During the Philippine-American War, white American soldiers in the Philippines referred to Filipinos as “niggers” because of their dark complexion. When Filipinos first arrived in California, in the early to mid-1900s, confused Americans placed them in the same ethnic category as Mongolians. In California, local authorities imposed antimiscegenation laws on Filipinos, and Filipinos had to drive out of state in order to marry white women. Throughout the Great Depression, white Americans claimed that Filipinos “brought down the standard of living because they worked for low wages.”
