Outside does not match my inside.

Sheila L. Davis,
Spring Valley, CA

I identify as Filipina-American. But, rarely do people see the Filipina in me. I have to declare it or speak Tagalog. A co-worker described me as ethnically ambiguous. In the U.S. I may be “ethnically ambiguous” but in the Philippines I am “mestiza” and just by virtue of my genetics I’m given a higher social standing. It’s a strange dichotomy.