I was just in the Philippines recently, where I saw skin-whitening products and clinics
everywhere! It is also where I saw the pervasive vestiges of western colonial influences,
from the widespread use of English and the regard of it as the language of the educated
or upper class, to the abundance of western restaurants and shops that make Manila
seem more Americanized than many places in America itself. All of these, of course, are
remnants of the Philippines’ long history of colonization under Spain and the United
States. So colonialism, and its most insidious legacy, colonial mentality, has been on
my mind.
And it seems like it has been on other Filipinos’ minds lately too. For instance, the viral
AJ+ video featuring Kristian Kabuay shows that his quest to revive Baybayin is
his attempt to restore and repair the immense cultural damages that colonialism brought
onto Filipinos. Also, Asia Jackson’s viral AJ+ video on colorism and anti-dark skin
attitudes among Filipinos touch on colonial mentality as well. And even further, I
definitely made sure I brought up colonial mentality with major media executives and
politicians while I was in the Philippines, so it was at least temporarily in their minds.
And over the past 15 years, there has been some efforts to quantify and “scientifically”
capture colonial mentality among Filipinos. First, there’s the Colonial Mentality Scale
(CMS), which is a typical questionnaire that directly asks people if they hold some signs
of colonial mentality. The CMS asks people to indicate their level of agreement or
disagreement with statements such as, “There are situations where I feel inferior
because of my ethnic background,” “There are situations where I feel ashamed of my
ethnic background,” "I would like to have a skin tone that is lighter than the skin tone I
have," “I make fun of, tease, or bad mouth Filipinos who speak English with strong
accents," and “Filipinos should be thankful to Spain and the United States for
transforming the Filipino ways of life into a White/European American way of life."
However, because people may easily lie, deny, or not know too much about their own
attitudes and behaviors to accurately report it, I also developed the Colonial Mentality
Implicit Association Test (CMIAT), which attempts to capture whether Filipinos have
strongly and automatically associated Filipino culture with inferiority.
Although far from being complete and perfect, tools such as the CMS and CMIAT have
allowed us to attach some “numbers” to the very real stories that people have been
sharing for generations.
And so, what does the data tell us about colonial mentality among Filipinos?
Based on the CMS, there seem to be at least five indicators of CM among Filipinos:
Research also suggests that current experiences of racism are also related to CM
among Filipino Americans. That is, the more Filipino Americans experience the
denigration of their culture and ethnicity, the more likely they are to develop CM.
And research shows that 99 percent of Filipino Americans report experiencing racism in
the past year. Thus, it is very likely that many Filipino Americans may hold CM.
ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISEMENT
But so what if Filipinos have CM, and so what if they’ve had CM for generations? Is
having CM such a bad thing?
According to the World Health Organization, the use of skin-whitening has been
associated with mental and physical health damages. Overall, using tools such as the
CMS and the CMIAT, CM has been shown to relate to poorer mental health.
Specifically, it has been shown to be related to lower levels of self-esteem,
more depression symptoms, more anxiety symptoms, and lower levels of life satisfaction.
These correlates of CM are concerning as research also shows that they typically co-
occur with other troubling conditions like alcohol and drug use, and poor school or job
performance. So yes, having CM is a bad thing.
Although we have continued to improve our understanding of CM, there are still plenty
more research questions that we need to explore concerning CM and its implications. I
truly hope that the tools we have now will make it easier for us to engage in these
explorations, and that more Filipinos will take up the task of tackling these questions.
(URLhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/unseen-and-
unheard/201711/filipinos-colonial-mentality-and-mental-health
Website TitlePsychology Today
Article TitleFilipinos, Colonial Mentality, and Mental Health
Date AccessedSeptember 21, 2018)
MISSION: To foster FILIPINO NATIONALISM. "Shake the
foundations." Seek knowledge/understand/think critically
about roots of socioeconomic-political predicaments in our
homeland; educate ourselves, expose lies/hidden truths and
fight IGNORANCE of our true history. Learn from: our
nationalist heroes/intellectuals/Asian neighbors/other
nations;therefrom to plan/decide/act for the "common good" of
the native [Malay/indio] Filipino majority. THIS BLOG IS NOT
FOR PROFIT.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
“The HISTORY of an oppressed people is hidden in the lies and the agreed myth of its
conquerors.” - Meridel Le Sueur, American writer, 1900-1996
What luck for rulers that men do not think" - Adolf Hitler
WHAT WE FILIPINOS SHOULD KNOW: (Note: Bold and/or underlined words are
HTML links. Click on them to see the linked posting/article. Forwarding the postings to
relatives and friends,especially in the homeland, is greatly appreciated).
Then and now, an American -who has replaced more subtly, efficiently and effectively
the Spaniard- seems to reside in the mind of each Filipino in each generation since the
US conquest and occupation of the Philippines. Consequently, the Filipino has been
conditioned to -knowingly or unknowingly- think and analyze economic and political
issues in our homeland from the American point of view.
To change this way of thinking, the American in his mind need to be removed to
arouse Filipinismin his heart and mind in matters of national interests; for Filipinism to
take over when dealing with the American government/transnational corporations (for
that matter: any other foreign country, people or entity.)
The primary task for Filipinos is to raise their nationalistic consciousness, either
through self or formal/informal education, beginning with a recognition and appreciation
of their colonial mentality and exerting a conscious effort to discard it. It is only
with Filipino nationalism, a nationalistic consciousness in his mind and heart will the
Filipino be able to fight, deal and work with utmost determination for his own betterment
and those of his children and grandchildren.
Below is an excellent article, quite dated but still extremely relevant, written in 1984
by Leticia Constantino (wife of the great Filipino nationalist of recent history - the
late Prof. Renato Constantino). In the Foreword to her book from which I extracted the
article, Mrs. Constantino wrote that while her husband's tasks were to analyze
Philippine Education Today and other impediments to realizing Filipino Nationalism, her
task was to answer the question "What Is To Be Done?"
NOTE: All her thoughts before journalist James Fallows visited and wrote his popular
piece about our "damaged culture," i.e. absence of Filipino nationalism, in 1987.
Fallows must have read this essay by Mrs. Constantino. Again, we Filipinos due to our
colonial mentality would tend to appreciate and pay attention to what foreigners, i.e.
mostly Americans like Fallows, say. In contrast, we Filipinos would tend to ignore,
belittle and argue vehemently against what our own nationalist intellectuals already
knew and understood, said or wrote about (in certain issues ourAmericanized minds,
consciously or unconsciously, make us more American than Americans -repeatedly
demonstrating to the world our mendicant/servile attitude).
(Source: Issues Without Tears - A Layman's Manual of Current Issues, Volume 1, 1984)
Neocolonialism - The dominance of strong nations over weak nations, not by direct
political control (as in traditional colonialism), but by economic and cultural influence.
=================================
We often hear Filipinos complain that as a nation we are afflicted with a colonial
mentality. By this they usually mean that we are excessively subservient to foreigners
and unduly impressed by foreign goods. But an even more harmful aspect of colonial
mentality and one that is less recognized is our failure to pinpoint our real
national interests apart and distinct from those of our foreign colonizers. Despite
35 years of independence, this trait has not been eradicated.
Colonial mentality has deep roots in our history: first, in the level of social and
economic development we attained before colonization; second, in the nature of
Spanish colonization; third, in the impact of American rule; fourth, in the way we
obtained our independence and fifth, in the neo-colonial policies of the United States up
to the present time.
Unlike the Cambodians with their Angkor Vat and the Indonesians with their
Borobudur, we had no monuments which could remind our people of an
ancient glory. When nations with advanced social structures and a firmly
established culture are colonized, their past achievements constitute the
source of their separate identity which enables the conquered to confront their
colonizers with dignity and sometimes even a feeling of superiority. They do
not easily lose their sense of racial worth.
Unfortunately for us, we were colonized before our own society could develop
sufficiently. Having but few cultural defenses against our conquerors, we soon
accepted their superiority and began to acquire what we now call a colonial
mentality.
3. Ironically enough, by satisfying the Filipinos' desire for education and self-
government, the American colonizers developed a new, and is some
ways, a more pernicious form of colonial mentality. For while the Spanish
arrogance and bread anger and rebellion, American education transformed the
United States in the eyes of the Filipinos from an aggressor who had robbed
them of their independence to a generous benefactor.
5. But all the foregoing is part of the past. The Philippine republic is now 35
years old. Why have we not outgrown our colonial mentality? Of course,
we now have an appreciation of our national identity, a feeling of cultural
nationalism. We have discovered ethnic culture and take pride in local art and
music. In fact, US global policies can tolerate and even encourage such
expressions of a separate identity especially when they can be used to mask
continuing economic domination.
(URLhttp://www.thefilipinomind.com/2008/01/our-colonial-mentality-damaged-
culture.html
Website TitleTHE FILIPINO MIND
Article TitleOur Colonial Mentality,Damaged Culture and Their Roots
Date PublishedJanuary 01, 1970
Date AccessedSeptember 21, 2018)