I Am Proud of My Filipino and Chamorro Culture

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Please mark the bubble which correctly describes your ethnicity. I scan the options which range from Caucasian to African American to Hispanic and as usual, I proceed to mark the bubble which says Pacific Islander. Whenever people first meet me I get the inevitable query, “Are you Mexican..Hawaiian..Korean..Chinese..Vietnamese..etc.?” Typically, they get half my ethnicity correct, but no one has ever guessed what the other half is. What many people do not know about me is that I am a full-blooded Pacific Islander. My dad’s parents are both Filipino and my mom’s parents are both Chamorro. Many people have guessed Filipino, but many ask, “what the heck is Chamorro?” Chamorro’s are the indigenous people of Guam, the westernmost possession of the United States, and has been since 1898. The largest island in the Micronesia, it comprises 210 square miles, or the size of a very small US town. Therefore, with my background being of two lands very far way, I saw my heritage as a mere result of my parents’ ancestry , held no ethnic pride for either culture. This indifference was transfo...

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