MOTIVATIONS:
Do you think Filipinos suffer racism?
Racism in the Philippines is ignorant at best and insulting at worst. We might not have a
history of institutional racism, but that doesn’t mean our brand of (innocent?) racism is any less
concerning or offensive, no matter how blind we might be to it. Our lack of racial diversity in the
population has made us tone-deaf to the unconscious racism of Filipinos and unable to recognize
our lack of cultural sensitivity until someone points it out. An example of this is the overseas
Filipino workers. They are mistreated because foreigners think they're more superior than the
Filipinos. In some cases, Filipinos are also being called names because of their physical features.
Do you think Filipinos are ever racist? Can they be racist against fellow Filipinos, such as
Chinese and Aetas? Do they insult or use names against people from India or Africa or
any one with dark color?
Yes, Filipino can be racist just like any other nationality. They think having dark skin
as a sign of ugliness and poorness because we assume that people who has dark skin do hard
labor like construction worker, farmers etc. The notion of the society that being poor makes them
ugly and having fair skin is beautiful and makes them look rich. Another, most of Filipinos are
arrogant, we think highly of ourselves. We look down on people if they do not know any Filipino
culture and language. Also, we are ethnocentric, we think that our ethnic group is the best. And
when it comes to foreigners, we will be nice to them but it’s out of hospitality. Once they turn
their back, we start to gossips around and have all kinds of stereotypes.
Why is racism a problem? Has racism disappeared from society?
Racism is a problem because it makes value judgements on people based on a physical
characteristic. These value judgements make no logical sense and made by people assumptions
without knowing anything other than what is visible to us. It deprives people of the ability to be
viewed on basis of their character.
Racism has not disappeared and never will disappear from our society. There are lots of
reasons for the existence of racism and for as long as human beings exist those reasons will still
exist. Humans are tribal creatures. We like to be belong to a tribe or team and this will largely
result to as species. And anyone that was not part of their team was viewed as a real threat.
*The poem you are about o read describes race riots that occured in Australia. The persons in the
poem is trying to grips the race relations found in Australia and the ironies involved.
CRONULLA BEACH
By Jose Wendell Capili
In Sydney's Cronulla Beach, more than 5,000 white Australians descended on the sands,
attacking anybody who looked Middle Eastern or Asian. Revenge followed: Men of color
rampaged through Cronulla with baseball bats, smashing storefronts and windshields.
1. Blood surges rapidly
2. along Cronulla Beach.
3. Armed with bats,
4. white bodies are mad
5. replications of tents
6. parasols and sun blinds
7. spreading all over
8. what used to be kurranulla
9. aboriginal landscapes,
10. the place of pink seashells.
11. There is no chieftain
12. on the shore, no starfish
13. where dominion shatters.
14. Not too far behind,
15. thugs and their hand
16. maids constrict exquisite
17. shades of perplexity
18. to keep generations
19. pure and sterile
20. Spaces beneath vestiges
21. of hamlets from long ago
22. have become driftwood,
23. shells, cleavers of melting
24. pots and succession
25. They are swaying eerily
26. translucent as postcards
27. bereft of scintillating light
28. in the heated-up weather.
29. So racializing, this soap.
GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. What is the importance of the poem's setting?
The importance of the poem’s setting is that it gives life to the poem that makes it more
possible for the reader to read and also it provides knowledge about how Cronulla Beach witness
the conflict between the white and colored people
2. Why is it ironic that the beach used to be an "aboriginal landscape"?
We have two reason why it is ironic that the beach used to be an “aboriginal
landscape”. First, because we think the beach is said to be native but it is not really the true
definition of it yet it exemplifies the battle field where it witnessed the event on how the colored
defeat the white people. And another thing is that it said to be ironic because the beach is a
property of all Australian people but the colored and white people who are both Australian are
fighting just to conquer that beach.
3. What does it mean that there are generations who want to keep themselves " pure and
sterile"? What does this say about immigrations issues in Australia?
It means that they will stay to be pure “white” or “Australian” as they are and they don’t
want to have a union or combination of a foreign blood in their family and because of this, we
think racism is a major problem to those foreign people who wants to migrate in Australia.
4. Why did the white men rampage against colored people? How do you feel about this?
White men riot against colored people because they are racist. They hate those people
who are not like them and because of this, we feel frightened and mad towards the white men.
Having this kind of act is not tolerable because they are simply not respecting people’s race.
5. Why did the colored people take their revenge? How do you feel about this?
Colored people take their revenge because we think they are offended and also there’s
no endurance left in them. We feel sad and angry at the same time because they just made
themselves look like the white people. We don’t have to fight physically or take revenge if we
have conflict. Talking to them and using the law can help to solve the problems between two
parties.
6. In this discussion about immigration and race, where does the Filipino come in? Why is
this an important concern for Filipinos?
Filipinos became a subject to the topic “immigration and race” because as a
Filipino, we always want to have a good place to live in and sometimes we desire to live in
other country to explore, travel and to have a peaceful living and another important thing in
the Philippines, where Labor Migration is dominant for the people who are looking for jobs,
Filipinos want to have bigger income so they tend leave their family to work in abroad or
rather to stay there for good and because of that, it is an important concern for Filipinos
about this kind of matter.
7.The pink seashells in the story gradually turned into sand. What could this be a symbol of?
Explain.
Peace is a period where there are no conflicts, arguments or wars. Peace will give
you a very beautiful feeling towards humanity. Just like the pink seashell that represent peace, so
beautiful and amazing to look and to feel. Crashing it by turning into sand is like turning peace
into dust. Arguments will arise, riots will start and violent actions will commence. And because
of that, this will symbolize as the beginning of war.
8.There is a juxtaposition of the image of the riots with a postcard. Why was this done?
I think this is done to remember the conflict happened in the Cronulla beach
which both white and colored people are injured and hurt. This can be way to recall the past and
to have a lesson regarding the riots.
9.Did this poem change the way you look at living or working abroad? Did it change the way
you view Australia? Why or why not?
Australia is one of the most beautiful places to have a vacation, to work or even to
live. But because of the poem, it changes my views about Australia. And as far as I know, many
people especially in different countries prevails racism or inequality and I don’t want to raise my
children in that kind of country, because we are against and we don’t tolerate that kind of attitude
towards humanity. We, as Filipinos, have a culture to love and respect people with different
races or beliefs in life.
10.The last line says "So racializing, this soap." What does it mean?
This means that racism must be forbidden. Racism is the act or the thinking where
someone thinks that his race is superior or other races are inferior to his.
