Disclaimer: this is my personal observation based on my and my friends’ experiences and informal testimonies. No polls have been taken.
Filipinos are probably the least racist among E/SE Asians. But it does not mean racism is zero.
For one, there is very little violent racism in the Philippines. A Filipino does not yell at Aetas to go back to Africa. It is basically exclusion if and when it happens. Other observations:
Filipinos seem to me to be exactly the opposite of Americans when it comes to racism:
Here’s how:
Americans: the more educated the American the less racist he usually is.
Filipinos: the more educated a Filipino, the more racist he seems to be.
Americans: the poorer and the lower the class of an American, the more racist he usually is.
Filipinos: the poorer and lower the class of the Filipino, the less racist he usually is.
The richer the Filipino, the higher the %% among them that look down on other races, foreigners and “ Amerikanos”.
The richer the American, the lower the % of those who look down on other races or foreigners.
Here is my impression as far as their treatment of me and other non Filipinos:
Among other E and S E Asians, Filipinos are probably the most tolerant. You cannot compare Filipinos to the Japanese, Koreans or even Chinese. Also, they were never as bad as Anglo Saxons or Germans.
Filipinos did not adopt the American racial system which formally divided humans into whites, blacks, Hispanic etc. Afaik, Filipino documents do not mention race.
As far as life in general, Filipinos very rarely attack other races but generally treat all people like people. It is not hard to make friends with, date and marry Filipinos. They are usually a sociable, positive and friendly lot. I like them a lot.
Having said that, Filipinos are also not angels.
As far as foreigners go: Filipinos, in daily lives, always call white people- including Spaniards- “foreigners”, but they do not usually call Koreans or Chinese “foreigners”. It shows that they still feel closer to an Asian person than to a white or black one no matter how much they say that they are so Hispanicized and Americanized.
A Filipina girl walking with a white guy invites looks and all kinds of comments. Some good, some bad. But none if she is walking with a Korean.
But mostly there is a stigma attached to a Filipina walking with a white man. Not all people feel that way, but many do. I had a Filipina GF in Manila and I remember seeing all kinds of reactions. Sometimes, I would see grimaces of disgust - and these were coming from professional looking Filipinos. There were angry flashes of the eyes and even guys walking up to her when I turned around. “ Is that your husband?” What a waste!”
Filipinos when confronted with this will deny it and say, “Oh you had a bar girl”. No, I did not. “Oh you were old and she was young”. No I was not. It’s very hard for them to admit, that they, sometimes, can be as racist as anyone else.
In America, a racist person will be condemned and punished. So, if someone offends a Filipino in the USA, many people will come to their aid.
If the Philippines, usually no one will defend an American ( and his GF) who is insulted and they will just tell him to go home if he does not like it.
So, if you are a non ( E/SE) Asian guy trying to date a Filipina, a poor Filipina will date you, but a middle class or a rich Filipina will be hesitant. Mostly, she will not. She will often be stigmatized ( at least by strangers) if she does. This does not stop Filipinos and white people from mingling nonetheless, but there is still a stigma which does not exist in, say, Latin America.
Again, as a whole, white foreigners who move to the Philippines integrate way better than if they moved to other E/SE Asian countries, but still not as well as they would if they moved to say, Panama or Mexico or Brazil. And Filipinos are way more accepting of Chinese, Japanese and Koreans than they are of white or black people.
I would say, Filipinos are not so bad, but they could do better. They often complain about the treatment given to them in other countries. “Oh, they think we are all maids!” but then they turn around and think we are all sex tourists.
I cannot comment on how they treat other people/races or how they treat each other, and have shared only what I have seen and heard.
No comments:
Post a Comment