Asian-Latino Intermarriage in the Americas
http://www.colorq.org/MeltingPot/article.aspx?d=America&x=LatinoAsian


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Read Their Interviews at the End

A Columbian student whose grandfather is Japanese

A Peruvian student whose father is Japanese and whose mother is
Peruvian

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Various groups of Asians, such as the Filipinos, Chinese and the
Syrians, were said to have visited the Americas during the Pre-
Columbian era. But there were no conclusive records of significant
settlement and intermarriage before the 16th century, when the
Spanish colonialists pressed Filipino sailors into the service of
the Manila galleon trade between the Philippines and the Americas.
The following sections present a brief overview of the diversity of
Asian/Latino intermarriages in Latin America and the U.S.

Filipinos in Latin America
Between 1565 and 1815, when Mexico revolted against Spain, hundreds
of Filipino mariners jumped ship in Mexico to escape the brutality
of Spanish masters.1 Some Filipinos settled in Acapulco, married
Mexican women, and introduced Filipino practices such as the coconut
wine-making process of "tuba", which became a native drink whose
popularity challenged the profits of Spanish imported wines.2 During
the independence war, the lieutenant of Guerrero, the Afro-Mexicano
leader of the revolution, was General Isidoro Montesdeoca, a
Filipino.

Japanese migration to Latin America
In the late 19th century, Japanese began migrating to Latin American
in significant numbers. Brazil has the highest number of ethnic
Japanese outside of Japan and Hawaii. Today, there are more than a
million ethnic Japanese living in Brazil. Japanese communities can
be found in Columbia, Argentina, Peru, and other parts of Latin
America. Contrary to the common stereotype that outmarriage is
limited to Japanese women, immigrant Japanese men also married Latin
America women. Some of their descendants have journeyed back to
Japan in search of their Japanese roots. The Yamasa Institute in
Japan features the bios of two foreign students who are the
descendants of Japanese men and non-Japanese Latin American women:


Chinese descendants in Latin America
Beginning with the coolie trade of the late 19th century, large
numbers of young, male Chinese came to Latin America. The mixed
offspring of Chinese men and local women call themselves the 'tusan'
(derived from the Chinese term tusheng, meaning 'local-born'), and
most retain their Chinese surnames even though they do not speak the
Chinese language.3 In Mexico, Mexican women who married Chinese men
were often counted in the census as Chinese.4 Famous mixed Chinese-
Mexicans include Mexican pop star Ana Gabriel who discussed her
Chinese ancestry in an interview with Asian New Yorker.5

It has been estimated that 15% of Peruvians have Chinese ancestry.6
Pedro Zulen, a key Peruvian intellectual noted for his poetry and
his social critique, was of mixed Chinese/Peruvian descent. The late
Zulen is honored in both Peruvian and Chinese circles. A library on
the campus of Peru's Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos is
named after him. His works were studied at the International
Conference on the Literatures of the Chinese Diaspora.7

Another notable individual of Chinese/Latin American heritage is
NASA astronaut Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, who was born in Costa Rica to
a Chinese father and Costa Rican mother.

West Asian immigrants in Latin America
Jews and Arabs from from Asian countries such as Syria, Palestine,
Turkey and Lebanon came to Latin America during the earlier half of
the 20th century. Some intermarried with local women. A celebrity
who hails from this mingled heritage is successful Hollywood actress
Salma Hayek, who was born to a Lebanese father and a Mexican mother
in Mexico.

Sephardic Jews from Palestine and Turkey migrated to Paraguay on the
eve of WWI. Intermarriage is significant among Paraguay's Jews but
most intermarried couples give their children a Jewish eduation.
Argentina and Uruguay also became home to Jews from Syria, Turkey
and other parts of the Middle East. The Jewish population in these
countries is well-integrated and assimilation has increased. Brazil
also experienced a surge in Jewish immigration after WWII - Jews
from Syria, Lebanon, Turkey came to Brazil. Due to the low incidence
of anti-Semitism in Brazil, assimilation is on the rise.8 In Mexico,
despite the matrilineal custom of Jewish heritage, some children
born to Jewish men from Asia and local Mexican women were raised as
Jewish and often married back into the Jewish community.

The Coreanos of Yucatan, Mexico
In 1905, 1030 Korean Christians came to Yucatan to work as coolies.
They intermarried with the Mayan natives and gave birth to the
Coreano community of Yucatan.9

Mexican and Asian intermarriage in the Late 19th/Early 20th Century
United States
Starting in the late 19th century, people of Chinese/Mexican descent
were very common in Texas, especially in El Paso and San Antonio.
Chinese men from Mexico commonly immigrated to the United States
through El Paso prior to 1965. A librarian in the El Paso Community
College system has said she knows of probably one hundred Chinese
Mexican descendants.10

During the early part of the 20th century, marriages between Asian
immigrants who came to California from the Punjab region in India
and local Mexican women were a regular occurence.11 Although the
Mexican women who married Indians faced discrimination, the
Punjabi/Mexican community built on the commonalities between the two
cultures and created their own unique cuisine and culture.12 Their
Mexican-Punjabi offspring share their family history in the PBS
documentary "Roots in the Sand", a multi-generational portrait of
pioneering Punjabi-Mexican families who settled, a century ago, in
Southern California's Imperial Valley.13

Filipino men intermarried with Mexican and Mexican American women in
San Diego and Imperial counties of California.14 Since both
Filipinos and Mexicans have absorbed Hispanic culture, Filipinos and
Mexicans were culturally quite compatible. However, white men felt
threatened by the ability of Filipino men to attract Mexican women.
In Watsonville, CA, the Watsonville Evening Pajaronian published an
interview in which J.D. D.W. Rohrback of Pajaro was quoted as saying
that Filipinos were "little brown men attired like 'Solomon in all
his glory,' strutting like peacocks and endeavoring to attract the
eyes of young American and Mexican girls." The general anti-Filipino
mood was pushed over the edge by white men's fear concerning 'their'
women. 4 days of anti-Filipino events in Watsonville culminated in
the murder of a 22-year old Filipino on January 22, 1930.15

20th century and early 21st century Asian/Latino contact in the US
Filipino and Mexican farmworkers in California had a history of
organizing together for better work conditions. In 1938, the
Filipino Agricultural Laborers Association was formed. However,
Filipino organizers believed the inclusion of all farmworkers was
critical, and invited Mexican workers and other ethnic groups into
their ranks. They later changed the union's name to the Federated
Agricultural Laborers Association (FALA). There was a strong need
for people of color to band together because non-whites were not
welcome in white unions, and white vigilante mobs persecuted
Filipino labor organizers. An overview of the history of Filipino
cross-community organizing can be found in Filipinos Build a
Movement for Justice in the Asparagus Fields. In 1965, Cesar Chavez
led NFWA in joining an AWOC strike organized by Larry Itliong, a
Filipino farm worker. See an excerpt from Cesar Chavez and the
Unionization of California Farm Workers.

Asian-Latino unions are not uncommon in California. In fact, the
Ties that Bind project, supported in part by the Animating Democracy
Initiative, collected stories of Asian-Latino marriages in
California.

More notable individuals of Asian-Latino heritage
David Tseng, an Asian Latino from California, served at the White
House as Staff Director and Senior Policy Advisor for the National
Economic Council. In 2002, Tseng was appointed as the Executive
Director of PFLAG. Tseng was featured in a May 24th Washington Blade
article, being the first person of color to serve as PFLAG director.

Camillo Wong Moreno, aka Chino Moreno of the hard rock band
Deftones, is of Mexican and Chinese descent.

Carlos Galvan of the Korean hip-hop group Uptown is Mexican and
Korean.

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STUDENT INTERVIEW: Gina Carol Tokuchi Tapia (AIJP)
http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/english/newsletter/student_int_58.
html


Patty: Hi Gina, I was wondering if I can interview you for this
week's newsletter?
Gina: Sure, but I have my elective class today, so maybe around 2:40
pm.
P: Okay, I'll see you at Aoi Hall.

P: Thanks for agreeing to do the interview.
G: No problem.
P: So where are you from?
G: I'm from Peru. My father is Japanese born in Peru and my mother
is Peruvian.

P: So did you study Japanese before you came to Japan?
G: Yes, but only for 2 months.

P: And why are you studying Japanese?
G: My family lives in Japan. My parents are in Kanagawa Prefecture
and my younger sister is in Mie Prefecture. I also like Japanese, so
I'm interested in learning the language.
P: What were you doing before coming to Japan?
G: I was studying courses related to networking.

P: How did you find out about Yamasa?
G: Through the internet. I was looking for a Japanese language
school and Yamasa's page came up.
P: Why did you choose AIJP and not the SILAC program?
G: I wanted to learn more kanji and grammar, so I think studying on
AIJP will help me the most.
P: What do you think of the teachers and your classmates at Yamasa?
G: The teachers are very friendly and interesting. Everyone in the
class is very energetic. At the complete beginner level, we
sometimes ended up speaking English or our own native language
during the breaks between classes because we were unable to speak
much Japanese yet. Once we had a part-time job or did events where
we can speak Japanese to Japanese people, then we were able to
improve.
P: Thats good.
G: It's better to have more Japanese friends than foreigners, so we
get more listening practice. This helps us get better just like
children who pick up words and phrases from their parents, although
they don't know how to write they are able to repeat/speak what they
heard.

p: Where are you staying at the moment?
G: I'm staying at Residence K right now. It's very nice and
convenient, but it's so cold because the heater doesn't seem to be
working as effectively as I wish and the electric bill was too
expensive, so I had to buy my own little stove.

P: What do you do outside of class?
G: Rent videos, watch movies, go shopping, and do some short-
distance traveling.
P: And what are you going to do when you finish at Yamasa?
G: After Yamasa, I want to look for jobs in Japan and continue my
Japanese learning, but I also want to go to other countries. If I go
to other countries, I still want to return to Japan. Since I already
have some fundamental Japanese, I think I'm able to improve again
after I return to Japan.

P: Do you have any advice for new students or people planning to
enroll?
G: Make a lot of Japanese friends so you have more chance to speak
Japanese. Watch a lot of TV programs for listening practice, and go
to karaoke - but please learn to sing Japanese songs!

P: Thanks for your time.
G: No problem!

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STUDENT INTERVIEW: Haruko Awakon (Acceleration)
Haruko Awakon
http://www.yamasa.org/acjs/network/english/newsletter/student_int_21.
html


Haruko has been studying in the Acceleration since October 2001.

Jon: You came to Okazaki 3 months ago, where were you before that?
Haruko: I was living with my husband in Nagano.
J: Where you studying Japanese there?
H: No, my husband and I were working for a company that produced
computer parts and LCD screens.

J: Did you come over to Japan with your husband or did you meet him
here?
H: I came from Colombia with my husband.
J: And how long have you both been in Japan?
H: Around 2 years now.


J: Why did you come to Japan originally?
H: Because I love everything to do with Japan!
J: For example?
H: The culture, it's so much different from Colombia. Also my
grandfather is Japanese - he was born in Okinawa.


J: Did you find anything difficult when you first came to Japan? Did
you know much Japanese back then?
H: Yes, it was a bit difficult at first. Before I came to Japan I
didn't know anything about the country or the language. But the
first town we lived in had a friendly, close community, and we were
able to buy Spanish language newspapers. There was even a Peruvian
store nearby. There were many second-generation Japanese living there
J: Were there many other Colombian people apart from you and your
husband?
H: No, none at all! I've been here for 2 years and I still haven't
met any other Colombians, although I have friends studying at
Universities in Japan.


J: What made you decide to study Japanese?
H: To make life a little easier. When I go to the supermarket or the
post office I want to understand what the people are saying and be
able to speak to them.


J: So why did you choose Yamasa?
H: Like many people, I searched the internet and found Yamasa. I
thought Okazaki would be a good place to live because the living
costs are lower compared to larger cities in Japan. Also, the
Acceleration program was the most intensive course option I found of
any of the schools I looked at.


J: So, how is the course going?
H: Good, but sooooo fast!
J: Are you getting a lot of homework assignments?
H: Most days, yes, and we have to learn many words, but I'm enjoying
it.

J: When are you planning to study until?.
H: Until October 2002, or maybe December. I haven't decided yet.


J: And finally, your future plans?.
H: When I become good at Japanese, I want to learn English.
(Editor's note: this transcript is translated from Japanese)
J: Really?!
H: Yes, but I think it's going to take a while to become fluent in
Japanese so..........