Manilatown Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Manilatown - Research Paper Example Because of the attractive agricultural jobs in California Central valley, numerous young Filipino men found their way in Stockton (Rao, 2006). The discriminatory and racism laws that existed until the mid 60s discouraged these young active men from undertaking the American dream of a United States Education, higher economic status and a family, even limiting them from crossing main street into the then considered white section of the city. Responding to these discriminations, the Filipino American pioneers constructed their own community on the south of the main street. They started business premises and organizations of all kinds so as to meet their own social and economic needs. These businesses included: grocery shops, hotels, restaurants, barber shops, the Daguhoy lodge, the Rizal Social club, a rescue mission and many others, hence the rise of the Stockton’s Little Manila (Rao, 2006). Filipino labor leaders such as Andy Imutan, Larry Itliong, Ernesto Mangaoang, Philip Ver a Cruz and Carlos Bulosan all worked out of Stockton at one point in time. Meetings of the historic labor unions were held at the Mariposa Hotel on Lafayette Street. Mangaoang and Mensalvas were influential to the ground breaking asparagus strike that came to an end in 1939. These courageous labor leaders and farm workers are the unsung heroes that were behind the success of the UFW and its most iconic leader Cesar Chavez. The population inhabits an area of only 38.55 Square kilometers making the City the most densely populated in the world. Filipino is the vernacular language, based mostly on the Tagalog of the neighboring areas, and this Manila kind of speaking Tagalog has developed to become the dialect of the Philippines. In the meantime, English is the language most widely used in business, education, and greatly in daily usage throughout the Philippine as a whole and Manila specifically. Quite a number of old people in the city are able to speak in basic Spanish this because i t was a compulsory subject in the Philippine colleges and universities. Many children of Latin America, India, Arab, Europe or other migrants also speak their parents’ languages at home besides Filipino or English (Nederveen, 2007). Because manilatown mostly borrow from Manila City, Christianity as a religion dominates the town with Roman Catholic comprising of 93.5% of the population. Manila city host Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila which is the oldest in the country. Because it is the seat of the Spanish colonial government in the past centuries, the city has been used as the base of many Roman Catholic missions to the Philippines. The city also hosts other faiths. There are many Taoist and Buddhist temples constructed by the Chinese community in Manila. There exists a large Hindu temple for the Indian population. The nightlife in Manila offers everything from casinos, discotheques, fashionable cafes and entertainment lounges. The city celebrates both national and civi c holidays. It also hosts the Feast of Black Nazarene which is celebrated on 9th January every year. As a tourism and cultural center of Philippine, the city acts as a home to numerous museums such as Museum Pambata, the Museum of Philippine Political History, the National Museum of the Philippines, the UST Museums of Arts and Science and the DLS-CSB Museum of contemporary Art and Design (Laguerre, 2002). Manilatown features a tropical savanna climate that borders on a tropical monsoon climate; that is according to the Koppen climate classification