Hello EVERYONE! I'm very much thrilled and thankful to be nominated for the FILIPINO BLOG of the WEEK by The Composed Gentleman. I am asking you to PLEASE VOTE FOR ME which can be found at his SIDEBAR. Thanks. :D
As of this moment (12:32 A.M.), I'm currently at the fourth place and is now 42 votes away from the first one, so please, as you finish reading my post, please vote for me. I'd really be grateful. And if you think I really deserve it, do grab my button which can be found at the sidebar and help me promote my site. Thank you very much and may God bless us all! :)
-----
Here we are again. Before, we have the biscuits named Filipino(s), then we have that dictionary entry that defines Filipinos/Filipinas as domestic helpers, then we have dancing maid on a TV show and then we have Mr. Tsip Chao calling us a nation of servants. Now we have Mr. Baldwin tagging our dear Filipinas as mail order brides.
It seems that we are becoming a common target nowadays for racial slurs by foreigners who does not understand what it is to be a Filipino.
---
On the other hand, isn't it also time for us to look at ourselves on the mirror? Have we been racists too?
I would not mind that much if we have thrown some discriminating remarks or jokes about foreign nationals. Admit it, we've got tons of prejudices for Intsik, Bumbay or Hapon. Even by how we call them is discriminating itself. We presume all Intsiks to be 'kuripot.' We presume all Bumbays do 5-6 or does not take a bath. I don't have in mind now what we presume about the Hapons but I'm sure there's one. These prejudices have been deeply embedded in our minds that once we saw one, we immediately pre-judged them.
So isn't just bad karma for us?
---
But what is worse is that even among ourselves, we are racists too.
We discriminate one another and feel superior to others. The Tagalogs see the Bisayas as dirty and does not have good manners. The 'civilized' Filipinos see tribal Filipinos as uncultured and barbaric. We tag our Ilokano brothers as kuripot. We see our Muslim brothers as war-freaks and should be avoided. The 'white' Filipinos feel superior over the 'brown' and 'black' Filipinos. The 'matangos' Filipinos deride the 'pango' Filipinos. The 'educated' Filipinos look down on the poor because they are 'uneducated.'
That's just a few examples of how racists are we. I believe we have thousands of these that are resting in our minds - waiting for the right time to spit it out against ourselves.
---
I am not saying here that such remarks made by other nationalities against us should be shrugged off. I believe we should ask for an apology for that guy named Alec Baldwin. We should teach him a lesson so that others would not follow what he did.
But aren't we supposed to be angry with ourselves? We have let ourselves to live on prejudices against others - our fellow Filipinos whom we should be loving and serving. It is really sad to hear our fellow Filipinos being ridiculed in our daily conversations and being lambasted because of their so-called 'kakulangan'.
Bago natin punahin ang pagkakamali ng iba, mas maganda siguro na siguraduhin muna natin na hindinatin iyon ginagawa.
Photo taken from here.
Hi Jose;
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your achievements and I clicked as well.
Good luck on the freelance writing.
I understand your comments in respect to racism, but do not let it revert to "reverse" discrimination.
When I was a young boy, recently immigrated to Canada, a few locals refered to us as DP's and I heard them.
It stood for "displaced person" of whom there were many after World War Two, but this was fifteen years after the fact.
It was derogatory. I just forgot about it. No it doesn't make you feel good knowing someone things you are less than they, but that happens throughout life.
So it goes for "Filipino". Keep on going and forget those who show their ignorance.
Oh my, it's an honor to be visited by a very prolific blogger like you Mr. Ichabod. :D I've been really following your blog since I started this new one and I'm really inspired by the way you look at things. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Sir. I don't really care much of other people who does not understand what it is to be like 'us'. It's just I'm saddened by the fact that racism is happening within our own 'race'.
Anyway, I'm really honored sir to be visited by a wonderful blogger like you. :D It really made me cry. :)
GREAT POST. Here's a recent one - Candy Pangilinan implying that IGOROTS are not humans. I think we all should do our part in correcting ignorance. We can only do things in our control - your blog post is a great way to start.
ReplyDeleteCheers. Also, wishing you well in your Filipino Blog of the Week nomination.
you're really greatttt :)
ReplyDeletei love your entries!
Hello dennio, i totally agree. firstly i havent heard what alec baldwin said but i think he said that just to be funny cause he is a comedian from the show 30 rock. we cant ask an apology for every other american that says things like that lalo na yun dahil comedy talk show rin yun, well anyways, you have a great point there. Tayo ring mga pinoy ay maraming prejudices sa mga kapwa natin tao. lalung lalo na yung sa mga whiter filipinos, or the educated filipinos look down on the poorer, uneducated ones. the truth is, sa lahat ng mga bansa sa mundo merong discrimination, hindi lang sa atin. pero tama ka dennio, before tayo humingi ng apology sa ibang pang mga racists , tayo rin dapat ay tumingin sa mga sarili nating prejudices, , sabi nga nila, he who has no sin should cast the first stone.
ReplyDeleteJose,
ReplyDeleteYou've posted a very thought-provoking post here. I suppose we all do it in some form or fashion. This is 2009 and we ALL need to wake up out of our ancient and unwise thoughts about different cultures. I am a caucasian man living in the US but I still see racism most everyday. In fact, I'm a victim of racism at times and I simply ignore it.
Thanks for your post and I hope you'll help others remember that racism is nonsense and we need to forget and forgive!
God bless,
Jay Adkins
http://diversecity.net
Oh I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the whole "racism" thing that is happening is just a reflection of how the Filipinos themselves became a bit racists too.
Filipinos shouldn't take what those people said about them. If it's not true, why make a big deal about it? Brush it off, and move on.