Gerona, Lucky Niwre M.

PI 100

The Lowkey Racism of the Filipinos

Starting with an anecdote, a young cousin of mine stayed in our house for a few weeks.

My cousin was like most Filipino children from the province; loud, active, skinny and

brown-skinned. While we were watching TV, a black person was shown, and he immediately

said “Ma, na’ay ​Negro, ​Mura’g unggoy” which translates to “Mom, there’s a ​Negro.​ He’s like a

monkey”. I was amused, and at the same time intrigued. The irony is lost in him that a number of

monkeys are more brown than black, which means he is the one, more similar to a monkey.

Something which I can attest to. His stay with us was like having a pet monkey running around

the house, screeching and scratching.

Returning to my cousin’s insult, I start contemplating about the obvious racism he

expressed. Except it wasn’t exactly racism. Racism is defined by the Merriam-Webster

Dictionary as “​a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and

that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race​”. My cousin’s remarks

weren’t purposefully hateful and weren’t made to boast his race’s superiority. It was a remark

made to ridicule and jokingly mock; his jokes clearly follow stereotypes.

This is one specific instance of the lowkey racism of the Filipinos. This is a far cry from

the spiteful comments of some white people, telling immigrants to return to their country and

stop stealing jobs. This is totally different from Aryans trying to eradicate Jews. This is entirely

different from slavery of blacks and its justifications. This racism, based loosely on the term
itself, is not rooted in hate and superiority but I think it is rooted in ignorance and inexperience in

dealing with other races. Most of it are statements of mockery and disdain. It’s deeply rooted in

the lives of most people that even a small child from the province possess this.

It can be seen in the reactions of the people when an Indian person rides a jeepney. No,

the reaction pertained to is not the initial reaction of covering your nose, because covering it is a

natural and instinctive reaction when something does not smell good, which in this case, is the

Indian person. The reaction pertained is the snickers, sneers, and huffs of the Filipino passengers.

Image if it was a Filipino with super bad BO, people would still cover their noses and reach for

their handkerchiefs but there’s no snicker, no sneer, and no huff to be heard.

It is present in the television shows with businessmen. Normal businessmen and shop

owners are respectable and proper, often accompanied with suits and ties. Chinese businessmen

are always portrayed by businesses with hidden illegal dealings, speaking like a caveman “Ako

ayos negosyo, ako wala gawa masama, wala droga dito”.

It manifests itself when Manny Pacquiao fights a black person. People placing bets on

Pacquiao, with sentiments wanting him to “beat that monkey”.It is even seen in shows with a

Batangueño character, because apparently all Batangueños talk with the same annoying and

hugely exaggerated and accentuated way of speaking.

However, this is totally absent when it comes to american, or more specifically caucasian,

people. As a matter of fact, the exact opposite occurs. Most Filipinos become delighted by

caucasians as if they were speaking to their lord and saviour. This is likely because most

Filipinos have relatives who married a white person and this relative’s life instantly got better

because of some magical prince charming, with loads of cash.

 Our country has a very considerable number of Filipino workers abroad. They interact

with many races through their day-to-day lives yet most Filipinos are lowkey racist. Even in

ancient times, native Filipinos are said to have traded with other nations, which is the reason

other nation’s influences in our native culture and history. There is an irony that is lost in this

situation.

Incidents written here were mostly anecdotal, and therefore a generalization which would

encapsulates all Filipinos could not be scientifically formulated. But then again, all

generalizations about a certain group would never truly represent the group as a whole. These

anecdotes occur so often and so numerous that it’s hard to classify it as coincidences.