Press Statement
October 12, 2007

OUR DIGNITY IS NOT FOR SALE; JUSTICE AND REDEMPTION ARE WHAT WE SEEK

 

Statement of BAYAN USA on the Issue of the Racial Slur Aired on ABC's Desperate Housewives & the Call to Boycott ABC-Disney

Reference: Chito Quijano, Chair, BAYAN USA, email: chair@bayanusa.org

 

The U.S. chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan-U.S.A. or New Patriotic Alliance-U.S.A.) takes exception to the action taken by ABC-Disney in offering jobs and career opportunities to Filipinos at its company. These opportunities should be available to Filipinos at all times, not just in time of controversy over a racial slur. We must stick to the issue of the apology that our community is asking for. Whatever concession the TV network gave to another organization does not address the racial slur committed against Filipino communities in a Sept. 30 episode of its show, "Desperate Housewives." Worse, we take it as another affront when what hundreds of thousands of Filipinos, including doctors and nurses whose professional integrity was put in a bad light by the spat, have been demanding is a "sincere, appropriate, and satisfactory apology."

 

In a dialogue with ABC-Disney's senior vice president on Oct. 5 in New York City, representatives of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) and other groups laid down a six-point demand. The principal demands included a sincere apology that will be aired publicly, instead of the short, one-paragraph "apology" that the company stealthily emailed to a Filipino reporter, as well as instituting concrete steps that would ensure the non-repetition of the Sept. 30 incident.

Although many Filipinos came to the United States because of the oppressive economic conditions in their own country - not the least brought about by the continuing neo-colonial ties between the two countries – we are here with dignity and honor, often contributing to the economy and, especially on the part of doctors and nurses, to the advancement of the medical community. Certainly, an offer of "jobs and career opportunities" as a means of remedying the racial injury done on America's second largest immigrant community was farthest from our minds. Our dignity is not for sale, justice and redemption is what we seek.

 

It is for these reasons that BAYAN-USA supports the resounding call of many Filipino expatriates and organizations – along with their compatriots in many other countries – to boycott ABC-Disney and all its products, the "Desperate Housewives" program in particular. Through boycott, we express our protest not only to the TV giant's refusal to heed the Filipino people's just and definitely doable demand for a sincere apology. It is also a fair reminder that racial and irresponsible remarks do not make a humor, or slander as artistic freedom. Racial slur deserves not just ephemeral solutions, but a just and lasting resolution.