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8. Second-Generation Filipino American Faithful: Are They “Praying and Sending”?
- NYU Press
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156 > 157 Boisterously reminiscing together with Shal and Kuya Karl, we traded descriptions of our common packing ritual. Wrapping breakables in bubblecushioned plastic and then applying thick brown masking tape on Old Navy tank tops and Capri khakis sandwiching packs of Spam, corned beef, Vienna sausage, Ivory soap, Hershey chocolates, Aquafresh toothpaste, Oral B toothbrush , toys, shoes, pictures, among others. Then came the hilarious black Sharpie labeling of each item: “Nanay,” “Tatay,” “Kuya Boyet,” “Ate Baby,” “Donoy,” “Manang.” Kuya Karl, who did most of the loading into their car, lifted a corner of the almost full box and exclaimed, “Dude, you know each one weighs more than a hundred pounds!” Nodding my head in sympathy, I said, “I know!” I looked at Dolly and asked why she needs to send them. She smiled. But before their mother could respond, Shal and Kuya Karl interrupted her and chimed in unison, “Utang na loob!” (Debt from within). Is Dolly’s balikbayan box ritual still typical of first-generation Filipino Catholic migrants? What is the likelihood of Kuya Karl and Shal continuing their mother’s utang na loob? How do first-generation migrants such as Dolly keep their second-generation children engaged in ethnicity- and faithdriven activities such as remitting money and sending care boxes to the Philippines ? What are the demographic, historical, sociological, and economic underpinnings of the prayer and sender behavior? Sociological studies done in the 1990s of second-generation children support the conventional thinking , that they will not “pray” and “send” as much to their country of ethnic origin as much as their parents did (Pearlman and Waldinger 1997; Portes and Zhou 1993; Rumbaut 1994; Zhou 1997). This chapter examines the extent to which these findings are still valid, including what variants may be found among the turn-of-the-millennium second-generation migrants. Empirical data for this chapter was derived from a combination of archival research, blog analysis, ethnographic work from a larger USF study called The Religion and Immigration Project (TRIP), and some preliminary trends and patterns from the San Francisco Bay Area Philippine Religion, Migration , and Philanthropy Survey, as well as what I learned from talking with Dolly, Kuya Karl, and Shal. Filipino American Catholics and the Global Philippine Diaspora Products of Philippine Studies programs at USF and City College of San Francisco (CCSF), respectively, Kuya Karl and Shal learned in the classroom that their family’s San Francisco, California, sojourn is just a small square patch stitched to a larger quilt of stories from more than two million Filipino and Filipina migrants in the United States, which in turn is simply the corner [44.192.47.250] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 15:51 GMT) 158 > 159 Angels Church in the heart of Colma (San Buenaventura 2002; Gonzalez 2009; Lorentzen et al. 2009). For most first-generation Filipinos, being proud of where they came from is apparent, from the ethnic attire they wear to the food they bring to public gatherings. But declaring an ethnicity in multicultural America has only become trendy among many second-generation Filipinos in the past couple of decades. The situation in San Francisco nowadays is not like the earlier one, in which you were expected to assimilate by forcing yourself into one American melting pot, an idea still promoted by federal immigration authorities. I came to San Francisco in 1988, ten years after Dolly’s arrival. As a first-generation migrant like her, I did not think of myself immediately as “American” or “Filipino American.” For me, it took about a decade of soul searching and attending a combination of Philippine community events and San Francisco Giants baseball games before I comfortably settled into my duality as a Filipino and an American. Dolly still considers herself as simply Filipino and refers to her kids and mine as the ones who are “Filipino American .” This multiple interpretation is common in the large Filipino community . Picking up “Asian American” as another layer of my ethnic identity only came about two decades later. It actually sunk in when I started attending Asian American studies meetings and Asian American community events. Over the years, I simply thought of myself as “Asian.” Dolly feels that she is Asian only when she is asked to fill in government forms and select an ethnicity. She also added, smiling, “When I am at Ranch 99 Oriental supermarket in Daly City.” Many Filipinos, and a majority of Filipino American Catholics, in San Francisco who are first-generation migrants could probably...