523 WORDS / 4 MIN READ / ORIGINALLY POSTED JUNE 1, 2015 (EDITED)
THE DELANO MANONGS is, of the three Filipino programs included in this year’s PBS Filipino-American Lives series, the most important. It covers the 1965 California grape strike (“the Filipino Civil Rights Movement”) that lasted five years and led to the formation of the UFW (United Farm Workers union, AFL-CIO). It goes over ground that’s already been covered elsewhere but still isn’t too well known, even among Pinóys. Labor leader Larry Itliong was a fearless hero in the truest sense of the word, and I wish I’d known about him earlier for when I’d meet these little Pinóy kids who were looking for a role model, but had to make do with Arnold Schwarzenegger or the cartoon “Master of the Universe” He-Man.
We know Itliong forced César Chávez to join our movement, uniting the Mexicans with the Pinóy agri-laborers and thus crippling the owners/growers, who had always used one ethnic group to break the strikes of the other. We also know that shortly after its founding, Itliong left the UFW and Chávez in disgust, and here’s where I have my quibble: I’d hoped that FINALLY someone would drop the delicadeza and for posterity’s sake, lay out once and for all the facts surrounding this rupture. Instead, interviewee Alex Fabros just hints at the tantalizing reason for the silence: The Pinóys had “a lot of respect for Chávez, that’s why they didn’t want to say anything, because (after all) they had accomplished it, they had a union.” Oh, no. Answer not forthcoming. Bigó na namán— once again my hopes are dashed!
You may understand Itliong’s disgust when you learn that the union Pinóy and Mexican workers fought for was supposed to serve both groups, but because of their migrant-worker status, the Pinóys lacked seniority and were marginalized. They lost their jobs and their housing, and slowly “drifted away.” As Fabros says, “We started it, we lost it in the end.” But come on! Don’t we have a right to know THE DETAILS? Does this curtain of silence really benefit anyone?
So today we have films lionizing César Chávez, we have streets, parks, and public buildings named after him, we find his likeness on U.S. postage stamps, we soon will be celebrating his birthday as a national holiday— but Larry Itliong? He’s in danger of being relegated to Trotsky’s dustbin of history, his flickering memory kept alive only in scattered, solitary pockets of Fil-Am communities that may not be around another generation.
But Fabros’ statement bears repeating: “We started it, we lost it in the end.” Lapu-lapu repels the conquistadors (1521), we become Spanish in the end… we overthrow the yoke of Spain (1898), Americans yoke us in the end… we boot the Tyrant-Thief Marcos out of the country (1986), his son becomes our President in the end… That covers about five centuries of our history. Hmm… as I ask in my novel, is there a PATTERN here? Is this a “leak” in the national psyche that has to be addressed if we as a people are to really progress?
OK, that’s about 500 words. All feedback, good or bad, actively solicited and welcomed!