Photo from asmdc.org
Here's the latest news on Filipino-Americans in California. I believe this bill is about 50 years overdue. But as the saying goes, better late than never.
Alejo bill apologizes to Filipino Americans, Assemblyman Luis Alejo's office has announced that the State Assembly on Monday passed his bill, what it called "landmark resolution apologizing for nearly 100 years of discrimination toward Filipinos and Filipino Americans," according to a statement.
The resolution will next head to the State Senate for a vote. Alejo, D-Watsonville, noted it marks the first time the state "has expressly apologized to Filipino Americans" for violating civil liberties and constitutional rights.
Alejo's statement said the following:
"Sharply repudiating the shameful treatment Filipinos received, particularly in the 1920s and 1930s, ACR 74 details numerous governmental policies and laws that targeted Filipino Americans. During this period, school segregation and anti-miscegenation laws were the norm, as were tight quotas on Filipino immigration, even though the Philippines was under the sovereignty of the United States until the end of World War II.
Locally, tensions boiled over and led to the "Watsonville anti-Filipino riots" of 1930, which resulted in the death of Filipino laborer Fermin Tobera. The riots soon spread to other cities including Salinas, San Jose, San Francisco, and Stockton."
The full text of ACR 74 can be found at www.leginfo.ca.gov
Published by Free Lance News Aug 23, 2011
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