Naming a school after two Filipino American labor leaders in a town that’s 20 percent Filipino seems like a vanilla proposal.
But supporters of the plan in Union City, CA are meeting resistance from those who feel the idea is both costly and will detract from the city’s diversity, reports the Mercury News.
During a public hearing this week, supporters packed the meeting putting their muscle behind renaming a middle school in honor of Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz. who alongside Cesar Chavez were the main organizers of the farm labor movement of the 60’s.
“I did not learn the history of Filipino-Americans in the farm worker movement until I attended UCLA, and that’s unfortunate,” said Maria Inciong, a Filipino-American parent in the district. “The school renaming has come up before, but it always gets set aside, and once again the Filipino-American contribution is not acknowledged.”
If approved, the school would be the first in the nation named after a Filipino American. The decision could come up for a vote as soon as March 19th. Opponents are gearing up.
“We are so diverse; that’s the beautiful thing about Union City,” said Anju Sharma. “We all need to be honored; how do we decide who matters and who doesn’t matter? I see children being divided over this.”