Critical Reflection 1

Classification of Class and Race, a Historical Assessment of American and Spanish Occupation in the Philippines 

From visiting the Ayala Musem, to our trip to Batad, to our discussion during the first student lead class and presentation, the knowledge gained from just this past week has been extremely enlightening and rich being that it shifted my focus from initially understanding the impact on the Philippines, to critically understanding the impact on a global scale. In terms of understanding American and Spanish occupation in the Philippines, it’s hard to not think about how similar the narratives are for other Latin American countries. The discussion that followed the student lead presentation acknowledged how it isn’t just about race, but also about class when we think about identity construction, nationalism, and social movements. We consider what it means to identify as Filipino while American and Spanish influences play a huge role in the media, consumerism, social networking, education, politics, and urban development.

What was particularly interesting to me was the discussion around the census, and what considerations went into classifying people at the beginning of the 20th century. Aside from color, we read how religion played a role when classifying who was “civilized” vs. who was “wild.” Professor Vicente L. Rafael notes that “those labeled civilized were seen to adhere to a common Christian culture, while those marked wild were either Muslims or subscribed to animism, both clearly outside the Christian order” (Rafael, V., 2000). The same holds true for the history of other Latin American countries, especially where Spain played a major role throughout their history. Christianity and Catholicism was a tool to “tame and control” the wild in the Philippines, just as it was in many other parts of the world. But just as religion played a role in the classification process, so did labor.

As we toured Bagiuo and even the rice terraces of Batad, I thought about the labor that went into the surrounding lands, not just of the native Filipinos, but also of the migrants who co-existed. Erlyn Ruth E. Alcantara notes how “ after the completion of the Kennon Road, a good number of its workers chose to remain and sought jobs in the newly opened township. Many of its Chinese and Japanese workers, some of whom were farmers, stayed on and ventured into vegetable gardening or provided much of the skilled labor during the period” (Alcantara, R., 2002). The author further discusses how investment in public buildings and recreational areas allowed for the migrant population to expand even more. As discussed in class, to this very day, these communities stand at a lower level than many other communities in the Philippines. I think about my travels to Mexico, for example, and can’t help wonder how this may hold true as well for them there. A key underlying theme throughout the readings is that the history of labor and the communities that made up the labor workforce played a huge role in the class system and structure that exists this very day. While class and race systems exists in the U.S., it’s fascination to learn how the systems, and their histories, differ for the Philippines.

References 

Rafael, V. (2000). White love: Census and melodrama in the U.S. colonization of the Philippines. In White love and other events in Filipino history. (pp.23-37). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Alcantra, E.R. (2002) Bagiuo between two wars: The creation and destruction of a summer capital. In Shaw, A.V. & Francia, L.H. Vestiges of war. (pp. 215-217). New York: New York