Positively No Filipinos Allowed
My good friend Ric e-mailed me last week to let me know that the book that he, his brother Ed, and our other friend Tony were working on for a very long time is finally hitting the press this fall. The book, Positively No Filipinos Allowed, contains original essays that “examine the ways in which the colonial history of the Philippines has shaped Filipino American identity, culture, and community formation.” Its title alludes to an infamous sign that was posted on the front door of a hotel in the Stockton, California area in the 1930s. Stockton is roughly 65 miles away from here.
June 14th, 2005 at 11:12 am
Please let me know when the book comes out . . . I certainly would be interested in its contents.
BTW, after doing some research, the photo simply titled “Positively No Filipinos Allowed” was taken by Sprague Talbot for the now-defunct Look magazine, a magazine that was the equivalent of Life magazine. As far as I know, this is the only photo depicting the racist signs that Carlos Bulosan had described in his book “America is in the Heart.”
An interesting note is that I also have seen this exact same photo with a different sign —- instead of the word “Positively,” I have seen it say “Absolutely” — weird. I guess some student doctored it in Photoshop . . . but why?
June 14th, 2005 at 3:40 pm
That’s interesting. Thanks.
About the sign being doctored, any spin on the “no filipinos allowed” sign wouldn’t make it any worse or better. Yeah so why bother changing it?
I’m on the lookout for the book myself. Will keep you posted…
June 15th, 2005 at 10:45 pm
i would love to get a copy of this book! thanks for posting about it.
June 16th, 2005 at 10:02 am
hi petite. nice of you to drop by.
June 19th, 2005 at 6:53 pm
i had this same conversation with my friends about the authenticity of the poster. i have no doubt at all what the earlier generations of pilipinos, mainly the manongs, went through. but the actual sign ‘positively no filipinos allowed’ seems like it was freshly painted because of how much it seems to glow out of the dark. i can just imagine the flow of traffic on that stairway, yet there’s no sign of ‘wear and tear’ (ie smudge or foot print, front of the shoes).
anyways, i actually have that poster (which i bought from reflections of asia back in the pistahan centenial celebration). i had it posted by the my bedroom door, and it’s ironic that most of my visitors are pilipino.
im waiting for the day when carlos bulosan’s book becomes a requirement in highschool instead of catcher in the rye (dont get me wrong, i love holden and phoebe). if to kill a mocking bird and a raisin in the sun were required books to read, then why not ‘america is in the heart’…diba?
November 16th, 2006 at 10:44 am
I think this book is very appropriate. We need to tell our own story from our own perspective. I try to do the same in my artistic practice.
By the way, I am an artist living and working in SF; I also travel regularly to the Philippines. Right now I am working on an an art project (video, photos, text installation) concerning the identity issues and visions of the Filipinos overseas class, those left behind and who hops to leave the Philippines as well. My project will be exhibited in SF in June 2007. Since I am still in the compiling/creation process, I would appreciate input from any kababayan ( pictures and words) to be included in show. Anonymous contribution okay. Thanks.