READING COMPREHENSION: Find out if you have developed this skill after reading the text that follows. Do you know of a person who has been raised under different cultures? Which culture has he/she more dominantly shown?
Two in One
Throughout high school I chose to ignore my Filipino side. The most important thing for me was to fit in – wear the latest clothes, listen to the coolest music, speak the slang spoken between friends. If anyone asked me my ethnic background, I emphasized that I was half-white, leaving out that I was half-Filipino. If prodded any further, I said that my mother was born in the Philippines, but that was she was definitely mixed with Spanish blood. Somehow I had come to the conclusion that to be American meant I should exclude my Filipino heritage. To include it also might mean I wouldn’t fit in with my teenager – I had never been to the Philippines, I spoke only English, and I practiced no Filipino customs. Since I came to college I have been exploring the Filipino culture more as part of my family history than as my own culture. This is a step toward true recognition of my Filipino identity. Though I have been raised in America and have lived the “American” culture, this doesn’t mean I should deny that I am also a Filipino. My Filipino heritage has a claim on me that has been waiting to be explored further – waiting to include me – and I in it. Growing up as mixed Asian and American has made me aware that it isn’t necessary for me to be 100% American. Now, as I begin to study Filipino history and culture through research and from my mother, I integrate this new knowledge with my American culture. This process of integration bridges the two identities that make who I am. Now I no longer say I am all American or all Filipino, instead I can proudly say that I am both.
Source: Philippine Free Press
Comprehension Check
1. What is the text all about?
2. What did the writer finally realize about the integration of different cultures in him?
3. Which culture, do you think, was predominant in him? Why do you think so?
4. What type of text is it? Why do you think so?
5. Who could have written it? Why do you think so?