Edmundo E Litton

Filipino-Americans are unique among immigrant groups in the United States.
They are one of the least understood and most often forgotten group of Asian
immigrants ( Heras & Revilla, 1994). While the Philippines is in South East
Asia, Filipinos do not fit the "oriental" profile generally attributed to the
Chinese or Japanese ( Cordova, 1973; Wagner, 1973). This is partly due to the
fact that the Philippines was a colony of the United States for the first half of the
twentieth century. After the Philippines gained independence in 1946, American
influences continued to affect life in the Philippines ( Karnow, 1989).

The past colonial relationship between the United States and the Philippines
is one of the primary reasons Filipinos have assimilated relatively easily into
American society ( Galang, 1988). Yet Filipino-Americans face unique problems
and concerns in their adjustment to American society and the American school
system. Although most Filipinos come to the United States with some
proficiency in English ( Galang, 1998), they must still negotiate various
sociocultural difficulties and stress factors associated with moving to another
country. This chapter addresses some of these sociocultural issues related to
immigrant life among Filipino-Americans in the United States and discusses
some concrete steps educators can take in working with Filipino-American
students and their families.

Filipinos comprise one of the largest and fastest growing immigrant groups
in the United States ( Strobel, 1996; Fermin, 1991), second only to that of
Mexican immigrants. According to the 1990 U.S. census, the San Francisco Bay
area has the largest Filipino population outside of the Philippines ( McLeod,
1993). The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that
about 168,000 Filipino immigrants were legally admitted to the United States
between 1993 and 1995. Barringer, Gardner, and Levin ( 1993) project that by
the year 2000 there will be about two million Filipinos in the United States,

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