Notes for the Selection from America Is In The Heart
Chapter XVIII
The narrator's name is Allos. He was born in the Philippines while it was still a US colony. He moved to the US late in his teens, and in the US he meets his brothers who had also gone to the US in search of work after their family lost their land in the Philippines. This chapter is set in California in the early 1930s, a few years after Allos arrived in the US.
Leon, Mariano, Nick, Manuel, Luz, Alonzo, Jose and Gazamen are all Filipino friends of Allos. Macario, who was a teacher in the Philippines, is Allos' older brother.
Pg. 134: Hope Street was an ironic name for this street in Los Angeles. Note that Filipinos and other non-white people could only live in certain parts of the city. See 135 and the reference to Central Avenue “in the Negro district” and 138 and the reference to Wall Street “in the Mexican district.” Note also the way the movie director on page 141 refers to Allos and Macario: “You can hire these natives for almost nothing,” followed by racist comments about Blacks and Chinese.
Chapter XIX
Pg. 143: There is some historical inaccuracy here. See the Wikipedia article on Roldan v. Los Angeles. See also comparisons between Prop. 8 and anti-miscegenation laws. See 149, Filipino with Mexican common-law wife.
Pg. 144: Note Japanese farmer—most would lose their farms during internment (Mirikitani, Inada)
Pg. 149: Binalonan is the town in the province of Pangasinan, north of Manila, where Allos grew up.
Note “Mexicans from Texas and New Mexico” also doing migrant farm labor.