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://t.co/ZTvuEpukB0
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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More from Culture

OK. Chapter 7 of Book 4 of #WealthOfNations is tough going. It's long. It's serious. It's all about colonies.

We can take comfort, though, in knowing that the chapter #AdamSmith says is about colonies is, in fact, about colonies. (IV.vii) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets


Colonies were a vexed subject when #AdamSmith was writing, and they’re even more complicated now. So, before we even get to the tweeting, here’s a link to that thread on Smith and “savage nations.” (IV.vii) #WealthOfTweets


The reason for the ancient Greeks and Romans to settle colonies was straightforward: they didn’t have enough space for their growing populations. Their colonies were treated as “emancipated children”—connected but independent. (IV.vii.a.2) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

(Both these things are in contrast to the European colonies, as we'll see.) (IV.vii.a.2) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Ancient Greeks and Romans needed more space because the land was owned by an increasingly small number of citizens and farming and nearly all trades and arts were performed by slaves. It was hard for a poor freeman to improve his life. (IV.vii.a.3) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

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