one and a half

Immigrants and their children make up 20 percent of the United States population — about 56 million in the nation today. I am one of them. Actually, I am both of them. I am both an immigrant and a child of immigrants.

First-generation Americans, the studies show, cling to their home language and traditions. The second generation is more likely to be fully assimilated and identify as Americans. Having been born in the Philippines and raised in the United States since age four, I am part of that special class of child immigrant. Today, child immigrants make up approximately 3 percent of all children in the United States. Neither first- nor second-generation, we are one-and-a-half.

Most of us of this one-and-a-half generation live lives of unique dichotomy, neither from here nor from there, having knowledge of both cultures, but not really fully knowing either. Most of us appreciate the privilege with which we have lived our lives, and yet we are nostalgic for a cultural legacy we’ve never fully experienced.

Photo of dancing tinikling feet in masthead taken by Alicia Calzada

Tinikling is a traditional Pilipino dance. Partners or groups of dancers navigate through bamboo poles as the poles are struck together and pounded to the ground in a rhythmic fashion. The dancers smile as they move their feet quickly and gracefully in and out of the clashing poles. It is somewhat like the dance that immigrants must perform as they adjust to their shifting landscapes and cultural identities.