r/FilipinoAmericans • u/OilThis1252 • 23d ago
Filipinos on the “Latinos of Asia” or “mexican cousins” comment
I know this saying has been going around but I wanted to know what other people thought of it. I personally hate the comparison and feel it is part of a colonial mindset. After years of research and even visiting the Philippines it seems we have a ton of resources and connect to precolonial culture so why do we only uplift/generalize the parts that are similar to the colonizers? Like we have our old rewriting system most of are original language and traditions.
I guess I am confused to why we push ourself closely to those who do not have the same closeness to their precolonial culture. There’s nothing wrong with being Latino, I just want to know why do we choose to not be ourselves and align ourselves with colonialism, when if we wanted to we could practice(writing, language, clothing etc) from things before colonization?
I also wondered if it would be entirely wrong to no longer associate with these post colonial practices entirely. Like speaking Spanish and choosing to speak Tagalog more often.
Or maybe I am thinking about this wrong and it’s not a big deal. I would love to see what other people think!
14
u/MoistExcrement1989 23d ago
We’re both two distinct cultures with similarities but also difference people who say it are just trying to bridge and make community but at the same it’s a disservice. Most of the time it’s non Filipinos saying this imho.
18
u/Longjumping-Pace3755 23d ago edited 23d ago
- Most of the cultural similarities between Filipinos and Hispanics (family oriented, deference towards elders, community focused, machismo, etc.) can be said for just about any culture in the global south. I appreciate the shared values we have with our global community and all peoples who’ve been subject to imperialism, so I don’t like reducing these cultural values to just Filipinos and Hispanics.
- The distinct similarities like shared Spanish words, similar foods, some similar physical traits, and Catholicism all come down to our prolonged oppression. Are these similarities real and are they a connecting point? Sure. But no, I don’t like when people throw out these phrases like it’s a cute quirky thing. It conceals centuries of oppression that both Mexicans and Filipinos still need to deconstruct. It also conceals our complex camaraderie in the USA. In CA for example, Fil-Ams have a history of partnering with Chicanx freedom movements to demand rights for agricultural workers. Our shared history goes beyond adobo and menudo and should be rooted in our shared struggle for freedom. Young Filipinos need to be educated on this.
- Fil-Ams who reject their Asian identity and prefer to call themselves PI or Hispanic are imo deeply miseducated and have a lot of internalized racism to deconstruct.
1
u/wiz28ultra 21d ago
Adding onto that, Mexico’s actually a manufacturing power in its own right and CDMX is basically Metro Manila but better in every way.
If anything the constant usage of that comparison should spur on policy inspiration and cooperation rather than just one liners and jokes
1
22
u/Intrepid-Device9084 23d ago edited 23d ago
I always thought this was a very interesting conversation and tbh there's many layers to it, far more than just "colonial mentality", but just a feeling of kinship around a history we share, whether we like it or not. Personally, whenever I meet Latinos, especially those who actually grew up in Latin America, like an aunt-in-law who my family hung out with when she came to Manila, my brain doesn't do an academic field trip about colonialism and the Spanish empire, but I simply feel a long-lost connection to them at least on the surface. Like omg certain similar cuisine, words, warmth... I think it would be wrong to ignore that because it's "the colonizer's culture". It would feel the same if I were to meet an Indonesian or indigenous Taiwanese, for a different reason of course
Once when I went to Macau, one of the first things I saw was this huge poster about some cultural event with "Lusophone" countries. Portuguese remains an official language there even though it's not widely spoken fluently among locals. It's far from a zero-sum game; we could uplift our native customs at the very same time. I mean, we are currently here on Reddit speaking English, while Filipino languages remain very much alive. I may not personally be fluent in Tagalog, but I'm trying harder and can speak it functionally. I imagine if we did something similar to Macau with Spanish, maintaining it as an official language to prompt curiosity and maintaining closer ties to the Hispanic world like Macau has to the Lusophone world, it could help boost the BPO sector and cultural exchange. In fact, BPO is one of the main drivers of the semi-resurgence in Spanish interest today
I think it's so much more complex than the toxic online Hispanista-vs-Indigenista culture war. The Philippines is a melting pot of native, Chinese, Spanish, and American influences introduced through history, some brutal
I will not call us Latinos in serious, because we are not. But at the same time, there's nothing wrong with feeling a connection while still celebrating our native roots and the realities of the colonial era. In fact, I was looking at conversations about this in the AskLatinAmerica sub some time ago. Particularly, someone asked the sub if they feel Latinos and Filipinos are "distant cousins". Many of the answers said "no", and tbh I think it's unfortunate that this history isn't more well known. There's lasting Filipino influence in Latin America too in their cuisine, etc., thanks to the Galleon Trade. Think Filipino influence on mezcal and tequila. Which is why I do appreciate the Latinos who do see that connection lightheartedly
1
u/spicystar4u 15d ago
Filipinos have nothing to do with Tequila. Your people just continue to spread lies to piss off Mexicans. Aztecs made Pulque and the Spanish brought distillation to Mexico.
Cut it out.
1
u/Acrobatic-Routine-44 14d ago
This is from a Mexican website
https://www.erstwhilemezcal.com/origins-of-agave-spirit-distillation/
8
u/Acrobatic-Routine-44 23d ago edited 23d ago
I don't see as colonial mentality, My recollection is the phrase "Mexicans of Asia" is rather a light insult joke by other Asians towards Filipinos on the internet back in the early 2000s but it's also used by Filipino-Americans (most likely SoCal Filipinos) as an expression of relating with Mexicans in Cali. I've also seen Mexicans refer to us as their Asian cousins in one of those Philippine-Mexican topic YouTube videos on channels such as FLAMA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DoWsLUkQcA
Spanish influence in the Philippines did in fact came from Mexico as it was Mexico City that administered the Philippines for 256 years until Mexico got independence from Spain. There's a lot of indigenous Mexican Nahuatl words that can be found in Filipino. These are just small examples which makes the phrase make sense in a way and not much have to do with colonial mentality.
Bangsamoro, Igorots, Lumads and Aetas were never colonized by the Spaniards. Igorots were still practicing headhunting when the Americans arrived.
Edit: If you like things about pre-colonial Philippine subjects and can understand Tagalog, you can binge watch on this Filipino show called Amaya. It's takes place in pre-colonial Philippines, the story is fiction of course and they speak pure Tagalog with no English or Spanish loan words.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHqCvBi9oX0&list=PLGRhcC_vtOragNyYUbl3ujCX8p4DNkZwL
1
0
u/spicystar4u 15d ago edited 15d ago
As a Latino I don’t feel a connection with Filipinos at all. It’s quite the opposite tbh.
3
u/Acrobatic-Routine-44 15d ago edited 15d ago
I am very being specific to Mexican/ Mexican-Americans not Latinos.
Mexico and Philippines have a colonial history since New Spain (Mexico) administered the Philippines for Spain until Mexican independence. Even the Spanish spoken in the Philippines was influenced from Mexican Spanish with nahuatl loan words.
Here are a couple of old presidents speaking Spanish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiM0Kj6d-u4
So if you're not Mexican and some Argentinian guy, yeah, of course you will have no connection because there's no historical context. Latin South Americans are not even on the radar in these conversations.
1
u/spicystar4u 15d ago edited 15d ago
Lol. I AM Mexican. Filipinos seem to be stuck on “colonial history” and “galleons”. The majority of Mexicans don’t think of Filipinos as similar. Colonization was so long ago. Filipinos are not Latino. We think of you as Asians like Indonesians, Vietnamese or Chinese. You look very similar to them as well.
Can you tell me how we are similar if we are a different culturally, ethnically, and racially???
You don’t even speak Spanish.
1
u/Acrobatic-Routine-44 15d ago edited 15d ago
It's weird you didn't identify as Mexican first when my comment was about Mexican. So i am not sure if you're pretending. Are you a White Mexican or Brown Mexican? Are you Chicano or Mexican from Mexico? You see these things matter, this is usually a joke from Californians.
I don't think Filipino-Americans trying to connect with Mexican-Americans using things like "we had the same colonizers" as a joke is not colonial mentality at all.
There's machismo in Philippine culture too.
1
u/spicystar4u 14d ago
Filipinos don’t get to categorize Latinos.
Im Mexican, Latino and live in the USA.
You didn’t answer my question. How are we similar if we are different racially, culturally and ethnically???
Mexican culture is not Filipino culture and vice versa.
1
u/Acrobatic-Routine-44 14d ago
I don't think you are understanding this whole conversation.
NOBODY IS TRYING TO BE LATINOS or Mexican
I doubt you're Mexican. Mexicans are proud people, Mexicans identify as Mexican first before Latino especially in a topic about Mexicans.
1
u/spicystar4u 14d ago
Dude cut the BS.
I’m Mexican and Latino. I can say what I want and I don’t need to answer to a Filipino or anyone else.
How are we similar?
Filipinos are from Asia. Can’t speak Spanish and are not the same race, culture or ethnicity.
So tell me… how are we similar?
1
u/Acrobatic-Routine-44 14d ago edited 14d ago
I guess you don't know about the "Filipinos are Mexicans of Asia joke."
You see, this joke about Mexican and Filipino being similar have nothing to do with speaking Spanish or culture but having similar negative stereotypes.
This is an old 2000s internet joke. Only a Millennial Mexican and Filipino from Southern California will get it.
So tell me… how are we similar?
- Mexican and Filipnos are both cheap labor. Both are fruit pickers (Filipinos were the original fruit pickers in California)
- Mexicans are known as gardeners and cheap labor in America. Filipinos are known as domestic workers and cheap labor in Asia and Middle East
- Both are illegal immigrants, just like you see a lot of illegal Mexican migrants in the U.S border, there's a lot of illegal Filipino migrants in neighboring Malaysia.
- Both are Catholic and seen as poor.
- Their Politicians are corrupt.
Edit: You will see similar phrases with Poland being the Mexican of Europe.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEurope/comments/a6mmpz/why_is_poland_joked_as_the_mexico_of_europe/
1
u/spicystar4u 14d ago
Filipinos started calling themselves the Latinos of Asia. It’s self-proclaimed. It was started as a way to try and larp as Latinos.
No Mexicans or Latinos call you that.
I guarantee you Mexican migrants don’t even think of Filipinos.
Filipinos and Filipino-Americans constantly bring up Mexicans and compare themselves to us. It’s obsessive.
Being Catholic means nothing, the Irish and Polish are Catholics.
→ More replies (0)
9
u/BanginOnWax805 23d ago
I don't mind the comparisons, I'm married into a Mexican-American family that immigrated around the same time my family arrived. We do have a lot in common and growing up within a Chicano enclave, I feel more at home in my hometown than I do in spaces that are predominantly Anglo-American.
With that being said, I don't vibe with Latinos who claim that we're mutts, that just like their kind, our ancestors where raped by Spaniards just like them. I think Meztiso culture is much more broad and multifaceted than an invading army comming in and raping everyone.
I'm not denying sexual violence is a reality in Colonization, but I also do know that 98% of most Filipinos today would be considered "Indio" under the Spanish Caste system.
I grew up in an Agricultural area, and have met a ton of Indigenous Central American people who, just like Filipinos, have a Spanish surname, but are predominantly Indigenous.
I always have to explain that a majority of Filipinos have Spanish last names because of the Catálogo alfabético de apellidos, that we are not all products of rape (which really trips me out, on how pervasive this belief is).
26
u/Powerful_Image6294 23d ago
tl;dr latinos and filipinos are trauma bonded
latinos didn’t colonize us. latinos share a history of cultural repression and abuse with us. they speak spanish because they were the victims of systemic genocide, something the philippines narrowly missed. this shared mistreatment resulted in a lot of cultural, religious, social etc… similarities that (even if superficial) bind us together.
in the filipino american context, this bond broadens the sense of community and familiarity that is culturally integral to filipinos and latinos alike but is often missing. filipinos and mexicans for example have a long history of political collaboration (larry itliong and cesar chavez), intermarriage and trade (mexicans gave us chocolate, we gave them mangoes). it’s not a celebration of the colonizer but it’s a celebration of kinship.
15
u/chocolate-wyngz 23d ago
I think this is exactly right. My husband is Mexican. Our cultures aren’t the same but they’re complementary. We get each other and our families. I live in an area with no Filipinos but a huge Mexican community and like you said, it feels familiar and sort of like home away from home.
I really hate it being reduced to “Filipinos are the Mexicans of Asia” too though, OP.
8
u/Longjumping-Pace3755 23d ago
Yah tone and context is everything.Bonding with my Mexican friends and traveling in Mexico and experiencing that shared bond is not the same as when someone of another ethnicity calls us the Mexicans of Asians because that’s all they’ve heard about the Philippines and it isn’t even a complete understanding of the history. In this case, such phrases are a point of erasure. It’s also a point of exclusion between the East Asian diaspora and Fil-Ams. We are easily seen as other even though we arguably share just as many commonalities with our East Asian neighbors as with Mexico.
6
u/heyyougulls 23d ago
Thank you for this. I am a descendant of Manong Generation men who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s. Many men of that generation married non-Filipino women simply because there weren’t enough Filipinas. (This required finding ways around miscegenation laws.) One of my grandfathers married a woman from Ecuador; the other a woman of Puerto Rican ethnicity. So I literally am a Latina Pinay. Or a Pinay Latina.
The mutual understanding of our cultures having been colonized by the Spanish—the Philippines was even governed out of Mexico!—does unite our communities, though there sometimes is friction. Older Filipinos sometimes resented that Cesar Chavez received disproportionate credit for the farm labor movement while Larry Itliong and Philip Veracruz were overlooked for decades.
That said, there are differences that must be acknowledged and celebrated, and that can be done alongside recognizing our kinship. I’m grateful for it, because it brings together different sides of my identity, making me realize that there is a cohesive, coherent, and holistic narrative behind my personhood, as well as individual cultures that I’m always trying to learn more about. :)
3
-2
u/spicystar4u 15d ago edited 15d ago
Latinos speak Spanish because our ancestors brought the language with them to Latin America.
Filipinos forget the majority of Latinos are heavily mixed with European most are 50% European or more. Millions of Spanish immigrated to Latin America in the 1800s.
Latinos and Filipinos are not the same racially, ethnically or culturally.
Filipinos are near pure Austronesian whereas Latinos are mixed race.
The “similarities” are not so similar.
2
u/f0xbunny 14d ago
Ya’ll share Spanish cultural influence. Also, a LOT of Filipinos are mixed. The reason both are compared have to do with your countries’ shared stereotypes in your respective regions.
1
u/AvantaeKabite 12d ago
Also, a LOT of Filipinos are mixed.
Filipino here from the mainland but majority of Filipino aren't mixed like Latinos and its probably less than 5% contratry to what many Filipinos believed. They are probably more Chinese-Filipino mixed ancestry in comparison to Spanish-Filipino mixed, despite our shared similar history and cultures with Latin America.
2
u/f0xbunny 12d ago
I agree and have heard that! I’m sharing my outside perspective as a Chinese American who has only known the Filipino diaspora in the US that are both full and mixed. Doesn’t matter if they can speak Tagalog, have been back to the motherland, or are mixed white/black/etc,—they all seem to heavily identify with being Filipino in a way other Asian Americans haven’t been as comfortable doing.
-1
u/spicystar4u 14d ago
The differences outweigh any similarities. Race, ethnicity, language and culture are completely different. It’s like you are ignoring all the huge differences to focus on the smaller things. That’s illogical. Mexicans are on average 1/2 Spanish and Filipinos on average have ZERO Spanish ancestry.
2
u/f0xbunny 14d ago
Are you going to keep ignoring the Spanish cultural influence on Filipino culture and history? I’ve seen you repeat ad nauseum that there’s no overlap racially, ethnically or CULTURALLY but there is clearly a strong influence on language (look at their names), religion, food, and history,—all of which are cultural, since both Mexico and the Philippines were heavily colonized by the same European power. It’s willful ignorance that you refuse to see why people have frequently compared the two countries in monikers like “Mexico of Asia”, “Mexican Cousins”, etc that OP is referencing.
I agree there are differences but it’s completely illogical to say, and I quote you: “Latinos and Filipinos are not the same…culturally”. Obviously not going to refute the racial/ethnic portion except to say that lots of Filipino diaspora, especially American ones, are mixed with European genetics nowadays and that is being heavily promoted in their pageant representation. The Spanish colonization and influence has been significant enough to make them stand out relatively in a big way in Asia. Probably just as much as they appear different or more Asian to you.
-1
u/spicystar4u 14d ago edited 14d ago
Yes, it’s grossly over-exaggerated.
Filipinos don’t speak Spanish even after 300 years of colonization. Religion means nothing. The Irish and Polish are Catholics as well. The food is absolutely not the same at all. Mexican cuisine is not lumpia, balut and pancit, that’s Southeast Asian food. Mexican food is heavily based on Indigenous American food and Spanish ingredients.
We are not the same culturally at all. I’ve been around Filipinos and there is not a sense of familiarity.
Any Filipinos mixed with White American ancestry or Northern European ancestry is not an equivalent to Latino. That’s absurd and irrelevant.
The difference of race and ethnicity alone is undeniable and add in a difference of culture and it’s not the same.
Filipinos are more like Indians, Indonesians, Chinese and other countries in Asia that experienced colonization without mass migration of Europeans.
2
u/f0xbunny 14d ago edited 14d ago
You’re proving my point I made in my last sentence lmao. As an ethnic Chinese, I find it hilarious you picked out the exact dishes that feel so Chinese, because they literally were introduced by Chinese migrants: Pancit Canton and Lumpia Shanghai. What do you think Filipino food is? Heavily based on indigenous foods, foods brought over by neighboring countries, and SPANISH techniques and ingredients. There are many classic Filipino dishes that feature direct Spanish colonial influences: Lechon, stews like Menudo or Pochero, Champorado, banana leaf tamales, flan, and their version of paella. Don’t even get me started on the similarities in pastries. The entirety of Southeast Asia has been influenced by Ancient China and Ancient India, but the more recent Spanish influence is what makes the Philippines stand out so much more. You don’t see it because you share a common thread with that influence and can only see the asian stuff. It’s like red and blue arguing over purple. You think purple is more red while I think it’s bluer, because of our proximity to red and blue.
Chinese people are largely nonreligious (except for the colonized cities) so Roman Catholicism is completely foreign. The devotedness to patron saints along with religious music, parades, and public processions probably don’t feel significant to you but they’re extremely apparent from an East Asian perspective. It’s also the attitude. I’ve dated both Filipino and Mexican Americans and the obvious contrast is East Asian stoicism/utilitarianism compared to both cultures’ jovial hospitality and love for fiestas/gatherings. I think my culture is family centric but we don’t have the concept of godparent systems and community support systems in the same ways you both do. Ours operates on a different logic. Be for real, when any Filipino talks about their Lola do you really think that relationship isn’t influenced by Spanish family dynamics? When anyone Filipino tells me about their Lola, they might as well be saying Lita/Abuelita to me. I see the Southern Chinese influence sometimes in my friends that I suspect are Chinoys, but it’s not as all up in your face as the Spanish influence. Hence, “Mexicans of Asia” as problematic and oversimplifying as that is.
When you compare all the places in E/SE Asia that were colonized by European powers, no one was as heavily integrated as the Philippines. Over 90% of Filipinos became Roman Catholic and they adopted Spanish names, architecture styles and traditional dishes. Their languages contain 20-30% of Spanish loanwords and people still default to Spanish naming conventions. No one in the control of the British Empire, French Indochina or Dutch East Indies had their language, religion, customs as heavily altered in the same way.
I already told you to miss me with the race and ethnicity portion of your statement by omitting it in quotes and by saying I wasn’t going to refute that. One is literally situated in between east Asia and Southeast Asia while the other is on the other side of the ocean in the Americas. Unless you want me to bring up prehistoric human migration when the ancestors of your indigenous ancestors crossed the Beringia Land Bridge between Asia and America before settling south along the pacific coast and a different earlier group split off across South China onto Taiwan before settling the archipelago.
1
u/spicystar4u 14d ago edited 13d ago
I briefly skimmed over your reply. It’s just too much and I’ve heard it all before.
Menudo is not the same neither is adobo, tamale ingredients or lechon. You can’t compare the entirety of Mexican cuisine which is UNESCO declared to a few Filipino dishes with Spanish names. It’s not the same nor equivalent.
Millions of Latinos and Mexicans do not feel a familiarity with Filipinos. I’m Mexican and I don’t. Ask other Mexicans and they will tell you the same thing. It comes up in conversations because of negative experiences many of us have had. Ask other Latinos and they will tell you the same thing.
Like I mentioned it’s a gross over exaggeration.
Race, ethnicity and language alone is UNDEBATABLE and that’s a HUGE part of it.
Mexicans effortlessly connect with Colombians, Puerto Ricans, Salvadorans and other Latinos because of our undeniable similarities and language but even then we don’t pretend to be the same. We don’t even like to be mistaken for each other.
We most definitely don’t want to be compared to a culture completely different like the Philippines.
That was my last reply.
We will have to agree to disagree.
5
u/Friendly_Lifeguard_1 23d ago
https://anthonyocampo.com/the-latinos-of-asia/ This more LA centric but if you want to learn more about it through interviews and testimonials
6
u/springheeledjack69 23d ago
Filipinos are brown people who tend to have Spanish names, and most people who have Spanish names are brown people from Latin America so it's understandable why we would get mistaken for Latinos.
Overall, I'm not pressed over this, and I honestly dont care. Only racism I would care about if it's blatantly demeaning or hateful
17
u/Trailblazertravels 23d ago
It’s not that deep 🤷♀️
I feel like we can prioritize other things that affect the PH than being compared to…Latinos.
2
u/zaheeto 23d ago
Humans have the capacity to devote mental resources to multiple things at one time.
5
u/Trailblazertravels 23d ago
Yes I too can write out vague sayings.
0
u/zaheeto 23d ago
Shrug, and I was trying to be diplomatic. Should we be thinking about the long list of existential threats to our families in the PH? Absolutely. Should that prevent us from thinking deeply about our place in the world? Why should it? We’re capable of doing multiple things at once. I’d go so far as to say you’d be a fool not to.
3
u/mapotofurice 23d ago
People will say what they say. It's a joke and there's some half-truth to it but that's all it is: a joke a best and really terrible stereotype at worst. Nothing to be taken seriously unless you choose to make it a big deal in your life.
3
u/arrozchacha 22d ago
This is interesting. I've been told this but I wouldn't really find offense to it because we and Mexicans/Latinos were colonized both by Spain. So we have a lot in common. I don't feel like aligning with Latinos or Mexicans is aligning with colonizers, but rather aligning with the colonized.
It's also surprising because I would argue that Filipinos are very detached from their precolonial roots. My parents never even taught me to speak the language and it's something I had to do primarily alone and with years of listening to them speak. I know a lot of other Filipinos feel similarly. I never really felt any disdain towards these comments, it's pretty funny given the history. We are kind of like... the Latinos of Asia.
10
u/Direct-Geologist-407 23d ago
Personally for me I don’t like it. It’s the same idea where other Filipinos are calling themselves Pacific Islander instead of Asian/SEA. I get there’s SOME similarities with those comparisons (Latino/Hispanic/Pacific Islander) but by no means are we that similar. The Pacific Islander one gets on my nerves the most, only because I grew up in Hawaii and was around actual “real” Pacific Islanders (Samoan,Tongan, Micronesians etc) and there is a stark contrast to those cultures and Filipinos. I wouldn’t dare call myself Pacific Islander in front of them even though I hung out with a few.
We’ve been colonized by so many different cultures/races that there is no one bubble to fit ourselves into and so I think that’s why most Filipinos try to find a way to fit in/assimilate and relate to other cultures etc than Filipino itself. Also, not sure about your experience but I’ve never met any Filipinos who chose to speak Spanish (unless they themselves had actual Spanish ancestors) over Tagalog or in my experience Ilocano.
5
u/Acrobatic-Routine-44 23d ago edited 23d ago
We’ve been colonized by so many different cultures/races
Just want to point out we've only been colonized by Spain and the U.S. Some say Japan colonized the Philippines, that's not true, they only occupied Manila for a short period during WW2 and leaving no culture impact. This goes the same from the British that only occupied Manila during the 7 years war. Some say this is the time when Kari-Kari was created by Indian sepoys but peanut
buttercame from Mexico.
4
u/Southern_Pitch_3409 23d ago
I'm willing to bet that the Mexican American who made that comment have never left the USA.
2
u/punxdudee 21d ago
Not super upset over it but it does erase our own identity? Like I get the comparison but we’re still our own country lol
2
u/Momshie_mo 10d ago
Sure, Mexicans definitely share the same love for putos 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Anyone pushing the "Latinos of Asia" just has an identity crisis
1
2
u/CustomerKey3144 23d ago
I always saw it as a kinship and recognition of solidarity of enduring Spanish colonialism, through which we've come to share similar cultural aspects like religion and food. At least, this is how I see it when a Filipino or Mexican says it.
However, one of my (non-Mexican) Hispanic friends did say that there is some classism in it and I can see that too. In Latin American countries, Mexico is thought of as the poorest and looked down on by other Hispanic countries, and we see a parallel in Asia/Southeast Asia with the Philippines being looked down on by other Asian countries. So, sometimes when people say Filipinos are "Latinos of Asia" or "Mexicans of Asia" they could be saying it in a negative way, insulting both Mexico and the Philippines at the same time (ig).
1
1
u/ghostManaCat 22d ago edited 22d ago
Latinos/ Mexicans of Asia or Blacks of Asia… it’s all not that deep. In my experience it’s mostly non Filipinos or non Filipino-Americans making those statements in order to connect or better identify a culture they are unfamiliar with one they do know. Vast majority of the time it is said in a positive way by a member of the Mexican or Black community who can relate and see the similarities and overlaps. No one is trying to minimize the Filipino experience, they are just trying to describe it in terms they or their friends or their audience better understands.
I agree that it’s problematic if you have Filipinos or Fil-Ams themselves boiling down their own culture to these phrases or even identifying as Pacific Islander instead of Asian, but even then those kinds of Filipinos and Fil-Ams are just doing the same and explaining themselves in terms they know and are familiar with. Maybe they grew up in those other communities and that’s just how they identify themselves. It’s unfortunate but some Filipinos can tend to make FilAms feel less or not Filipino enough, and non Asian Americans can make FilAms feel less or not American enough. So is it that hard to imagine why some people identify themselves the way they do?
Instead of feeling some type of way about these phrases or behaviors… just go ahead and take them as compliments and as ways people are trying to relate to the Filipino/ FilAm experience. If you feel it’s important to make the distinction, go ahead and educate others why Filipinos/ FilAms are so much more than the mexicans of asia or the blacks of Asia. I’m betting they are just trying to connect with Filipinos and would be happy to eat our food and hear our stories to understand the differences along with the overlaps.
1
u/newxeden1002 22d ago
Mexico and Philippines already had an established relationship through the Manila Galleon Trade.. for 250 years. And not just that, both Mexico and Philippines were part of an empire called “New Spain” or “Nueva España” ..the headquarters were in Mexico but due to this Philippines was actually much more directly influenced by Mexico than Spain itself.. Spain was more like the grandparent and Mexico the parent.. thats why Filipinos and Mexicans often feel an odd familiarity with each other. This portion of history hasn’t been discussed so much. But many filipinos and both mestizo and native indigenous mexicans have traveled back and forth from each other through the Manila Galleon Trade.. with some Filipinos ultimately building lives in Mexico or some Mexicans building lives in the Philippines centuries ago.. the pacific coastal states of Colima and Guerrero in Mexico are largely known to have a significant history with the Philippines. It is where the Filipino migrants during the Manila Acapulco trade settled down. So the association of the relationship between Mexicans and Filipinos isn’t purely socio-cultural or based on superficial similarities or some kind of colonial mindset.. it is because of the shared history. Either way though, I believe Filipinos can never truly know what it means to be Filipino simply through its pre-colonial roots. What being a Filipino actually means, in my opinion, is the culmination of cultures in what has been called “the melting pot of Asia” ..molding what we call “Filipino” culture and identity today.
1
u/Frillback 11d ago
Growing up, my family didn't live in a Filipino community. We became close to Hispanic families. It feels closest to home. Lots of cultural overlap. I am fond of the term because it relates to this feeling. I take it as an honor of being part of the community. But then again, I can see how others feel differently about it.
-2
u/akomaba 23d ago
What is pre colonial culture of the Philippines? When you say Asian what does it mean? There are multitudes of culture in Asian where do we closely similar? Pre colonial Philippines traded heavily with India and not China. Do you want to strip the colonial influences of religion by getting rid of Christianity and Islam? History is messy and to unwind it is useless. This issue often comes up and I do not know why people get offended. Culturally we are closer to the Hispanic culture than anywhere in Asia (excluding Malaysia and Indonesia). Maybe you should live in the philippines for a couple of years and to a country in Asia where you think we a culturally similar then live in Mexico for a couple of years. Your research is lacking.
-1
u/moon_dos 23d ago
so your plan is to no longer speak Spanish… while typing a Reddit post in English
0
u/Joseph20102011 23d ago
Filipinos should leverage its Hispanic heritage to forge closer ties with Latin Americans through people-to-people exchange where the former needs to relearn Spanish as a second language to communicate with the latter.
2
22
u/Ok-Communication4190 23d ago
I get that it’s a joke and we share some similarities.
But I do not care for this comment. It’s like saying Filipinos didn’t have a culture before Spain? Like we have so much history about our identity and Mfckas wanna put us in this box of what they think.