Do You Have Colonial Mentality Syndrome?
If you were born in the States or raised from childhood like myself, chances are you never heard of Colonial Mentality. It is abstract but prevalent. The symptoms are everywhere. My college professor grilled us what we thought it meant. Clueless as I was, I vaguely answered, something American. (Colonial, ergo colonies, ergo America?) Well, I was close. In plain terms, she explained, it was the penchant for anything and everything American in place of anything and everything local or native.
M.N. Francisco (no relation) and F.M.C. Arriola in their book The History of the Burgis, described it as: “The Americanization of Pepe and Pilar (peddled as modernization) transformed consumption habits towards a preference for U.S. products, or for that matter, anything imported. It re-oriented Filipino aspirations towards the American Way of life.”
I have felt this among the Filipinos within my sphere of contact both in Chicago and Manila. Here in the US, one obvious sign was Filipino children speaking primarily English, not even learning one iota of Tagalog, or whatever Filipino dialect their family speak. Another sign more prominent in the Philippines is the near obsession with brand names. Nearly everyone I see in Manila sports Esprit and Ralph Lauren clothing and accessories. At school, I don’t think any of us, myself included, used much of anything made in the Philippines other than the textbooks and the Reynolds’ ball pens. (This could be British for all I know!) Nowadays, when you see a Filipino chances are they are wearing something of a designer brand. Only, it’s probably Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein.
The worst symptom of all of the Colonial Mentality syndrome is the attempt to put on an accent. It goes both ways. Some attempt to speak in an American twang, it comes out overly exaggerated. Some attempt to speak Filipino, usually Tagalog, with an accent of someone who is used to speaking English with an American twang, it comes out ludicrous.
The most futile symptom, on the other hand, is that of bleaching the skin white. Unless you are naturally Mestiza, or of Chinese descent, please, do yourself a favor. Don’t do it! In the Philippines they sell products that boast to whiten the brownest of skin. Think of the hazardous consequences to your health. Ironically, about the only American thing Filipinos won’t do is be tanned. The thing is most Filipinos are naturally tan in color, so you can skip the health hazard of the sun tanning. This means if you are Morena, most Caucasians will probably envy you.
The only cure for the Colonial Mentality syndrome is to take a dose of pride in who and what we are. We can take conscious steps in instilling to the future generation of Filipino Americans this pride by teaching them where their roots came from. Teach them their language. I doubt if this will lessen their chances in the American rat race. I suppose it should enhance it. I’ve often heard parents say that they do not teach their kids Tagalog for fear that their children will do poorly in school. Bear in mind that in the Philippines, where Filipino dialect is the main language, English is the medium in school. In some colleges where Tagalog is offered as an elective, urge your children to take that class. Parents can even home school their kids on Pilipino. Books on the Filipino language are available at Borders and Barnes and Nobles. The Internet offers information of Philippine History as well.
The means and method are readily available here in the States. There are no excuses, other than apathy or laziness, or that you are suffering from Colonial Mentality Syndrome. Still not sure, or worse yet, in denial? Ask yourself this, when among Filipinos do I speak in Tagalog? If you have children, do your kids even at least understand the language? If the answer is no, uh-oh. You test positive.
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