel 'Asian.'
The part about being treated as 'Asian' in some regards to schooling and then 'Latino' in others was fascinating to see. The book did a good job delving into the differences and similarities Filipinos have with Latinos and other Asian groups as well as how that affected Filipino people at different points in their life. Particularly in regards to their education at the elementary, middle, high school, undergraduate, and post-graduate stages.
Recommended if you have Filipino friends or are interested in learning about how 'race' is categorized, how because of the cultural differences many Filipinos don't personally feel 'Asian.'
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