peter jamero

Bridge Generation News

BG Personality of the Month: 

(Today’s Bridge Generation – now in their 70s, 80s, and 90s – are a rapidly declining population. Over the years, most members of these American born children of the first wave of Filipino immigrants have passed away.  To remember their contributions to the history of Filipinos in America, a deceased BG individual is a recurring feature of this blog. This month features educator Josephine Saito-Espineda Paular, 1932-2009.)

Josie has consistently been the same quiet, unassuming, shy girl I remember when we were young.  Underneath that quiet demeanor, however, also lay disquieting memories that still haunt her. Josie was born on February 20, 1932 in Pescadero CA — the youngest daughter of Simeon Espineda of Bicol, Philippines and Tsuru Saito, of Japanese ancestry from Oahu HI.  Ostracized by other Japanese for marrying a Filipino man, her mother put her energies into learning Filipino culture – speaking several dialects fluently and cooking native foods.

When Josie was a year old, her father passed away.  Her mother’s subsequent marriage to Jose Panoncialman of Cesar, Cebu resulted in the family moving to Stockton CA where her stepfather was a labor contractor.  He is the only father Josie has ever known; Josie is thankful for the support, care, and love he provided the family.

During her formative years, Josie was the only female besides her mother and older sister to be surrounded by many single manongs residing within the Filipino Federation of America compound.

 I grew up in Stockton living on the grounds of the Federation.  I grew up living by its teachings.  One of the things we were taught is our body is our temple and diet and exercise was very important.

The Federation, led by its charismatic founder, Hilario Moncado, believed fasting and abstinence would protect them from life’s temptations.  Alcohol and drugs were prohibited.  Members avoided eating meat. Other Filipinos considered the Federation clannish. Regardless, the teachings of clean living continued to be of great significance to Josie.

As the youngest daughter of the family, Josie enjoyed a close relationship with her mother.  Moreover, she had much of her mother’s looks, temperament, and mannerisms.  The forced relocation of all persons of Japanese ancestry in the aftermath of the December 7, 1941 attacks on Pearl Harbor and Manila were particularly difficult for Josie. Then ten years old, she painfully remembers being pulled out of school and forced to sleep in horse barns of the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds.

My mother, siblings, and I were made to leave our home and stepfather.  Being herded and housed at the fairgrounds surrounded by a barbed wire fence and watchtowers with guards ready to fire their rifles, I knew this was wrong.  Having my mother’s Filipina friends turn their backs to her because they thought she was the enemy made my mother grow older before her time.  My older brother Tom Espineda joined the army’s 442nd Battalion (the famed Japanese American unit and most decorated of World War II) to prove he was a loyal American — only to come home with a permanent disability — was a constant reminder of the cruel consequences of war.  Time should heal but we never forget. 

Josie identifies herself as a Filipina American — not surprising given her life experiences have been entirely in Filipino culture.  At the same time, she is proud of her Japanese heritage, regardless of the inhumane treatment she and her family underwent during WWII.  Following the end of the war, Josie became an exemplary student at St. Mary’s High School, Delta College, and the College of Pacific.  She experienced a 33 year career as an educator, first as a classroom teacher of primary grades and ending in teaching special education students.  Josie worked in six different school districts and had the distinction of being the first Filipina American teacher in four of them— Sacramento, Tracy, Whittier, and Upland Unified School Districts.

Josie acknowledges, “I developed late.”  She was not interested in boys as a teenager and did not date until she was 24.  Even her courtship by her accountant husband of fifty years, Ray Paular, was delayed.  When Ray first came to call, Josie, a devout Catholic, “gave him up for Lent.”  Ever persistent, Ray continued to court her, wearing his best to impress not only Josie but also her parents who were wary of Ray who was divorced (true) and rumored to have several children (false).  On their dates, her parents directed Ray to have her home by 9 p.m.  Upon learning her parents preferred another young man for Josie, Ray went to his rival and told him, “She loves me.”  His rival stopped pursuing her!  Josie and Ray were wed on August 31, 1968 on the campus of the University of Pacific with many relatives and friends in attendance.  Fifty years later, they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on the same date and place with many of the same guests.

Without hesitation, Josie considers that her greatest achievement in life is motherhood and “having two daughters who are drug free and contributors to our society.” She died of kidney cancer on August 21, 2009 in Sacramento. (Acknowledgments: “Vanishing Filipino Americans: The Bridge Generation” by Peter Jamero, and Sacramento Bee obituary of August 23, 2009.)

SAGE Encyclopedia of Filipina/x/o American History: 

A contributing author, I attended its Bay Area Launching Celebration in San Bruno on October 28.  As significant event as was the launching, I remember it as a reunion of old friends: Ron Quidachay, retired San Francisco Superior Court Judge — part of a FilAm group’s successful promotion for my 1989 appointment by S.F. Mayor Art Agnos to department head, Human Rights Commission; attorney Mike Guingona, former Mayor of Daly City — for whom I served on his first campaign committee in 1992; and venerable San Francisco State University professor Dan Gonzalez — Third World Liberation Front activist, instrumental in establishing the Asian American Studies Department at S.F. State University in 1969.

Happy December Birthdays:

Rose (Bucol) Jamero, Connie (Muca) Jamero, Rosemary (Quitiquit) Figueroa, Clem Morales, Paul Paular, Phil Ventura.

Pinakbet — News Across America

F/A Historical Tidbits:

On June 1, 1981 Silme Domingo, Secretary Treasurer, and Gene Viernes, Dispatcher, were gunned down in broad daylight at their Alaska Cannery Workers Union, Local 37 union hall in Seattle.

Did You Know:

Described as the quintessential renaissance man, readers are encouraged to read Rodel Rodis’ article on Greg Macabenta in the October 13 issue of Positively Filipino. He established  Minority Media Services — the premiere Asian American advertising company servicing media campaigns in the Bay Area. In 1997 he helped found the National Federation of Filipino American Associations and later became its fourth national president.  He died on October 11.

Musings

From White Supremacy in America, (to) It has Always been about People of Color, (to) Equitable Justice for People of Color, (to) Multi-racial Democracy Weakened, (to) Political/Gun Violence) Part XXXXII.   

(There is little question that America is a seriously divided country today.  Yet many Filipino Americans persist in the mistaken belief they are immune from violence. Today’s column will focus on violence on People of Color, including Filipinos.) 

For decades, white people have been increasingly concerned about “the browning of America” and the growing influence and visibility of People of Color who were seen as convenient scapegoats on which to blame their socio-economic frustrations.  White Supremacists and other extremist groups — emboldened by twice-impeached former president Donald Trump — became more aggressive in their desire for a whiter America. Beginning with his 2016 campaign, Trump took advantage of white-perceived loss of  power and privilege.  He called Mexicans rapists, declared that blacks should go back to their “shithole” countries, and pointed to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as the cause for the high rates of Covid-19 infections and deaths.

American violence against AAPIs has been commonplace since Chinese first arrived in mid-19th century as cheap labor to build the transcontinental railroad.  In 1871, 15 Chinese were lynched by a mob of 500 in Los Angeles.  In the aftermath of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, all persons of Japanese ancestry were sent to isolated “relocation” camps. In the 1980s, the Ku Klux Klan killed Vietnamese shrimpers in Houston.  And in 1992, widespread looting was committed in rioting at Korea Town in South Central Los Angeles.

Despite widespread media reporting of anti-Filipino violence during Covid-19, such as that perpetrated against mentally disabled Noel Quintana in New York City, many Filipinos in America persist in the belief Filipinos are immune from violence.  The history of anti-Filipino violence in America tells us otherwise. During the 1920s sakada Hawaii immigration, it was common practice for Filipinos to be lynched for minor infractions.  At the same time in Susanville CA, a World War I Filipino army veteran was lynched for consorting with a white woman.  In 1930 Fermin Tobera was killed by a white mob in Watsonville CA.  Also in the 1930s whites chased Filipinos out of Exeter and Turlock CA and Yakima WA.  On August 10, 1999, letter carrier Joseph Ileto was shot to death by a White Supremacist in Chatsworth CA.

Conclusion: White fear of the “browning of America” and perceived white loss of power and privilege are major factors behind  increasing violence against Persons of Color in the U.S.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

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