I do not find it funny that many of our people think this is not a big deal, because not only are racist and xenophobic remarks reflections of our already shameful colonial past and present, but they will indeed shape public opinion and public policy about Filipino immigration to the United States. There’s really not much to laugh about.

BY JOSHUA F. CASTRO*
COMMENTARY
Contributed to Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 37, October 21-27, 2007

Apparently outrage is growing amongst members of the Filipino American community over racist and xenophobic remarks on ABC’s Desperate Housewives. As Teri Hatcher’s character Susan hears her gynecologist present a possible diagnosis that she may be beginning menopause she snaps facetiously “Okay, before we go any further, can I just check those diplomas? Because I just want to make sure that they’re not from some med school in the Philippines.”

Much like how I received news of this story about Desperate Housewives over one of the countless e-mail list-serves that I subscribe to, I’m sure that the e-mail is going to be forwarded to many other Filipino American, Asian American, Ethnic Studies, People of Color solidarity list-serves ad-infinitum as well as Friendster, Myspace, etc. The one thing that I want to point out about the original e-mail that I received about the Desperate Housewives episode, however, is that the writer of the e-mail criticizes the incident as a personal insult to Filipinos and rouses us to “stand up for ourselves, so that this type of hateful speech never happens again,” yet does not further articulate any reason as to why we should feel insulted. Perhaps memories of TV from the 90’s may provide some insight.

Back in the mid-90s I have a very vague recollection of an incident where on the sit-com Frasier, Kelsey Grammer’s character Frasier and his brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce) were discussing the price of a face lift for Niles’ wife, Maris where a figure of $25,000 came up. Frasier’s father, Martin, (played by John Mahoney) replies:

“For an extra five grand, you can get yourself a whole new wife from the Philippines” (Bonko, Larry. “Roseanne and ‘Frasier’ Went Too Far.” The Virginian Pilot. 1994).

During that time I remember hearing a few Filipino students at my high school talk about boycotting NBC, holding demonstrations, writing letters, etc. I remember reading the local paper in Vallejo, The Times Herald and seeing pictures of women demonstrating at an NBC affiliated office holding a sign that read “Filipinas not for sale.” Besides talking about my feelings regarding the episode of Frasier with other people I took no other action. I, however, still felt deeply insulted.

Two friends of mine at the time, both white men, and I were having a conversation where that episode of Frasier was mentioned. I stated in a less than emphatic manner that the remark was racist. One of my friends who was slightly older than me replied, “It’s just a TV show. The only reason why we’re hearing about this is because there are so many Filipinos in Vallejo. Get over it. It’s just a damned joke.”

Although I was shocked and hurt, I had no way to articulate why I felt that the jokes about mail-order brides were racist, or why I felt that saying those kinds of things on TV would have negative affects on society. After learning about the horrific realities faced by female overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), women who are sex-trafficked, and the operation of the mail-order bride industry I realized why the remarks on Frasier were not even remotely funny.

Flash forward more than 10 years later and I see history repeating itself. Not surprisingly, as I lurk message boards frequented by Filipinos I see many of my kababayan (compatriots) reacting with unabated rage towards the now infamous lines from Desperate Housewives calling for boycotts, protests, and letter writing campaigns. And just like 10 years ago a sizeable amount people are attempting to downplay the impact of the offensive remarks with some of them going so far as to say, “Lighten up. Get over it. It’s just a TV show. It’s just a joke.I thought it was funny.”

Some of the people who were in opposition to taking action against ABC, however, were not white, but fellow Filipinos. Thankfully now that I’m older and wiser (at least I hope so) I have a better grasp of what real impact these racist and xenophobic remarks have.

After a few years of college, a healthy amount of ethnic studies, a pair of exposure trips to the Philippines, and a good few years of personal reflection and I feel like I may have a better understanding of how these mean and nasty things said about the Philippines on network television may be somehow connected to some deeper issues.

While on a visit to the Philippines in 2005 I had the opportunity to speak to a member of Health Alliance for National Democracy (HEAD). He was a medical doctor and gave us a tour around the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila (which is in a dismal state to say the least). While pointing out historical sites and introducing us to staff members he would pause to begin ranting about how doctors and nurses in the Philippines are actually bred for export around the world, rather than educated to serve the people in their homeland.

“In the text books that Philippine medical students are using they are required to study scarlet fever. There has never been a documented case of scarlet fever in the Philippines! Coincidentally, scarlet fever is featured in the American system of medical education. I’m sure that you can assume what kind of place our medical schools are preparing our medical professionals for.” He was undoubtedly referring to the current Philippine government sponsored policy of exporting (amongst many other skilled and unskilled laborers) medical professionals, doctors and nurses, to the United States. Having seen the destitution with my own two eyes as well as the lack of opportunity for college graduates (a bachelor’s degree might get you a job at a McDonalds in the Philippines), I’m not surprised that so many professionals would want to get the hell out of their homeland. If you’re not keen to what I’m talking about, how about we have a basic situationer?

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