By Fred C. Wilson III
“Survival is a privilege that entitles obligations.”
-Simon Wiesenthal-
Racism has been described as America’s ‘Original Sin.’ The US occupiers of the Philippines imparted Filipinos with a rabid lust for all things Anglo-Saxon, American, a loathing and self-hatred for things black, brown, and non-American including their native culture. The excessive use of ultra-bright skin whiteners, starvation diets rendering once voluptuous ‘well-rounded’ Filipinas to fit living images of what passes for ‘perfect white womanhood,’ to a near absence of dark faces in the Philippine media and political arena attest to this sad fact.
Race hate isn’t unique to the United States; every country in the Western Hemisphere exhibits a far greater racial intolerance than the U.S if the truth be told. If you have a differing opinion about what I said please email me at: vamaxwell@yahoo.com and I’ll be more than glad to cite examples. It was the early 20th century American occupation of the Philippine Islands that completed what the Spanish started in that country.
Among Latinos there also exists a love for all things Caucasian. When this writer worked as a teacher in the Chicago Public School system I observed that on numerous occasions when many of my Latino female students would tenderly caress, even kiss, and reverently run their tiny brown hands through the straight blond hair of white female classmates. I’ve overheard exceptionally dark Latinos call light and brown complexioned African-American and bi-racial people ‘blackie, nigger’ or in cases of Filipino racists the anti-black slur ‘nog-nog.’
Similar examples of race hate exist in every country Spain and other imperialists colonized. Rev. Jessie Jackson Sr. once said during a 1970’s then Operation Breadbasket (Operation PUSH) meeting I sat through when he spoke about the results of modern day colonialism saying that ‘the name’s been changed but the game remains the same.’ Nothing changes; the Philippine rich are getting richer while their poorer counterparts get poorer. Perhaps Karl Marx was right when he said that the only things poor people had to lose was their chains though ironically communist ‘workers paradises’ have their own brands of ‘untouchably.’
Asians weren’t the only peoples affected by this sociological disorder. Summarily the American colonial experience contributed heavily to the dysfunctionalization1 of the mindsets of African-Americans, poor whites, Native Peoples, other Asians, as well as Filipinos. The current political, religious, and economic situation of aforementioned peoples all demonstrates this. When I make my annual trip to the RP I’m served Tang that watery, sugar-laded, artificial drink when fresh fruit hang in abundance from trees in our backyard. A small point but a pertinent one never the less. Reader PLEASE read: Compassion & Self Hate by Dr. T.I. Rubin-at: www.Amazon.com and you’ll understand.
Was the US ‘liberation’ of the Philippines a big lie? Yes and no. Yes because the ‘liberation elite’ (bankers, corporate magnates, pro-war politicians) prospered the military on both sides of the conflict plus poor Filipinos didn’t get a damn thing. No because by its very nature America is a land of immense opportunity and personal freedom compared to ANY COUNTRY. But the American Dream isn’t free-you gotta’ fight for it! Nothing is handed to you. I once had an old novelty T-shirt that read, ‘Chicago is where the weak are killed and eaten.’ The writer is of the opinion that this sage applies globally. If you have the drive, intestinal fortitude, the where with all and work hard to actualize your version of the American Dream you can achieve it. Under Spanish rule no such chances existed for the average Filipino.
The US occupation and subsequent 50 year rule failed in many ways. Also aforementioned the Americans drilled into the Filipino mind an inordinate love for all things white. I’ve never seen so many American fast food restaurants anywhere save for the United States as I’ve seen than in the Philippines. Like a flowering weed gone wild McDonald’s have inspired an architecture all its own. American style TV programs, smutty fashions for young girls and women, an intense dislike and suppression of non-white ways and cultures, are all but a few examples of how pervasive US culture, morals, and folk ways are in the Philippine Islands though some of these negative aspects are slowly changing. Or the time I was participating in an art exhibition during Asian History Month at the now defunct North Lakeside Cultural Center when participating in a public poetry reading a young Filipina took to the microphone and read a poem-prayer in praise of all things white!
Collective self-hatred and neo-imperialist attitudes again are not limited to Filipinos. Page through an assortment of African-American magazines before and after Dr. King and readers will see pretty much the same things mentioned in popular Filipino publications including ‘Bleaching creams’ for Black women and hair straighter to give African-American women that ‘white girl look’ urging African-American readers to be as white middle-class as possible though most of this has changed. Same hold true for many Latino publications of similar ilk.
“Only cowards fear danger. The Palm of Glory grows only on the battlefield.”
-Pope Calistus III-
• The American propaganda machine neatly sanitized the Philippine-American conflict so much so that it had been relegated to the trash bin of American history and an unfortunate unimportant occurrence.
• Many view the Philippine-American War as a precursor to the Viet Nam War. Though the United States learned and developed its counterinsurgency tactics during the American Indian Wars and the 1899-1902 Philippine conflict later using them to great effect in Viet Nam in efforts to win over the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people; that war ended in dismal failure for America as it did for the French who seized that country over a century earlier. For the United States defeat was only a temporary setback. I say temporary because on a trip to that Southeast Asian country a few years ago I sensed that all things American from fast food joints to trade agreements are eagerly sought after. In a negative sense fast food restaurants are the ‘missionaries’ of Corporate America.
• The few super rich families who always called the shots even before the Spanish era through the present are still on top. These ‘hacienderos’ virtually have the Malacanang Palace (Philippine seat of government) in their back pockets along with certain members of the Catholic hierarchy, the Big Business establishment, and the education elite.
Here’s what an American expatriate, who understands that the problems of that country are the result of Spain’s legacy of corruption, has to say about the situation in the Archipelago regarding electric companies:
“Victor [not his real name] could you give us some quick thoughts about the Philippine situation as an American living in the Islands understand things-and by way of example could you tell our readers something about the energy problems?”
“The closer you are to Downtown [CBD] the better your electric service. Electric companies kiss the butts of those who pay the most money in kickbacks and those are the mall and business owners. While there are contracts being discussed that will bring in outside contractors to fix power problems the primary problem is that all parties want payment under the table.”
“In your opinion, who is responsibility for this?”
“Mr. Arroyo the husband of the President is the biggest prick in the country for permitting kickbacks. He should be shot! I’m surprised he hasn’t been yet. Retrofit existing electrical installations and replace all existing structures nationally would be unworkable because it would involve illegal activities by certain parties.”
The past can never be undone. To paraphrase retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu who once said that ‘evil must be first acknowledged and learned from or else it will be repeated.’ Present day whites are not to blame for that evil time unless they refuse to accept the fact that their long dead ancestors were privy to the decimation and psychological meltdown of millions of Filipinos which still haunts us to this day. Even as the American military was forced by an act of God (Mt. Pinatubo eruption and subsequent pull out from Clark Air Base) to leave the Philippines; according to David Armstrong’s Boston Globe article: ‘A toxic legacy abroad,’ the departing Americans dumped tons of toxic waste materials in Philippine waters which resulted in sickness and deaths of hundreds of Philippine citizens. Filipinos who fought alongside U.S. troops in World War II are still denied veterans benefits! Like the continued Japanese denial in facing the facts of their barbaric role during World War II, contemporary Filipinos minimize or outright deny America’s part in what amounted to gang raping the country then leaving it bleeding and dying on the side of the road of history. Perhaps the Obama Administration will right some wrongs against Filipinos. Stay tuned.
This last segment concludes our study of the causes, effects, and aftermath of the Philippine-American War. Write me at: vamaxwell@yahoo.com. God be you.
“Hell is full of the talented, but Heaven of the energetic.”
-St. Jane Frances de Chantal-
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