Filipinos in Hawaii
[6] Furthermore, Filipinos made up the third largest ethnicity among Asian Pacific Americans,[7] while making up the majority of the populations of Kauai and Maui counties.
[8] In June 2002, representatives from the Arroyo Administration and local leaders presided over the grand opening and dedication of the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu.
Born in Manila on December 5, 1858, Jose Sabas Libornio was an important figure and an unsung hero in Hawaiian history.
He was a close and loyal friend of Queen Liliʻuokalani, the last monarch of Hawaiʻi, whose compositions may have included the Hawaiian protest song “Kaulana Nā Pua” (“Famous are the Flowers/Children”).
During that time an estimated 125,000 Filipinos were recruited from the Ilocos and Visayas regions of the Philippines to work in Hawaii.
Initially, Filipino men were recruited by the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association (HSPA) from the Philippines to Hawaii to work in the sugarcane fields.
Filipino workers that lacked education and had previous experience in agricultural work were preferred by recruiters because they were perceived to be easier exploit and control.
During the early to mid twentieth century (1906-1940s), hundreds, if not thousands of Filipino workers (Sakadas) migrated to Hawaii to find better work opportunities.
Subsequently, these stereotypes happened frequently in which Filipino men were more likely to be charged for misdemeanors and murder, as well being the number one race in Hawai’i to receive the death penalty within the first half of the twentieth century.
Historically, economically, and politically, Filipinos during the Plantation era could be seen as a subordinate minority, therefore Filipino-Americans have found it especially difficult to contest the stereotyping that emerged from the early twentieth century as many misrepresentations still exist today.
Since the sugar industry in Hawaii was the main source of income for the working class, there was high demand for these jobs.
American sugar plantation owners weren't able to get Native Hawaiians to work for them so they relied heavily on the importation of other ethnicities.
[21] Former President Ferdinand Marcos spent his last years in Hawaii after his family's 21-year conjugal dictatorship[22] in the Philippines was ousted in 1986 through the People Power Revolution.
[25] Throughout his stay in Hawaii, he and his family enjoyed a high life, living in a luxurious house while shopping and eating in one of the state's most expensive sections, as his wife Imelda entertained guests through various costly parties,[26] while Filipinos back in the Philippines suffered from the debt the Marcos family incurred during their rule, which experts say may be fully paid only by 2025, three decades after the downfall of the Marcos authoritarian regime.
[29] Dean Itsuji Saranillio, a Filipino-American academic from Hawaii, has criticized what he views as the colonial amnesia of the "Filipino settler" community in relation to Native Hawaiians.
[30] He writes: "Filipinos in Hawai'i lack social, economic, and political power, yet we often seek empowerment as "Americans" within a U.S. settler state.
While Filipino communities must continue to resist oppressive systems that perpetuate various inequalities, we must also be aware of the colonial structures ingrained in U.S. nationalism that render invisible the U.S. violation of Native Hawaiians' human rights to self-determination."
