Thread by @Joshua_Luna

Thread: For Fil-Ams & other people of color, the "American Dream" often means toiling away just to obtain a small piece of the spoils that were violently ripped away from your community. 1/

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Second-gen AsAms like me grow up oblivious about our own histories because the US education system purposely withholds info about it, & our parents try to outrun their trauma by never sharing their experiences, instead pushing their children toward an assimilation sleepwalk. 2/

AsAms realize too late we've inherited a deal with the devil we never agreed to: we can keep our language, but only if we speak it privately. Our food, if we serve it. Our culture, if it upholds the illusion of America as a benevolent melting pot that saved us from ourselves. 3/

But AsAms aren't the only ones ignorant of this history—Few Americans know of the Philippine-American War & the atrocities the US committed. Even fewer understand how the US's ongoing legacy of war, destruction & colonization in Asia is a major reason the AsAm diaspora exists. 4/

Americans aren't taught about how centuries of exploitation of the Philippines' resources by Western powers has led to most of its workforce immigrating & becoming a global servant class called OFWs. Instead, they're taught that poverty is inherent to Filipinx culture. 5/

Americans aren't taught about how the US installs/props up puppet leaders & dictators—like how Nixon, Ford, Carter & Reagan fully backed Marcos as he ruled under martial law & committed human rights violations. Instead they're taught corruption is inherent to Filipinx culture. 6/

Americans aren't taught that colonization is bipartisan & Trump & Biden agree on their view of the Philippines: a de facto colony whose resources & bodies can be exploited with impunity for the US war machine. Instead, they're taught servitude is inherent to Filipinx culture. 7/

Americans aren't taught about one-sided US military agreements used to keep an imperialist foothold: the Mutual Defense Treaty, Mutual Logistics Support Agreement, Visiting Forces Agreement & Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. Instead they're told it's for mutual benefit. 8/

American's aren't taught about how many AsAms struggle with poverty, institutional racism, & violence. Instead, they're taught the Model Minority Myth—created by white people & propagated by all races—that says Asians don't suffer race-based oppression. 9/

https://twitter.com/joshua_luna/status/1107709119992119297

Americans aren't taught about how Fil-Ams give earnings to family, live in multi-generational households to pool money together & how the Philippines' economy would collapse without OFW remittances. Instead they're taught Fil-Ams have a high median household income for AsAms. 10/

Americans aren't taught about how AsAm leaders are installed with white backing the same way puppet leaders are, & use their shared race to hurt their own & prevent true progress. Instead they're taught that privileged, out-of-touch blue-checks are the voice of our community. 11/

So if Americans aren't taught any of this, who will teach them? The ugly truth is that AsAms who try to speak up are often crushed into silence by non-Asians who benefit from the status quo, & by Asian puppet leaders who've been installed to protect their masters' interests. 12/

Overall, being Filipinx & Asian means constantly navigating survival between rotating oppressors.

As an ex-Navy brat who grew up overseas, I've struggled with my concept of home & at one point believed "home" was a US military base.

But maybe that's as Fil-Am as it gets. 13/

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https://twitter.com/Joshua_Luna/status/1134522555744866304

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