Yesterday, I shared a video about the history and usage of the word “oriental”. I hope you all will watch the 7 minute video and learn about why many do not like the word in reference to people.
Today’s AAPI lesson is brief but important historically.
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The first Asians in America are often referred to as the Chinese who came to America hoping to find gold and eventually being reduced to railroad workers. This is sometimes a brief topic (if we’re lucky) in history lessons in school. I’ll dive a bit more into the history around the railroad workers soon….
But today, it’s about the TRUE first Asians in America who were actually Filipinos in 1565. The first “official” documentation was October 1587. The “Luzonians” landed in California from aboard a Spanish ship. Filipinos eventually settled in Louisiana in 1763.
They traveled to America as fisherman on Spanish trade vessels. Part of the reason they settled in Louisiana, was due to their escape from the Spaniards who were treating them harshly.
Filipinos are the oldest, continuous Asian American settlers in North America closing in on 8-10 generations of ancestors.
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I’ve spent some time curating content for this month.
Please give me feedback and let me know your thoughts.
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You can read more about the life in the Filipino settlement of St. Malo here: https://philipppines.tripod.com/stmalo.htm
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