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Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, organizing efforts among farm workers were often met with violence, persecution and imprisonment, with agribusiness interests abetted by local, state and national policies all but ensuring the mostly immigrant workforce effectively remained second-class citizens.ĭespite the charged racial and economic environment, the manongs never abandoned their dreams for a better life and dignity in America. Deaths also resulted from the bombings of Filipino labor camps, often with the complicity of local law enforcement.
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In 1930, a mob in Watsonville, California, dragged dozens of Filipino men from their homes and beat them. With the onset of the Great Depression, Filipinos and other immigrants were convenient scapegoats for the troublesome economic times and subject to racist attacks. camera icon Photo © Dennis Arguelles/NPCA. The Filipino Community Cultural Center of Delano, one of two sites telling the Filipino farmworker story that were identified by the National Park Service in 2013 as worthy of inclusion in the National Park System. Because she was a white woman, they kept their relationship hidden from the public for years to avoid legal persecution or, worse, violent retribution. Fred was one of the few who was able to find a female companion. Some manongs sent their pay back to the Philippines, and others tried to save up enough to return home to marry or retire, or to attend college in the U.S. Barred by law from marrying outside their race, owning land and other basic rights, the manongs became the labor force for the West’s vast and growing agricultural industry, and 100,000 would find themselves toiling in fields and orchards from Washington to Arizona, working in strenuous conditions and for meager pay. Unfortunately, the experiences of the manongs were too often of hardship, loneliness and struggles against racism, discrimination and exploitation. See more ›įred planned to pursue his education in America, a promise he made to his dying mother. New California park site dedicated to the work of labor leader César Chávez.