CALIFORNIA is home to the biggest number of Filipinos in America. It is also the biggest state in the nation in terms of population.
According to the new findings released by the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice based on the 2010 US Census, Filipinos have now become the largest Asian American group in California.
The Filipino population in California is now at 1.5 million, surpassing the Chinese who are at 1.4 million.
“We’re awakened by the fact that there’s a lot more improvement to be done. We relish in the fact there are so many of us here in the US, especially in Los Angeles, who have made a name for themselves. That lifts up the spirits of those that have migrated, come and who’ve lived her for quite a while,” community leader John Mina toldBalitang America’s Los Angeles Correspondent, Steve Angeles.
This news serves as a wake-up call for Fil-Am community leaders to bring our kababayans in America together.
Community journalist Romy Borje, who has lived in historic Filipinotown for over 30 years, affirmed that Filipinos are proving their growing political power in every election, whether national or local.
A Pew Research Center Analysis shows that President Obama’s 2012 re-election was fueled by non-white voters, many of them the children of immigrants. President Obama won 80 percent of the ethnic votes.
In his report on Balitang America, however, Steve Angeles noted that while the numbers and growth can be seen as promising news, some of the figures bring bad news.
Filipinos’ average income is just under $27,000 — about $3,000 below the state average and Asian American averages.
Statistics also show the Filipinos have the lowest admission rates in the University of California College System. This is definitely not good news, as it foretells the possible diminishing competitive edge of Filipinos for better employment and opportunities in the future.
Among Asian-Americans, however, Filipinos are next only to the Japanese in terms of English proficiency skills.
Only 19 percent of Filipinos have limited English proficiency. This rate, however, falls behind the general American population, with only nine percent having limited English proficiency skills.
Joel Jacinto, Executive Director of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) said he is disturbed by some of the findings. He told Steve Angeles he believes it has the potential to get worse.
He lamented over how California’s budget cuts have adversely affected how the State has been extending assistance to the disadvantaged members of society.
He said Filipino communities are facing tough times, making it more difficult for agencies like SIPA to continue their education, outreach, and social service work with low-income Filipino families.
“We also need to invest locally in our domestic Filipino-American agenda so that as we build our Filipino American community here, we’re going to continue to have ties to the homeland,” Jacinto said.
Fil-Am community leaders all agree that as Asian Americans in general (and Filipinos in particular) become a larger voting bloc, it presents the opportunity to gain political clout and fight for the services they need to advance the community.
Latest Pew Research studies show that nationwide, Asians have surpassed Hispanics as the largest wave of new immigrants to the United States — pushing the population of Asian descent to a record 18.2 million and making Asians the fastest-growing racial group in the country.
Asian American populations in Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina, and North Dakota were the fastest-growing nationwide between 2000 and 2010. Nevada’s Asian American population more than doubled over the decade.
California’s Asian American population remained, by far, the country’s largest — numbering over 5.5 million in 2010. Asian American populations in New York,Texas, New Jersey, and Hawai’i followed California in size.
Of 19 states that are home to more than 225,000 Asian Americans, six are in the South (Texas, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, and North Carolina) and four are in the Midwest (Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio).
Over 57 percent of Hawai’i’s total population is Asian American, making it the country’s only majority Asian American state.
Pew research findings also show that as of 2012, Asian Americans had the highest educational attainment level and median household income of any racial demographic in the country, and in 2008 they had the highest median personal income overall of any racial demographic.
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
