GLOBAL BALITA

Dear Folks,

After World War II, Filipinos were being stereotyped as “cooks.” When I arrived in the U.S. in 1970, I went to an employment agency in San Francisco looking for work. I was surprised — and shocked — that most of the employment counselors suggested that I took a job as a restaurant “busboy.” They also told me not to mention in my employment application my bachelor’s degree in engineering and experience in computer programmer. They said that would make me “over-qualified” for the job. I told them why can’t they find me a job as a computer programmer? Their answer: “You do not have local experience and a degree from an American university.” I asked one of the counselors, “Why would you recommend me for a busboy instead of another type of work,” and her reply was: “that’s what most of your people do.”

I refused to work as a restaurant busboy so I enrolled in a “computer programming” class in a local school. I was the best in my class (my classmates didn’t know that I was a trained computer programmer back home). After finishing the six-month course, I was recommended by the school to work as a computer operator at AT&T. That’s a step down but it was a good start. I worked in the graveyard shift. Where else would they put me? After nine months, my former instructor called me and he said that he had a new job as programming manager in Sacramento. He offered me a job as programmer. I took it and moved to Sacramento. The point I am trying to make is that 38 years after my “experience” with employment agencies, Filipinos are still being stereotyped as “cooks” — no less by the President of the United States.

Since 1970, Filipino-Americans have progressed in the employment arena. We now have doctors, lawyers, nurses, caregivers, accountants, IT professionals, businessmen, etc. We’re no longer railroaded to jobs as cooks or busboys. I remember meeting a former Filipino judge in San Francisco working as a busboy and a lawyer working as a night shift security guard. Now, thousands of Filipinos are working as lawyers and some have been appointed judges including a Filipina in a State Court of Appeal. We now have Filipino doctors owning their own hospitals and clinics and caregivers owning their own care homes. We have progressed quite a bit.

I am proud to say that we were once a community known for our cooking abilities catering to the bud tastes of Americans including Presidents since the time of Franklin Roosevelt. However, to be stereotyped in any manner — cooks, laundrymen, gardeners, manicurists — is a subtle form of racism and should not be condoned. Filipinos are a people of many talents and we deserved t obe treated with respect.

What would the visiting Vietnamese Premier say if Pres. Bush told him, “Everytime I look at my polished nails, I am reminded of the Vietnamese-American.” And how about the Pres. Bush telling a visiting Chinese dignitary, “Everytime I put on my newly laundered clothes in the morning, I am reminded of the Chinese-Americans.” Or how about a visiting Mexican president, “Everytime, I looked at the manicured lawn from my Oval Office window, I am reminded of the Mexican-Americans.”

The following is a transcript of what Pres. Bush said during his meeting with Pres. Arroyo:

PRESIDENT BUSH: Madam President, it is a pleasure to welcome you back to the Oval Office.
We have just had a very constructive dialogue. First, I want to tell you how proud I am to be
the President of a nation that — in which there’s a lot of Philippine-Americans. They love
America and they love their heritage. And I reminded the President that I am reminded of the
great talent of the — of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House.
(Laughter.)

PRESIDENT ARROYO: Yes.

PRESIDENT BUSH: And the chef is a great person and a really good cook, by the way,
Madam President.

PRESIDENT ARROYO: Thank you.

By the way, “Philippine-Americans” is not the proper way to address Filipino-Americans. With four million Filipino-Americans, Pres. Bush should know how to call us — “Filipino-Americans.”

Best,
Perry