Philip Vera Cruz

from East Wind Magazine (1982)

Subheadings were added to the original publication to make this more readable on the web.

I wanted to go to college but my family did not have the money. To accomplish my goal, I had two alternatives, I could come to the United States or I could stay in the Philippines and teach in Mindanao where I could earn some money to go to college. I took the alternative of coming here. They taught us in school about the many opportunities in the U.S. and of equality in the U.S. All that kind of talk gives you hope.

Coming to the US
My parents had a little bit of land. My father was sickly and could not take care of the land so I was gradually selling it. The money from the very last part of the property was what I used (to come to America). It was not enough either. I borrowed some money from relatives. Then I paid my fare to get to Seattle. When I finally got to Seattle, I had only $25.00 left.

Work
There were four of us who came to Seattle in 1926. When I was leaving our hotel, I met my friend from high school. He said, "You know, we were talking about you last night." I asked, "Who?" He replied, "Your uncles. They are in Spokane, working at the lumber mill. You can find a job there." So we left and I got a job at the box factory. They were paying 25¢ an hour for ten hours. They shifted me to the night shift but then we were laid off. Then the Pilipinos went on strike. That was my first experience to see a strike but I didn't know what they were talking about.

Then I started to work in a cafeteria. My mind was still on school. I was a busboy. I mopped the floor and swept the sidewalk. I made $14 (a week). When the Depression came, I made $5 a week, six days a week, ten hours a day. I would go to school when I could.

Times were getting harder. I saw an ad. They said they would pay transportation to go thin sugar beets in North Dakota, so I tried. I only made $35 and could not get back to Spokane, so I went on to Chicago. I was a busboy again.

In 1928, 1 received a letter from home. My father had died. I thought about school again so I went back to Washington, worked in a restaurant and was able to graduate from high school in 1932. I was bothered about my brother and sister. I needed to send them money. I heard from my mother. Someone wrote for her because she could not write. She said that my sister stopped going to school because she could not afford it. But my brother was still going to school. He was in the fourth grade, so I kept on sending $25 a month. And this meant that I could not go to school.

Then I went to work at a country club. I got to play the game. The people in high places, although they do not like you, they want you to serve them. When they called me, I'd run to make them happy. They think I'm doing my job because if you antagonize them, then you lose your job. You got to play the game. You can't say the hell with you, or you got nothing to eat.

Race and Inequality
So I found out that what they told me about the U.S. were half-truths. They didn't tell me of the handicaps which are inherent to me because I'm not white. So their equality was a fake. I found myself in a situation where I was a scapegoat. I could not get out even if I tried. I didn't have the means and society didn't accept me. What happened to me happened to other Pilipinos, Chinese and Japanese.

I found two kinds of life in the U.S.: the well-off and the enslaved ones. I found that there were so many reasons why I belonged to the enslaved side. I compared myself with the others (whites) to see what was going on. You see how they live, and how you live; what opportunities they had and what you did not receive. They hated us, but they could not exclude us because of our political status. The Philippines was under the rule of the United States. (ed. note: As a commonwealth of the U.S., the Philippines technically had free emigration to the U.S.) But we were still not eligible for citizenship. They could not make a law to exclude us like they did to the Chinese and Japanese, but they did something that amounted to exclusion by putting a quota of 50 people per year to come into the country.

So my hope did not materialize like I thought. The promises of opportunities and jobs did not come. What was this American dream?

A New Dream
My new dream formed, that equality and freedom should belong to all. You cannot be free to step on somebody's toes. Not everybody will make the "American dream" of being millionaires. Our dream must become the sharing of opportunities and benefits of freedom for all. I think that whatever nationality you are, you should be treated equally, otherwise you don't have equality.

During World War 11, 1 got drafted and went into the army. When I got released from the army, I was supposed to get a job in Vallejo at the shipyard. They said we could have one month to visit relatives, so I went to Delano to visit my relatives. I was also thinking that I could work there. So I tried, but it was hard because I was not really used to working on the farm. One time when I was weeding cantaloupe, the ground was hard and it was so hot, I hurt my back. I couldn't straighten it. So I stayed until my back got stronger. I decided that I didn't want to live in the city any more.

Organizing and the Farm Workers
I could not be concerned just about myself or my family but also of the people who are like me. That's why I got involved. It was the union that really brought me about. If you are alone, what can you do? When you build unity, you cannot build unity without others. You can't just think about yourself. You'll be too weak. You're not big enough to carry the load; you need everybody.

The unions were coming to the fields. In Stockton in l948, we were supposed to cut asparagus but all the Pilipinos went on strike. Again in 1950, when we worked in the vineyards, the union came again ç the National Farm Workers Association led by Harry S. Mitchum. We tried to form a local in Delano but there was not yet so much support for the union. Later, the Pilipinos formed a union ç the Agricultural Worker! Organizing Committee (AWOC), They were the ones that initiated the grape strike. Cesar Chavez was organizing Chicano/Mexicano workers. Later our two unions merged to form the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee taking part of the name of the union Chavez was organizing and taking "organizing committee" from the AWOC.

Despite my disappointments, I'm optimistic. The union is the only way. Without that, you got no power. You can have power if you get together. But, of course, you go to start as Pilipinos. Organize your selves. Then get together with other groups. The Pilipinos need organization and unity. You need to know your principles so that when you get together with other groups, you are not left out and can build stronger unity.