Racial Purity, The Philippines, Dorian Merina

In cities and nations that are becoming increasingly multicultural, and, as a matter of course, multiracial, will purity of race be one of those things that we'll look back on and think, "How could that have ever happened with so many different people on this planet?"

I hope so.

Writer Dorian Merina has put together a well-written and well-researched article on multiracial-ness and Filipinos that is definitely worth checking out. The Philippines has a long history of diversity with descendents from all parts of the globe represented. From a 1900 report commissioned by American President William McKinley:

"The race is not found pure in any of the islands. But is everywhere more or less modified through intermarriage with Chinese, Indonesians, Ne-gritos, Arabs, and, to a limited extent, Spa-niards and other Europeans."

Sounds like modern day international cities, no? President McKinley's search for purity, however, was used to further justify the idea that the Philippines could not govern itself because of it's lack of ethnic cohesiveness. Ahh history...

In any case, Mr. Merina's article is a thought provoking work that addresses the specifics of what it means to be a "Filipino" in contemporary society, and, at the same time, makes us all think about who we are in a growing global context.

Click here for the full article.

PS - The article also includes input from yours truly. :-)