It’s not racism.
Filed under opinion, personal, rants
I find it weird whenever I am asked abroad if I have a degree, or if I ever went to school, or if we have this or that at home.
I just shrug it off, and answer the best way I can. I see no point in going into a long defense of who I am, where I went, or what I have seen of or done in this world. Sometimes they are surprised when I can converse well in English (Hello?).
No, I am not mad at all. And no, I don’t think the people I talked to were racists. It just makes me sad that the rest of the world still thinks of us as heathens, and this is probably our fault.
I was talking to someone (an American) awhile ago who told me a crazy story about a 20-year-old Filipina who was seriously considering a marriage proposal made on the phone by a 55-year-old American that she has never met.
He was appalled by it. I told him it’s not an uncommon story, but I completely understand what must have made that girl entertain the old man. He must be her only hope for a better life, and although the situation is skewed, it’s her life, after all.
How many of the elite and the educated go abroad and never go home? Life in the US is a lot more convenient than life in our third-world country, and sometimes the temptation is hard to resist. I understand that, too.
How many of those who have power and influence go out of their way to help change our image in the eyes of the world? Not very many. Maybe the rest are just too busy living their own lives.
I think we shouldn’t force everyone to join us in a cause. I am all for choice. It’s just sad that not very many choose to help.
When I told people that I was going to the US for the second time, some joked that I should go TNT, which means to not go home and hide there as an overstaying tourist, and which is what some Filipinos would have done if they had my opportunity.
I am insulted by the suggestion. I choose to be a contributing Filipino, and I choose to come home.
Comments
Do you have microwaves in the Philippines? ::laughs:: I knew a German guy here who got seriously asked if Germany had cars; I mocked the questioner greatly. I’ve met somebody with a college degree who had never heard of Thailand.
Racism, nah, just inexcusably great apathetic ignorance IMO. Speaking of the majority of Americans I know, it’s not that they think of you (in a general non-American sense) as some kind of barbarian, it’s that they don’t think of you at all.
There’s a *lot* of people around here who genuinely and somewhat subconsciously think of the entire “normal” world as the US, and everything else is just a great strange unknown. Your presence when here reminds them of that to a degree. They’re curious, but combine that with appalling levels of ignorance and this absurd assumption around here that the US is the best at everything, and there you go.
There is racism here (in Kentucky mostly between black/white though), but I think the stupid questions are a different issue.
the germans invented cars! LOL. how ignorant can people get?
i noticed that attitude, too. a lot of americans are amazed by my english. i tell them hello, we’re the third largest english-speaking country in the world, next to the US and UK, and i majored in journalism in one of the best universities in asia. they find that hard to believe.
that is why i appreciate those who actually know where my country is, or know what language i speak. i meet them from time to time. i think they are the smart americans.
i find it so condescending. if only those in power and authority here in our dear country do something about our image to the world, then perhaps we will not be regarded as just one of those ethnic people discovering the great America.
we cannot blame our fellow Filipinos do the sacrifices of working abroad and migrating. sometimes it really feels hopeless living here and you feel you want to go out of the country at once every time you feel the results of graft and corruption. it’s only my children’s ideals that keep me from doing ‘drastic’ decisions. i keep thinking about them.
it is true that we cannot blame people for what they do, but if everyone has that excuse, nothing will come of our country..we need to care beyond ourselves sometimes.
but i am glad you made the decision to stay, tita bing.
I like your principles Aileen. You live up to this –> “Think global, act local.” =)
thanks. i guess traveling helps broaden perspectives.
or maybe not travelling per se but your openness to what you can learn from every situation. =)
um, yeah, i do try to be open to new ideas and new experiences. thanks. =)
chatroom? lol
pwede! hehe.
hahah wer r u?
i’m back in pinas na. still have to write about it, though.. entry to be posted soon. hehe.
i see.. it’s raining like crazy here. kmusta jan?
cool. easy lang. hehe.
america is a rich country. but time mag says only 25 percent of them have passports.
if it’s easy to get a passport and a visa, how many filipinos would choose to stay kaya?
@jacq
mainit, as usual. bakit, san ka pala now? wala ka ba sa pinas?
@atticus
um, 10,000? pero siguro if madali nang kumuha ng passport and visa, maayos na siguro ang pilipinas ng time na yan (for purposes of discussion lang, i’m not saying that will happen). by then wala na sigurong gustong umalis.
d2 pa din sa makati.. i’m at work. it’s raining so hard i can hear it from inside our building.
When I went to the States and decided to come home after staying for five months as a tourist (I got a six-month validity, 10-year multiple entry visa), someone told me I’m crazy for thinking of coming home when I was already there. She said many would give their souls just to be able to go to the States and never to return home. I was throwing away a golden opportunity daw. Hay!
hala, am i one of those who joked about staying in the US for good? hala. basta, i’m for wherever you are happy.
@jacq
i remember you saying you were in singapore.
for awhile there i thought you were out of the country na rin.
@abaniko
well, those who do that are throwing away their good reputation and integrity. hindi rin naman sila makakatrabaho ng maayos don kasi nagtatago sila. tapos they can’t come home anytime to see their family. that is so sad. tsaka bat naman ako mag-TNT eh may 10-year multiple-entry visa ako di ba?
btw, san ka ngayon? ano ang sadya mo sa islang ito?
@kirk
i don’t remember you saying that.
there’s a lot of ignoramus out there, every culture, every country, every race, including us. let’s not pay attention to them.
and just because some people chose to be TNT doesn’t mean they’re bad people. the last sentence you wrote implies that being TNT is negative or unacceptable for your standards. maybe i’m getting the wrong vibe.
We cannot blame those Americans. I mean come on, they don’t know everything about the world. They may be are living in a first world country, but we cannot expect that they know every single thing on earth. Some of them are also ignorant and illiterate. Suerte lang sila kay nagpuyo sila sa US of A. Kay first impression palang, sa ngalan palang nga USA, mapawow na dayun ang kasagaran. But, that’s not really what it seems. Most americans are actually high school graduates only. Some don’t even know html and the likes. They are just like any other human beings. The difference is just in our minds. It’s because of our perception/misperception.
i feel you. i know the feeling. well, lets just do our best and let those americans swoon with envy. one american once told my hispanic fiance,”your girlfriend is filipina? oh boy. leave her asap. shes just for your money. shes just for your citizenship. once you get married, she will dump you.” my fiance answered him, “i dont have money and i dont have citizenship.”
wahahahahaha.
@issai
i didn’t say they are bad, but the practice is unacceptable for me. i’d like to live according to the law, i’d like to be honest, and i’d like to be respected by the whites. if i ever live in the US, i would have papers with me. our reputation is bad enough already.
@empress
i’d have to correct that. percentage-wise, most of them have college degrees. only a few are illiterate, and i’d have to say that there are more of them that know html compared to the percentage of filipinos who know html. they are closer to technology than we are. trust me, i work in the IT industry.
as nakajoe said, i guess it’s just that they’re living too much of a good life that they forget about the rest of the world.
@rica
well, i am a capable employee in the american company i work for, so those i work with know better than to ask me if i know this or know that. actually, i think that those who’ve been exposed to other cultures are a lot more open-minded. my american colleagues are among them.
re your fiance, that is sad and embarrassing. tingnan mo, nadadamay tuloy tayo lahat. those of us who are not in it for the money or the citizenship get the suspicion by default.
kudos to you for doing the right thing
thanks.
@empress
From my US perspective, I blame many of the ignorant here on the basis that there’s so many of them who are frankly ignorant by choice. It’s not just that they don’t know, a lot of them don’t want to know, and it’s even socially acceptable here to make an effort to avoid picking up knowledge. It’s not everybody, but still it irks me bad.
“it’s even socially acceptable here to make an effort to avoid picking up knowledge”
maybe it’s just the refusal to exert any effort, not really the refusal to learn. your people are used to having things easy. there always has to be something or someone who will make tasks easier to do. everything is automated. everything has to be very, very user-friendly.
but then, maybe this is just the result of fierce competition in the market.
And at the level you see in the company, you’re right on target I think, and about the easy thing. People here are lazy… There can be an upside too, if some things don’t become automated we’ll be living mostly the same lives forever without improving much of anything. But still, it’s overboard.
At the level I grew up at (bottom 25% of society) on the other hand, it’s almost expected to get angry when presented with new facts and refuse to even listen. It’s very depressing; there’s a reason I don’t live in my old neighborhood anymore.
hmm. you are right. progress is the only way to go, but now i realize it does have a downside. it could spoil people and make them lazy.
my country isn’t there yet that’s why we do not have the same problem. many filipinos are lazy, too, you know, but it’s another kind of lazy.