The Barack Obama fever swept across the world, except the Philippines. Well, we’ve always been the odd-man out not just in Asia but in the world. But here’s the case where the oddness isn’t quaint but vicious. This is dysfunctionality of epic proportions.It’s astonishing to hear that many Filipinos here and in the United States actually favored McCain. The reason for that is in part political. This country is more conservative, or rightist, about America than Americans. I saw a great deal of that in the aftermath of 9/11, when compatriots vowed death to America’s enemies. The same was true with the American invasion of Iraq, many Filipinos being only too quick to wave the American flag, which they saw as indistinguishable from their own. But it’s even worse than political conservatism, or fascism. It’s racism. We are one of the most racist people in the world. I’ve seen that among Filipino communities in the United States. Some try to dissimulate the bigotry, complaining of their black neighbors as being disruptive, as being prone to violence, as having little education. The last is the most often cited: Filipino expatriates particularly in the United States taking pride in their college degrees, which they take blacks to universally not possess. Others do not bother to hide it at all. Someone put it to me rather curiously, which I haven’t forgotten to this day. He made it a point to dress nattily to go to his blue-collar work. A daily ritual that included shaving closely and slapping on cologne. When I asked him why he did this when his American friends did not, he said, “Me kulay ka na nga, hindi ka pa magpopostura.” That’s not so easy to translate, (very) roughly: “When you’re dark-skinned, you’ve got to make up for it in some way.” Weirdly enough, in the reckoning of many Filipinos abroad, particularly in the United States, they are higher in the pecking order of color by having fairer skins than blacks. Even more weirdly enough, in their reckoning, the more they internalize and project the deep-seated biases of the white community against blacks, the more they become acceptable in the eyes of that community. When in fact they merely make assholes of themselves. It’s execrable behavior and is truly unworthy of any serious person. Which makes you wonder how many serious persons reside in this country. For the affliction isn’t just local, it’s national. The sentiment in fact is unworthy of any serious nation, which makes you wonder if we are a serious nation at all. Filipinos start being racist not just when we go abroad but even while we languish here like prisoners dreaming of escape. Nothing shows that more than whitening lotion. That has got to be one of the most mind-boggling things for foreigners who come here to get a tan. Even now we suffer the fate of a people who have been “whitewashed.” By seeing only what is light, we are constantly kept in the dark. Conrado de Quiros, Inquirer | 
