UC Merced

Filipino Americans cross race, class, and nativity hierarchies. Because of a colonial relationship between the United States and the Philippines, agrarian and working class Philippine nationals had freer passage to the US mainland, growing their US population much later into the 20th century than for other Asian origin groups. Upon the resumption of migration, immigration policy after 1965 created pan-ethnic Asian incentives for middle- and professional class individuals. Using US Census data, I show that US born Filipinos whose families arrived before 1965 have persistently lower rates of college attainment than those whose families arrive after 1965. Drawing on 34 in depth interviews with Filipinx Americans, I show that cultural embeddedness, cultural identity, and shifting racialized cultural status hierarchies for Filipinx may contribute to this divergence. My research contributes to empirical knowledge of Filipino Americans, a large but understudied group of Asian Americans.