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The Erasure of Filipino Entrepreneurship in the ‘Asian American Dream’

When headlines celebrate Asian American success in Silicon Valley or Wall Street, the faces are almost always Chinese, Indian, or Korean. In discussions about tech moguls, startup founders, and venture capital elites, Filipino Americans are largely invisible, despite being the third-largest Asian American group in the United States. The question is not whether we exist, but why we’re so often left out of the narrative.

Filipino Americans have long been an integral part of the American labor force, yet we’re rarely seen as power players in business or innovation. This exclusion isn’t just a product of media oversight. It reflects deeper structural and cultural forces that continue to keep Filipinos boxed into roles of service rather than leadership.

If we don’t challenge these forces, we risk allowing one of America’s most dynamic communities to remain economically sidelined and culturally misread.

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Healthcare Work vs Wealth Building

To understand this erasure, we have to look at our history. Unlike other Asian immigrant groups that arrived in the U.S. as entrepreneurs, engineers, or business elites, Filipinos were funneled into labor-based roles. First as farmworkers in California, then later as nurses, caregivers, and domestic workers, Filipino immigrants were brought in to serve, not to build wealth.

This labor migration was not random. It was shaped by U.S. colonization of the Philippines, which lasted nearly 50 years and deeply influenced how Filipinos viewed America and their place in it. The colonial legacy instilled a preference for Western ideals, English fluency, and deference to authority. In many ways, Filipinos were taught to assimilate rather than lead.

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Internalized Racism & Colonial Hangovers

Then there’s the colonial mentality- a psychological legacy of imperialization that 
continues to shape how many Filipino Americans navigate professional life. 

Internalized notions of whiteness as aspirational, deference as respectable, and gratitude as preferable to ambition can subtly undermine confidence and self-assertion. In business contexts, this often manifests as underbranding, risk aversion, and self-erasure. The cost is not just personal; it results in collective invisibility.

 Until we confront how colonial histories continue to inform our ambitions and sense of belonging, Filipino entrepreneurship will remain undervalued both within and beyond our community.

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The Hustle without the Headlines

Today, Filipino Americans are highly visible in caregiving roles, yet glaringly absent in entrepreneurial headlines. In fact, according to U.S. Census data, Filipinos have lower rates of business ownership than most other Asian subgroups, despite high levels of education and labor participation.

But it’s not for lack of hustle. From neighborhood salons to food trucks to remittance companies connecting families across oceans, Filipino-run businesses exist. However, they don’t receive the same attention or respect as venture-backed tech startups. The kinds of businesses we build are community-driven, service-oriented, and often informal. These are rarely celebrated as innovation, even though they are the economic backbone of many Filipino American neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, AAPI-focused business groups and media often unintentionally reinforce this erasure by centering success stories that align with elite, white-collar definitions of entrepreneurship. The result is that Filipinos become the quiet workforce that keeps the American system running but rarely benefit from its wealth-generating engines.

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Diasporic Guilt & Reverse Remittance Pressure

One reason for the lack of visible Filipino entrepreneurs is the tension between cultural values of stability and obedience and the high-risk world of entrepreneurship.

For many second-generation Filipino Americans, the idea of quitting a stable job to start a business isn’t just financially risky. It can feel like a betrayal of one’s family sacrifices. The pressure to send money home, help relatives, and stay practical often overrides personal ambition. This phenomenon of reverse remittance, sending money to the Philippines instead of reinvesting in oneself, is both a testament to Filipino values and a major hurdle to wealth-building.

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Pagkain for Thought

Filipino Americans have never neatly fit the “model minority” mold, but invisibility should not be the alternative. We have contributed quietly for too long. To change the narrative, we need to lead with clarity and confidence, on our own terms. The question is no longer where we belong, but whether we are ready to be seen.

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