By Ed Diokno

GROWING UP in an immigrant household, I remember my parents would always refer to our white neighbors as the “Americans.”

This was funny, because my father fought for the U.S. during World War II and defended the Stars and Stripes in Korea and worked for the the city we lived in. How American can you get?

The image they had of themselves were as foreigners – not “Americans.”

In school, we were told about our American forefathers, Manifest Destiny, the building of the transcontinental railroad, about grand ideas, inventions and bravery of historical figures, all of whom were European descendants. It’s no wonder we held “Americans” in such high regard. No wonder the Euro-Americans hold themselves in such high esteem. They built themselves a society in which all the institutions supported and perpetuated this myth.

A California bill awaiting the governor’s signature could dramatically change this single-lens perspective.