In June of 2002, Philippine President [[Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo]] and representatives of U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] presided over the grand opening and dedication of the [[Filipino Community Center]] in [[Waipahu, Hawaii|Waipahu, Hawai'i]]. It is the largest Filipino American institution in the United States, with the goal of preserving Filipino American history and culture.
===="The InvisibleModel Minority"====
Ease of integration and assimilation into the [[English]] speaking world has gained the Filipino American the label of "InvisibleModel Minority." Recent Filipino immigrants tendassimilate easily primarily due to assimilatethe rapidly,fact asthat mostFilipino Americans are fluent in English, the majority are predominantly Christians, are usually highly educated and economically well-off. AssimilationThis set of Filipinosqualities isdistinguishes theFilipino resultAmericans offrom needingother to[[asian]] excelimmigrants inwho Americando society.not Filipinosspeak compensateEnglish, who theirare not languageChristian, historywho are illiterate, and voiceswho forare anot betterfinancially lifeself-supporting. Filipinos Americans are motivated to excel in the United States, and attainmentto ofwork towards the American Dream. The kinship between The Philippines and the United States exists due to the fact that The Philippines was the only [[Asian]] nation to have formerly held the distinction of being a United States commonwealth. The label of "InvisibleModel Minority" alsois extendsheld by Filipino Americans due to the lackfact ofthat politicalFilipino powerAmericans are accustom to integrating into everyday American culture, and representationrarely oftake on a [[separatist mentality]] that other new [[asian]] imigrants take on. The Filipino American "Model Minority," is the benchmark by andwhich forother Filipinoasian Americansimmigrants assess their own level of assimulation into U.S. Inculture. All other asian nations are truely "foreign" when they immigrate to the mid-1990sUnited States; however, onlyThe 100Philippines Filipinowas Americansa heldUnited electedStates officecommonwealth for nearly 50 years and, withtherefore, is the most Americanized of all butasian onenations. servingThis atfact theis municipalused orby stateFilipino levelAmericans as a unique source of legitimacy when compared to other asian immigrants.
