Discrimination towards Asians Essay

The expansion of America was a realization within the political and financial elite that there is a need for America to create markets in foreign countries for the American goods. By the turn of the 1890s there was a lot of surplus in goods that we need to penetrate overseas markets to address under consumption and economic crisis. The United States was under the premise that the countries with the largest navies and military force would eventually inherit the earth (Zinn, 1942). Before the election of President William McKinley he said that the American people needs overseas market for the surplus products since the American soil and factories are producing more than what the American people needed. This surplus should be of the advantage of the country since it will bring commercial supremacy. This supremacy led to the expansionist view in politics and even in the naval forces. President Roosevelt created propaganda for expansion in the 1890s together with other political elites who share his expansionist standpoint. Roosevelt was perhaps the greatest expansionist of his time. He was up to penetrate Hawaii, Philippines and China. In 1898, 10% of American goods were sold in the foreign markets which amounted to billions of dollars. By the year 1895, the foreign investment of American Capitalists has reached billions of dollars especially in the steel industry. This further fanned the need for the American capitalists to create overseas markets and this made engaging in war an option. As in the case of Philippines, the conflict between the Spanish conquerors and the Filipino rebels paved way for the intervention of America in the guise of â€Å"generosity†. In 1899, the American government under the presidency of William McKinley sent troops to the Philippines to aide the Filipinos in fighting their war against the Spaniards. Mckinley states four reasons on why he decided to colonize the Philippines. The first was he can’t give the Philippines back to the Spaniards. Second is that he can’t give the Philippines to the French. Third is that he thinks that the Philippines is â€Å"unfit† to govern for themselves and the forth is that he has no choice but to â€Å"adopt† the Filipinos and â€Å"civilize† them (Zinn, 1942). By the term â€Å"civilized† and â€Å"unfit† he was under the notion that Filipinos are savages, uneducated, and unscrupulous. This only shows that even the president of a democratic country thinks lowly of a race that has endured 300 years of oppression and was courageous enough to ouster a government as strong as Spain. The country was under the Spanish rule for more than 300 hundred years and the Filipinos were craving for freedom. The Filipinos under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo were gaining much power at that time and some historians say that the Filipino people could have won the war without the American intervention. Since the Americans came on cue, just as the war was supposed to end, America took all the credit and branded themselves as heroes and liberator of the country. This scenario is similar to what the United States did to Cuba. When the Cuban rebels sought help from the United States, they sent American troops instead of financial resources (Zinn, 1942). When the Spanish colonizers where defeated, the US did not recognize the efforts of the rebels and took over Cuba. Before the US freed Cuba, they made sure that Platt amendment will be added to the constitution giving the US rights to intervene with the Cuban government. Some US bases where also retained and the Cuban market was remained opened to American exports. In the case of the Philippines, US intervention came in together with education, clothing, healthcare and other basic necessities that were deprived by the Spaniards. Since the Spaniards aimed to suppress education among Filipinos and keep them dependent to their regime, the â€Å"Education for everyone scheme† of the United States was a hit for most of the Filipinos. However the struggle continued for those who seek real independence (Grey, 2003). The expansionist point of view of Americans towards the Philippines was regarded as acts of robbery and oppression by a black soldier designated in the Philippines. It was a bloody war as news articles and journals of soldiers revealed that they shot Filipinos like â€Å"rabbits† including the women and children who were helpless (Zinn, 1942). Discrimination in the political system was also evident since only the Americans hold office and Filipinos where kept at the lower offices of the political structure. Similar to the faith of those non-whites, the Filipino people where discriminated even in today’s society. Due to economic reasons a great percentage of Filipinos are now working abroad as domestic workers. Blue collar jobs such as domestic helpers, construction workers, waiters and etc are the most common employment for Filipinos residing in the United States (Manalansan, 2003). Because of this, stereotypes where based upon the assumption that Filipinos are uneducated and are capable of doing only menial jobs. In fact, in a British dictionary the meaning of the word Filipina is â€Å"domestic helper†. This may be attributed to the fact that 90% of Filipinos working abroad are females. However, we fail to see is that a large percentage of these Filipino workers have a college degree and are in fact educated. Sociology dictates that since Filipinos have been subjected to three colonizers (Spanish, Americans and Japanese) they are by nature patient, enduring and industrious. Thus, doing menial jobs are sacrifices they are willing to make just to alleviate their families current economic status (Manalansan, 2003). Today, the Philippines is the worlds major exporter of manpower especially in health care. Filipino nurses and care givers pride themselves as pioneers in their craft and the country even hails them as the present day heroes. However, when they set foot on the foreign soil, that pride turns to discrimination. Though they are well capable and well trained in nursing, skin color often hinders them from being treated the same way as that of the white nurses. A quote from the TV show Desperate Housewives uttered by Teri Hatcher says: â€Å"Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas because I just wanna make sure that they’re not from some med school in the Philippines. This only supports the fact that Filipinos are still caught under the stereotype that they are incapable and are discriminated upon (Salanga, 2007). In comparison to the African-Americans, Filipinos experience greater amount of discrimination due to the fact that they are smaller, second is the portrayal of the Philippines as a country of terrorists, third is that they are uneducated and forth is that most of them don’t speak good English. But unknown to most Americans is that there is a thriving business of call centers in the Philippines which started in 2000. When we dial customer service and ask for help for a certain product, we might be seeking advice from Filipinos that we discriminate against. The thing is we don’t even notice that they are Filipinos by the way they speak. They are proficient in English and are able to address of plights properly, hence, the notion that Filipinos are dumb serves as an irony. In call centers, we ask for help from Filipinos and not the other way around. At present the Call center industry in the Philippines captures 20% of the world market share in call centers and the Philippine government aims to get 50% of share by the year 2008 (Ortigas Online, 2007). Filipinos today face what sociologists call double jeopardy. Because Filipinos are discriminated, they have difficulty of finding good jobs. It is estimated that a majority of Filipinos in the United States today are still holding blue collar jobs though some of them have white collar jobs. Some have even made it big time in the United States just like the lead singer of the Pussy Cat Dolls who is a Filipino-American (Ezugwu, 2007). Though some have made it up in the economic ladder, Filipinos still comprise the majority in service sectors jobs in the United States. Their poverty reinforces their minority status. Thus, the so-called â€Å"ladder of discrimination† as what sociologists call is also reinforced. Filipinos have the difficulty of upgrading their status by economic means because of these stereotypes. Thus, white Americans always associate Filipinos with poverty, terrorism, violence and ignorance. This then hinders them from alleviating their status and making their chances at getting high paying jobs a lot slimmer as compared to the whites. However, when I check the web and type â€Å"Philippines† in the search box it is amazing how it differs from what the media is projecting. As a country the Philippines has wonderful places and beautiful culture. They are deeply rooted to their religion and values which make them generally warm and happy individuals (Tope, L. & Nonan-Mercado, 2007). Their history with the Spaniards taught Filipinos how to be industrious and enduring as they were colonized by Spain for 300 years. These characteristics of Filipinos show in their approach to their work here in the United States. I think the fact that they are willing to occupy menial jobs that most Americans would shun is a manifestation that they are hardworking people. Perhaps it is this realization that led to further acceptance to the Filipino culture and the Filipino people. In the United States there are Filipino communities in every state (The Filipino, 2007) and a lot of Americans prefer to have Filipino wives saying that Filipinos make a loving wife and mother. The country also has a strong president as of pres time and aims to renew the image of the Philippines as a country filled with communists. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo wasfeatured in the Times Magazine for the second time and was hailed as one of the most powerful women in Asia (Spaeth, 2001). Since she is very stern in her fight against terrorism the Philippines and the Filipinos are beginning to portray a wonderful picture in our minds. In addition to that, society has become more lenient as to the case of racism. Many citizens are now aware that skin color or race does not limit a person’s ability to do his job properly. Filipinos, much like the other minority groups should be given the chance to grow and show their abilities. The growing popularity of snit racism and equality has made some impact on the way Filipinos are treated, however it is not yet evident in most cases. Reference http://www.commondreams.org/scriptfiles/views03/1117-11.htm