Sadakas

On December 20, 1906, a group of Filipino sugar plantation workers, known as Sadakas, arrived in Honolulu, marking the first major wave of Filipino migration to what is now the United States. Sadakas came here much the same as Japanese people. They came here on hopes and dreams of success, money, and a new free life, little did they know they were being brought here for hard labor and to segregate the workers of the sugar plantations. These Filipino workers first earned 10 cents working 12 hours a day in the cane fields a god awful amount of income that no one could survive on. The Sadakas suffered from stooped backs gnarled fingers, and cauliflower ears inflamed by bundles of sugar cane being carried on his shoulders. This was not the life they hoped for; these were not the conditions in-which they heard about before the came to Hawaii. These traumatic events are exactly why I chose this article. We discussed the travels and hardships of the Japanese people, but we kind of over looked a group of people who endured the exact same conditions only a few years later.

Much like the Japanese we read about in Takaki’s Chapter 10 “Pacific Crossings: Seeking the Land of Money Trees”, Filipino workers endure long tough back breaking work-days. Also, the sadakas were lead astray from their so-called “poverty living” homelands to this place where they could restart their life and have great success and equality amongst other people of the land. All these instances seemed like a painful mistake. What did they get themselves into? Was the opportunity of a new life the optimum choice for the Sadakas? That is a question only they could answer. They had small privileges of bringing some of their home culture to Hawaii with them such as: food, decorations, lifestyles, and living ways. Apparently they weren’t, as the Filipino’s went on strike along with all the other Asian decent people to demand better living conditions and higher wages. In the end they got what they asked for, but still there was no sign of pure equality.

These occurrences in America’s past are something everyone looks down on. Plantation owners did what they had to to keep their income flowing and their profits growing. Workers did what they could to stay alive and yet keep some dignity to their name. I believe that everyone has to start somewhere. When you do something for the first time you don’t necessarily know how to do it the “right” way. You learn from your mistakes and you move on. America is still learning and growing, and because we had a rough start doesn’t mean we can’t try to make things right in the future.

http://starbulletin.com/2002/06/07/news/story2.html