America is in the Heart is Carlos Bulosan's autobiography, which he uses to reflect the living conditions of immigrant Filipino workers in mid-twentieth century America. By doing so, Bulosan's effectively highlights the Filipino experience with an American society where democratic values had yet to overcome racial and class prejudices. Bulosan achieves this by documenting his experiences in a manner that is calculated to reveal the gap between the American promise of opportunity and the reality of a country where racial discrimination comes in the way of achieving success.
Bulosan's work, however, should not be interpreted as an indictment of American society. On the contrary, he shows a touching faith in the promise of democracy and equality. Therefore, his objective appears to be more in the area of a plea to all Americans that true democracy lay in extending the promise of a land of opportunity to all social classes and races. Indeed, this is evident in his observation that "We are all Americans that have toiled and suffered ... from the first Indian that offered peace in Manhattan to the last Filipino pea pickers .... America is a prophecy of a new society of men: of a system that knows no sorrow or strife .... " (p. 252)
If at all there is any condemnation of America in Bulosan's narrative, it is perhaps in the manner in which he describes the dashed hopes of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who came to America in search of a better life. Thus, Bulosan appears to raise a question about the validity of the American promise of democracy and a land of opportunity. Bulosan achieves this through his vivid portrayal of a young Filipino who arrives on America's shores full of hope and innocence that he would be offered the chance of a life far removed from the poverty and feudal practices in his homeland.
Instead, he finds nothing but a life that is tantamount to indentured servitude. In this, he shares a common fate with hundreds of thousands of other...
As Bulosan's narrative unfolds, he brings to life the terrible living conditions of the Filipino migrant workers, caused by far more than just financial limitations and illiteracy. For, as Bulosan describes his experiences, it is apparent that the community's misery stems primarily from racial discrimination and prejudice. Indeed, America's racism comes through very clearly in Bulosan's narrative of how " the broad white universe"(p. 136) had driven his community into life as a "filthy segment of American society," (p. 109) for no reason other than the "crime of being Filipino." (p. 112)
Yet, Bulosan never loses hope that the Filipinos would, one day, be accepted as an integral part of America and as true Americans. This is largely due to his encounters with more humane and liberal Americans: "What was the matter with this land? Just a moment ago I was being beaten by white men. But here was another white person, a woman, giving me food." (p. 216) Such encounters allow Bulosan to hope that his people could work towards helping America fulfill its promise of a land of equality for all races. Indeed, it is this vision that leads Bulosan into constantly searching for a door into America (p. 119). Bulosan's search leads him into becoming first a labor activist and then a writer.
But perhaps it was not Bulosan the activist, but Bulosan the writer who finally succeeded in opening the eyes of Americans everywhere to the reality of a promise unfulfilled. This is particularly true of his autobiography where he manages to repeatedly point out that America is a land of immigrants and, therefore, all races and classes had contributed to the building of the American dream.
Works Cited
Bulosan, C. "America is in the Heart. A Personal History" Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1973.
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