From: "Mo Silidonio"
Newsgroups: soc.culture.filipino
Subject: Re: anthology of multiracial writers
NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.126.198.94

The emergence of the growing generation of multi-racial population should
make it more apparent that race should not be an item for consideration.
The hypothesis presented that it is difficult and confusing to be
multi-racial assumes that the majority of people in the U.S. are of "pure"
race.Furthermore, the question supposedly asked by multi-racial individuals, (Who am I?) seem to propose that ones identity is defined by ones race.


REtong REsponds:
I just love the internet because just when I think that I will run out of material, hey, it provides it for me just like that. The above was a response for a call for submissions for "an anthology tentatively titled Multicolor Me: The Multiracial Voices of the Melting Pot." The address is

multicolor.me@myself.com or
Multicolor Me
P.O. Box 1026
Highland Park, IL 60035

Now, let's breakdown the above response by Mo. First sentence, as I understand it, the increasing number of people who are multi-racial makes it obvious that race should not be used for consideration (in I suppose society). Hmm, that's odd, there were multi-racial people in the early US (we called them mulatto) and yet that did not satisfy those people to not use race as a consideration. That argument could be called facetious, but then so can the first statement by Mo. The increase in the number of multi-racial people does not argue for or against anything. Since the beginning of time (at the very least, when people could distinguish between "me" and "them,") some people have been multi-racial in lineage. (One would have to deal with the creation of nation-states or resort to anthropology to really discuss specific dates with respect to "race" because even this idea is recent.) But, the point is that having offsprings does not argue for anything.

I am not multi-racial. My parents were both immigrants from the Philippines. I don't belong to the multi-racial category. But because there are more multi-racial people, my racial background is now no longer important? How can that be when everyday, my contact with people is initially determined by my race? I don't act white or black or Latin-American just because JoeSchmoe is half-Jewish and half-black. I don't go to Eddie Bauer because I like to hang out in chinatown. I don't live in the South because there are more Asians in California and I feel comfortable being with a population that has brown, yellow and other colors. I tried living in the Midwest and I did not like the fact that Caucasian kept staring at me. Everyday, I make decisions on my quality of life because of my race or the color of my skin.

Just because there is a half-asian half-white person sitting next to me on the bus does not mean that I am no longer Filipino. The statement above by Mo argues that my race is negated by having someone of multi-race background. How come this does not happen when the multi-racials are in the Philipines like an Ilocano and Tagalog mix? How come my race becomes negated when there is a black and white mix or an Asian and white mix or a Latino and white mix. Get it? See the white mix?

As for the hypothesis that it is difficult to be multi-racial, bwahahahhahahha. Life is difficult. But I posit that it is more difficult to live in poverty than to be multi-racial. I posit that it is more difficult to live in a third world than be multi-racial. It is difficult to be a slave being whipped by your master because you tried to gain your freedom. It is difficult to be Japanese-American and being interned because your government did not trust you to be a good American. Meanwhile, the German-Americans in the Midwest were not interned.

Hell, I see more multi-racial models in television and in the advertising ads than I see Asian people. How do you explain that discrepancy? I see it as a way for advertisers to make sure you don't feel adequate by hiring people who don't look like you. But that is another issue. I just want to point out that there are opportunities for multi-racials.

I have tracked and been conscious of ethnic issues since 1991. Multi-racials have come and developed with respect to respectability and academic discussion more than other ethnic categories. In a space of ten years, HAPA category is almost an industry all to itself. Meanwhile, Filipino-american culture is lagging behind.

The call for submission for multi-racial me does not assume that most US people are of pure race. Where that logic was taken from does not make sense. Even whites are a mix of European lineages. It just so happens that most whites or Caucasians did not place as much value in their country of origin such that they don't deem it important.

I would suggest that Caucasian did not cling onto their country of origin as much because they can pass off as whites. On the other hand, Asians can not pass off as Caucasians so we cling on to our identity much more. Hmm, I will develop this theme later on. Of course, we have contra positions such as the Italian and Jews retaining their cultural heritage. Another topic for future discussion, heh?

REtongBBQ