The Reasons for Racial & Ethnic Discrimination against the Filipinos

Guest Author @juvyjabian

Throughout the history, Filipinos in and outside the Philippines have been experiencing discriminatory cases around the world as much as among the Asian countries, and it has continued until today despite Filipinos' global achievement in sports and brains. Filipinos can be seen all over the world as domestic helpers while others are professional abroad but still discriminated, in some cases. And no doubt why the Oxford Dictionary has once defined Filipino as some sort of a worker in foreign countries.

Some factors represent the causes of racism against the Filipinos and ethnic discrimination among the Filipinos: the Philippine history of colonialism that still continues nowadays but in a diplomatic way, colonial mentality that makes the Filipinos degrade one's own identity, economic dependency on the powerful nations such as the US, being so called modern slaves for foreign bosses, and, most especially, lack of nationalism. These factors look into the bigger picture in explaining racial issues among the Filipinos, and these would lead to further explain it in the sense that one can easily understand.

The Left-over of the Past Colonialism

What the Filipinos suffer from today are the products of the human degradation, racial and ethnic discrimination and territorial plunder brought about by the Spaniards, Japanese and the Americans in the Philippines. In fact, those nationalities who keep on discriminating the Filipinos are just the people who are responsible for it. The Filipinos have not become pitiful because of their own wrongdoings but because of the foreign threats attacking them. While the Filipinos themselves are partly to blame for not standing firm against the invaders, it was just because of fascism that feared the Filipinos up until today.

Moreover, people all around the world have witnessed the enslavement of the Filipinos by the outsiders and they still haven't seen them breaking the chain, and that is why the people especially the Westerners and the people in Northern part of Asia do not look forward to seeing the Filipinos as equal to them. The racial and ethnic discrimination, on this part, would only follow then.

Colonial Mentality

Filipinos have also seen to be looking down one's own racial identity as obvious as seeing a single Filipina buying a whitening soap in order to get rid of her dark-colored skin. In connection to the past colonialism in the country. They have taught to worship the cultures of their master while unconsciously becoming weak and alienated from their own. Non-Filipinos, on the other hand, would think that it would be hard for them to recognize the Filipinos when the Filipinos do not recognize themselves. Moreover, it would create an idea that other racial identities are better than that of the Filipinos when they do not even like their own identity and prefer to idolize others instead.

Economic Inferiority & Dependency

The economic aspect can still be linked to the issue of racism and other ethnic degradation. The concept that the white is better than the brown and that the brown is better than the black is something that cannot easily be explained as simply a preference of color, but it is something that is economic in nature. In the economic ranking of the world, the Third World countries or simply the poor countries such as the Philippines consists of the inhabitants who are tan-colored and the blacks. One can easily make a connection between the racial discrimination against the blacks and the brown people and the place where they belong to.

In the Asian setting, Japan, China, and South Korea have successfully lifted up their economy and, indeed, they have established very powerful heavy industries that can sustain their own economy and provide commodities abroad. Northern Asians are proud of their own development, and eventually they have excelled throughout the world. This fact has created social hierarchy among Asian nations and that they belong to the upper part of the apparatus and to the lower part are the poor Asian countries like the Philippines. What is left is the discrimination against the Filipinos.

The Third World countries are dependent on the funding of such powerful nations usually called the imperialist States. Racial discrimination against the Filipinos will probably continue as long as they cannot live without the assistance of their imperialist partners.

Lack of Nationalism

To sum up all the factors mentioned above, it is the lack of nationalism among the Filipinos. South Korea is so popular nowadays that even its national language and local songs are heard and promoted internationally. Many Filipinos are even fanatic to the K-pop songs that they call themselves K-pop lovers or K-poppers. Unlike in the Philippines that there is no such term as P-poppers in other countries. Hollywood movies are sold out immediately in the Philippines while it takes time for the tickets of local movies to vanish from the booths. There are some also Philippine movies that attract the Filipino consumers but these are the movies that is Western in orientation.

Some exemption is noticeable pertaining to the promotion of Philippine cultures and ethnicity to the world. Like in the case of Aldub that was popularized internationally. However, it did not promote strong sense of nationalism or even the sense of respect towards the Filipinos. It only seemed to ask the world for sympathy towards the Filipinos. It did not address the issue of racial discrimination against the Filipino people as much as other social problems the country faces.

The Philippines has, somehow, taken advantage the globalization and modernization the world has ever provided in hopes to help each country as an effort of the United Nations. However, these development have failed to address the social problems in the country, so much in the problem of racism and ethnic discrimination. Indeed, it has persisted to exist.

The Overseas Filipino Workers have increased in numbers despite the claim of the Philippine government about its economic growth. Every step of the Filipinos of being slaves or workers in other countries and of the Philippine government in asking other nations for aids signals the motivation of the non-Filipino people to call them anything lower than them.

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