4/18 Benito M. Vergara Jr's "Betrayal, Class Fantasies, and the Filipino Nation in Daly City"

Angel Truong 4/18 Journal 

            Benito M. Vergara Jr.’s reading on Filipino American in Daly City illustrate the significance of ethnic enclaves in Asian American lives and culture. The author mentions that Daly City is known for being a second home for Filipinos due to its high population of the ethnic group itself. In the minds of Americans and Asian Americans, it’s deemed as a symbol of the model minority myth since it’s portrayed an Asian minority group successfully assimilating to the American culture by living in a middle-class life. However, this image is just a romanticize version of the ethnic enclave because the statement does not include the Filipino Americans who are struggling financially because they saved their moneys just to arrive to America. Thus, the article emphasizes that Daly City should be known as an ethnic enclave that brings transnationalism for Filipinos in America and the Philippines. In other words, it’s not a place where Filipino’s can assimilate to Western culture, but it’s instead a second home where they can tie back to their heritage and culture.  Regardless of the conflicts between Filipino and Filipino Americans, they are both able to interact together by practicing their unique Filipino culture in Daly City. In the end, this article reminds me of my own ethnic enclave in Sacramento which is Little Saigon where I can also tie back to my family’s Vietnamese culture. From this reflection, the article persuades that ethnic enclaves can be part of Asian American culture by individually displaying the cultures of the different ethnic groups that make up Asian American culture itself. 

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