Friday, October 12, 2007

Proud to Be Pinay

I feel so out of touch with a lot of things because I'm either at work, school, or terribly failing at catching up on sleep. (This whole working and school at the same time is hard! Nothing but praise for anyone who's gotten through it sane).

But apparently, the Desperate Housewives season premiere has caused a stir, especially among the Filipino community.

Here's a clip of what Susan said to her gynecologist:



Well.

Did any of the writers do any research before writing this? Or step foot in a hospital? ANY hospital in the United States? Because I can assure you that you cannot walk a floor in a hospital without coming across a Filipino medical professional, be it a nurse, medical technician, or doctor.

The Philippines is on the verge of a brain drain because guess which country is recruiting millions of professionals and granting them immigrant status? Filipinos make up the second largest immigrant group in America right now. Second only to Mexicans because they can literally walk over here. And according to census information, the Filipino immigrant group is made up of highly educated people and is one of the few immigrant groups with middle- to high-income households (I would assume because medical professionals get paid well). So really, that little quip, is not just offensive because it was prejudiced, it was also offensive because it was IGNORANT, of the sacrifices and hard work that people have done. The hard work these people put into their careers is not a joke. But maybe the fact that America relies on them so much is. Do some damn research.

A petition went around, was signed by thousands, and ABC issued a weak apology.

And another issue that is not receiving as much coverage is the insulting comments made by an H&M employee to a Filipina-American nurse in Illinois. It's disgusting how narrow-minded some people still are. Get out a little more.

H&M has neither apologized nor fired the employee and is still investigating this issue. (Does this mean I have to find cheap clothing elsewhere now?...Anyway...)

What is sickening about these events is not the ignorance behind the mockery, but the lack of zeal that Filipinos seem to have in defending themselves. Yes, the Philippines is not without scandal in its educational system (or every other system in that country), but that should not detract from the tremendous contributions that generations of Filipinos have made to the healthcare industry all over the world; internationally we are nannies, but also nurses, doctors, lawyers, writers, artists, etc. We may still be a minority, but that does not give anyone reason to belittle us.

Wake up, Filipinos. No one will respect you until you first respect yourselves. Have some pride. And that goes beyond subscribing to TFC or going to some pop star's concert in Atlantic City or bragging about Adobo or going to some parade once a year waving a flag you put no significance behind anyway.

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