US Filipinos and Racism

Victims, but also Perpetrators

The issue of racism was splattered on the face of America this week. A right wing conservative blogger, Andrew Breitbart, had posted a film clip in his blog and on You Tube that turned out to be a false, yet incendiary charge. Even after it was clarified that the official involved, Shirley Sherrod, did not discriminate nor claim to do so, the incident still caused a major stir in the media.

The events of this week serve as a stark and numbing reminder that the issue of race continues to be an explosive component of the American landscape. The election of a black man, Barack Obama, did not end the racial divide; in some instances it has actually exacerbated the conflict.

Filipinos in America are very much an integral part of the race conversation. Perhaps unbeknownst to many of the recent immigrants and/or the offspring of earlier immigrants, the Filipino race was at one time anathema to the white population especially in the western states of California, Washington, Oregon and Nevada. Filipinos, like other Asians were prohibited from marrying white women, as an example. It was only after the California Supreme Court ruled in 1948 that miscegenation laws violated the Constitution were Filipino men no longer prohibited from marrying white women. Many other forms of discrimination, including restrictions on travel from one location to another, or confinement to live only in certain enclaves of cities, were common prior to WWII.

While Filipinos in the US were at one time victims of overt racism, over the past few years evidence has also surfaced that in many cases Filipino immigrants tended to identify more closely with the white majority and in fact adopted, if not mimicked, white racist attitudes towards blacks, and, in some neighborhoods, Latinos as well.

This was evident in the last election cycle as many Filipino Americans freely and gleefully circulated email trails depicting President Obama in various black and African images including that of a witch doctor.

This prejudice against blacks, and, in some areas, Latinos , is quite widespread within some elements of the Filipino American community. I once found myself in a suburban city in northern California where a majority of the population was white. A Filipino American couple that I visited openly and with seeming pride said, “…gusto namin dito kasi walang itim…” ( we like it here because there are no blacks). There are, thankfully, many leaders in the Filipino American community organizations who have actively participated in actions and conversations that promote a “oneness” with oppressed or discriminated minorities and in the process help to diminish racially driven antipathies toward blacks and Latinos.

And this ought to be the case. Filipino Americans need to be at the forefront of efforts to promote racial harmony. We are uniquely positioned to be the catalyst for positive racial interaction. We know the pain and bitterness of being looked down upon over the simple and basic fact that we look different; we should therefore be committed to see such discrimination disappear. And the first step is to not engage in it. There is another element that ought to help us become the bridge that narrows the racial divide. We are mostly held in high esteem by both the white and minority populations because of our reputation for hard work and the fact that most of us who arrived in the past 50 years are generally well educated with degrees in various disciplines. We also are naturally friendly and have the ability to blend with any group. We ought to use this “capital” and the goodwill we have generated over the decades, as an effective tool to help combat prejudice and racial hatred. Harmony and peace will benefit all, Filipino Americans included. We all need to be a part of one America.

And while on this subject, I do want to note that racial discrimination in the Philippines itself, has begun to abate. I remember while growing up in the 1950’s how, in school, children of Chinese or Spanish lineage were often taunted and harangued. That seems to be no longer the case. Even incidences of “tribal” antipathy has diminished. In the cities of Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao, internal immigrants from other provinces or regions have been successfully accepted and embraced making these cities the country’s new melting pots of the 21st century. It seems we have matured enough as a people to accept and even celebrate our differences. It is hoped that we are able to transplant the spirit that bring us together as Filipinos to the wider global population. And America is as good a laboratory as there to prove that it can be done.
ldq44@aol.com