Pembentukan Identiti Diaspora Filipino Amerika di Amerika Syarikat: Rusuhan Watsonville, 1898-1944 - The Filipino-American Diasporic Identity Formation in the United States of America: The Watsonville riot and the Malay Issue, 1898-1944

Abstract

 The United States of America’s colonialism on the Philippines became the cornerstone to the beginning of a massive migration wave of Filipinos to the colonial country. Many Filipinos were migrated to America with a mission to look for better jobs and source of income as opposed to their home country and formed a diaspora community - which is later known as the Filipino-Americans. The formation of the Filipino diaspora identity, however, has gone through various hardships and oppression due to racial sentiments and anti-oriental attitude of the locals. The Filipinos, who initially were not concerned about their “Malay” identity, had to finally change the perception and admit their position of being Malay due to the implementation of the Anti-Miscegenation Law – a law provision that prohibits certain races to marry the locals. According to the Act, the Malay race is not included in the blacklist. However, this situation was changed when the provision was amended. The legislation of the Anti-Miscegenation Law, 17 

which included “Malay” in the racial category that is prohibited from marrying the locals, incited dissatisfaction among the Filipinos on the double standards imposed by the American government towards their ethnic race. The culmination of the anti-Filipino sentiment was when the locals in Watsonville, California, launched a revolt by hunting and attacking Filipinos in their neighbourhood, which spread to other locations. Hence, this article aims to assess the factors that influenced the formation the Filipino-American hybrid identity, comprising of the reaction and assimilation aspects of the Filipinos with the culture and lifestyle of the westerners in America, as well the response of the local community towards the presence of the Filipinos. These aspects had been analysed with reference to various resources, including primary and secondary sources such as acts, newspapers, special bulletins, legal redress, and books