I am Proud to be a Filipino American, Are You?

Today is the 19th Birthday of my youngest grand daughter, Carenna Katague Thompson who is now a 3rd Generation Filipino American. I dedicate this article to her. 

In the recent press release of Ditas appointment with the Bureau of Census published in the magazine Positively.Filipino.com, a reader commented that the term Filipino-American may not be applicable to Ditas because she does not have a Philippine Passport or dual Filipino/American citizenship. The reader commented that American with Filipino descent ( ancestry) is a better term than Filipino-American.

So I did some search and here's what Wikipedia says:

Filipino Americans (Filipino: Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Spanish–American War at the end of the 19th century, when the Philippines was ceded from Spain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris.

As of 2019, there were 4.2 million Filipinos, or Americans with Filipino ancestry, in the United States with large communities in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Texas, and the New York metropolitan area. Here's a short history of Filipino-Americans.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JlbyP3irNY

The term Filipino American is sometimes shortened to Fil-Am or Pinoy. Another term which has been used is Philippine Americans. The earliest appearance of the term Pinoy (feminine Pinay), was in a 1926 issue of the Filipino Student Bulletin. Some Filipinos believe that the term Pinoy was coined by Filipinos who came to the United States to distinguish themselves from Filipinos living in the Philippines. Beginning in 2017, started by individuals who identify with the LGBT+ Filipino American population, there is an effort to adopt the term FilipinX; this new term has faced opposition within the broader overseas Filipino diaspora, within the Philippines, and in the United States, with some who are in opposition believing it is an attempt of a "colonial imposition". For details visit Wikipedia. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_Americans

The above book by Barbara Posadas is an excellent information source about the new Filipino Americans. 

Meanwhile here's an arrangement of Bayan Ko (My Country) that I dedicate to all the over 4 million Filipino Americans here in the US. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_QBrddPJjE