As I walk into the US Embassy
Nicole Harris
University of Washington
As I walk into the US Embassy in Manila, there is a large
poster in the room from the Regional English Language Office that echo’s our
readings and a common core theme: English language and American culture being
for the benefit and progression of the Filipino people. Our contact person here
at the embassy is Michael S.
Klecheski, Deputy Chief of Mission. I inquire the purpose and objective
of the department’s mission and what is alarming is the similar insistence that
this is for the “goodwill of the Filipinos” and a gift granted by the United
States of America.
As
we encounter in Vicente Rafael’s White
Love (2000), “benevolent assimilation” was portrayed as the Americans
giving a precious gift given to the Filipino people by colonizing and civilizing
them so they can one day govern themselves (p. 21). In his article, The Philippine-American War: Friendship and Forgetting, Reynaldo C.
Ileto also alludes to this as he writes about colonization somehow becoming an
act of redemption, generosity and kindness from the United States (p. 18)
In
our discussion at the embassy, Mr. Klecheski makes reference of the Tagolog
language being “the other language,” which implied that is was non-standard or
secondary to the English language. He also spoke about one of the programs at the
embassy, where teachers are given further education on how to teach English most
effectively to Filipino students. He regarded this as one of the embassy’s best
programs. The language that our embassy contact is using is parallel to the
pedagogy that is taught as American culture.
Reiterating
Rafael’s White Love (2000), “insurgents” were seen as objects, as
wild animals and in fact a zoologist, Dean Worcester, was in charge of
collecting data of these people that were killed for resisting American
occupation (p. 19). This group of
Filipino’s were and are being unreasonable. This program, abbreviated RELO seemed
to be a program that was actually in place to help the relations between the US
and the Philippines. It was extremely difficult to sit and listen to our
contact say these things, particularly with a smile on his face and a
justification of having the best interest in mind especially with him having a
Filipina wife. He made mention that most of the country is poor and there are “a
lot of drug addicts” and this is a problem.
Our
contact at the embassy and the language he used to convey the mission of the
embassy continued to reflect the rhetoric of benevolent assimilation, in spite
of his repeated attempts to assuage us that the mindset of Americans and our
presence in the Philippines had evolved past that. What he was doing was in
fact an extension, a modern version of this very concept. According to Rafael
(2000), “colonization is about civilizing love and the love of civilization, it
must be absolutely distinct from the disruptive criminality of conquest.” I’m
still struggling to determine how this program is helping the Filipino people
(p. 21).
Our
weekly readings and trip to the embassy really opened a critical eye to the
purpose of this type of program and questions who is benefitting from this.
This is not a reciprocal relationship. We must question our stance and presence
here in the Philippines, question what the real purpose is and the effect that
it is having on the Filipino people. The effects of the English language are
apparent as well as an adoption and admiration for the American culture, but I
have yet to see or be told how this is benefitting the Filipino people. English
is the language being taught in schools and American capitalism is being pushed
on the country. As Tita Peachie said so well, “we are a third world country
with a first class taste.” When someone does something out of their “goodwill”
or kindness, they do it without expecting anything in return. It is apparent to
me that we as the United States of America have clearly benefitted off the
Filipino’s, not the other way around.
References
Rafael,
V. (2000). White Love and Other Events In
Filipino History. Durham, NC: Duke
University Press.
Ileto,
R. (2002). Vestiges of War: The Philippine-American War and the
Aftermath of an
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