

One of the most troubling moments of Filipino history in America took place at the 1904 World's Fair in Missouri, where no less than 1,000 Filipinos, many of them Igorots from rural mountainous regions were displayed in human zoos and forced to eat up to 20 dogs a day, bathe and "live" for the entertainment of the many Americans that flocked to this disgusting and inhumane exhibition. I didn't know, for example, that Filipinos were the first Asian settlers here (we've been coming to the United States since the 1500s), nor did I fully understand the racism and prejudice behind the legislation that prevented my forefathers from obtaining jobs or marrying outside of our culture.

As I looked at restaurants across the country, each state revealed some things I had not known about Filipino history in America.