Racial Slurs

Yesterday I was discussing in my class the role of women in nation building. As an example, I gave the case of our president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
One of my students said, "Teacher, she is good! She was able to catch Abu Sayyaf."
I was shocked. I asked him why he knows Abu Sayyaf. He said it is because he learned that there are so many Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines. I corrected him by saying that there are millions of Filipinos and there are less than (I believe) a hundred of abu sayyaf. I told my class that it is not true that the philippines is infested of abu sayyaf. I told them that it is just what media portrays but it is not what's happening in the whole Philippines. In fact, I haven't seen one abu sayyaf in my whole life. I told them that we should be critical of the news that comes out in the media.
I said that media portrays some asian countries in bad light. For example, it was said in the media that Phnom Penh is not a safe place. Well, it dawned upon me that Phnom Penh is much safer than Bangkok nor Kuala Lumpur. I've experienced corruption in Malaysia, Thailand and other countries but not in Phnom Penh.
I added that I believe that Phnom Penh is even safer than New York.
One of my students commented, "Yes, teacher. Because of the blacks in New York."
I told them that the color of the skin has nothing to do with violence. I gave as an example the shooting that happened in a U.S. school two months ago. I asked her if it was an african-american who was involved in shooting. she said no. Then, i told them that the skin color doesn't have anything to do with violence.
Then, one of my students asked, "Teacher, why do they call housemaids Filipina?"
Whew! Even in Cambodia?
I told them about the incident where the word Filipina was included in Webster's dictionary. And the Philippine government protested and asked Webster's to remove that entry because it has a some sort of racial slur. Webster's obliged.
In defense, I narrated that there are a lot of professionals who are working abroad as technocrat and not just domestic helpers. I know people who work as nurses, I.T. professionals, and I am even working in Cambodia as a teacher.
Yes, there are many Filipinas that work as domestic helpers. But it is not appropriate to call all Filipinas domestic helpers because so many are working with white collar jobs.
As a parting word for them I told them that they should see themselves as equal with others. I asked them not to be moved by the way others look at them. They are what they are because of what they are and not because of how others look at them