
OH MY GOSH, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
I pride myself for my good sense of tact, but one of the easiest ways to insult me is if you tell me that Filipinos aren’t Asians and that they’re Pacific Islanders or whatever. I’m not even kidding, my face will go through different shades of red, you will see smoke come out of my ears, and I’m probably going to raise my voice a bit if I’m feeling particularly irked at that moment.
Let me just elaborate a little bit since while I’m on this subject anyway… The Philippines is located in Southeast ASIA. Our original ancestors are Malays and natives from Sumatra and Borneo. We participate in the ASIAN and Southeast ASIAN Games. To say that Filipinos are Pacific Islanders because our country is “a group of islands in the Pacific” is stupid. Because Indonesia is an even larger archipelago also located in the same ocean and its natives identify themselves as Asian. Pacific Islanders are natives of island nations like Hawaii and Samoa.
I know this seems silly, but it really is infuriating… Especially since some of the people who spend so much time arguing this are young Filipino Americans who think identifying themselves as Pacific Islanders makes them seem cooler or whatever. Ignoramuses.
But yes… Just FYI. Pulling this ethnic argument with someone who spent 14 years in the Philippines, studying ASIAN history, and not even knowing that the term “Pacific Islander” even existed before moving to the States is not a good idea.
/rant
Reblogging to spread the word.
(Source: yes-butno)