“No Walk in the Park”: US Empire and the Racialization of Civilian Military Labor in Guam, 1944–1962

Abstract

Drawing from studies on empire, labor, and race, this essay examines the recruitment, work, and social experiences of civilian military laborers in post– World War II Guam. This essay argues that the postwar militarization of the island resulted in the racialization of Chamorro, Filipino, and white American workers. The result of this process was the creation of a Filipino labor class that became synonymous with military employment. Since the US military and its contractors perceived Filipinos as being amenable to labor discipline, they hired Filipinos in larger numbers than Chamorros and white Americans. This essay relies on military memos, government correspondences, Philippine newspapers, labor organization correspondences, and oral history interviews from archives in Guam, Maryland, Northern California, the Republic of the Philippines, and Washington, DC.

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