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I live in a USA neighborhood with thousands of Filipino's. Many have Hispanic first and last names, while others have native-sounding last names. See http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_name . Often they will have Catholic-sounding first names like Lourdes, Concepcion, Natividad, etc. They are extremely devout, wear veils, and take seriously their devotions, rituals and prayers. They will go to great expense to send their children to Catholic high schools, even if it means commuting two hours a day across the city. Many are registered nurses, or are veterans of the US Navy, especially having served in supply work or as mess-hall stewards. The men wear embroidered shirts just like Cubans do, to look dressy without having to don neckties in hot weather.
Being Catholic doesn't make you Hispanic any more than being Lutheran makes you Minnesotan. Filipinos are not Hispanic -- they aren't from Latin America and they don't speak any Spanish. Filipinos speak an Austronesian language, which is related to Polynesian, so I can see how you could call them Pacific Islanders. I've always thought of them as Asian -- the Philippines is in Asia (just off the coast, like Japan) and the people look Asian. The culture is heavily influenced by China and Malaysia, as well.
In the U.S., they're Asian. Try convincing my husband and almost every other Filipino I've ever met of that, though. I kind of consider them a mix. They have a lot of Asian in their culture, but they also have a lot of Hispanic (mainly in language and religion) in their culture. Most look Asian but not as Asian as what most people think of when thinking of Asians. My husband and some of his siblings don't look too Asian, so I'm figuring they have either some Spanish or Islander in them.
Racially, they are primarily of Malaysian stock similar to Malaysia and Indonesia, but with some Chinese and Spanish blood mixed in. However, the primary stock is Malaysian.
Culturally, they have been heavily influenced by the Spanish, although they have retained their native language which has also borrowed heavily from Spanish and English vocabulary.
Pacific Islander? I suppose they can be somewhat related, but I primarily consider them Asian. Just uniquely Filipino and not really of the same racial or cultural background as East Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) that most Americans associate with Asia. Asia is a big place, there are many different groups in Asia, deal with it.
Some Filipinos define themselves as Asian and others as Pacific Islanders. Others, Hispanic.
Which do you associate them with?
I've had limited exposure to Filipino people as a whole and the culture, but from the ones I have met in my life thus far, they have ALL been of Asian descent.
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