October is Filipino American History Month, so a recent segment of LAist’s daily news program, AirTalk with Larry Mantle, dug into the rich history of Filipino communities in Southern California.
All the way back to 1587
“The first recorded landing of Filipinos in what we now know in the United States was in Morro Bay, California, in 1587,” said Joy Sales, assistant professor of Asian American Studies at California State University, Los Angeles.
According to Sales, they were part of a crew that came to scout the land and make contact with the indigenous people of California. At the time, the Philippines was a colony of Spain.
“There’s actually a longer history of Filipinos coming to Spanish colonial America, to California, to what we now know as Louisiana, to colonial Mexico…It goes far back, even before the founding of the United States,” Sales said.
Working the land
Spain sold the Philippines to the United States at the turn of the 20th century, a decision that was made without input of Filipinos.
Americans saw their new colony as a source for cheap labor.
“There was still a need for farm labor here, especially in California, because…
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