This work involves the Filipino American communities
of San Diego and Imperial Valley as case studies to
examine salient cohesiveness. Within these two
spaces, I consider how home bound linguistic,
ethnic, regional loyalties, and values acted and
continue to act as a barriers to long term sustained
unity. With good reason, previous studies that
examined the Filipino American communities limited
themselves to either urban spaces or rural spaces,
never both. Filipino American communities of San
Diego County and the Imperial Valley region are
juxtaposed in an effort to compare and contrast
current urban and rural spaces. This approach is
important as it treats each space as discrete yet
both spaces are also seen vis-a-vis each other in
the context of a larger space. The book concludes
with the finding that despite the lack of unity
individuals, sub-groups, and in some cases the
community at-large continue to make significant
contributions to the health, welfare, and education
of San Diego and Imperial County.