- What is your definition of “Filipino?
- What do you think it means to be a “real Filipino?” “broken?” “whitewashed?”
- Were you born in the Philippines or the United States?
- What kind of Filipino do you classify yourself as?
- Do you think basic/extensive knowledge of the culture/language/history/current topics makes someone more/less Filipino?
- Ashley Canastra
- Nicole-Ashley Carumba
- Joshua Binag
- Jan Robert Retome
- Alvin Santiago
Although I feel that I could have asked more questions, I decided that these were the core inquiries that could quench my thirst for knowledge on other people’s perspectives. For the first question, I think that there was consistency in the respect that not one person could give me a straightforward answer in telling me what it means for them to be “Filipino.” However, I did notice that some of them saw “Filipino” as someone who acknowledges their culture to varying extent. Another portion of my test subjects believe that being Filipino is about their bloodline. Nicole Carumba states that Filipinos should not forget where they come from, because it makes them lose a sense of their identity, from my interpretation of her response.
For the second question, there was definitely consistency in everyone’s definition of being “broken, whitewashed, and real.” To be a real Filipino is more than just acknowledging your culture, rather it is more about understanding the meaning behind each piece of the culture and being able to appreciate it. It is also based on your exposure to the cultural practices, and not everyone has the same exposure; as long as the effort is put into learning and understanding the culture, then there is no real problem with the identity. When I asked my friends to define a “broken” Filipino, I received interesting responses. Joshua Binag says that some people are broken Filipinos because they acknowledge their culture and heritage to a limited extent, spending most of their time rejecting it, as a means of accepting the American culture to assimilate with American society, so that they are not ostracized for practicing something different from what most people will do. Another student, Jan, states that broken Filipinos simply do not want to participate in their culture because they don’t understand the significance behind certain mannerisms. Ashley Canastra tells me that to be
broken means to participate in the culture only because you are told to do so. In other words, a parent has to tell their child to perform “mano po” to their elders; a real Filipino would not have to be told, as it would be second nature for them to perform this small sign of respect. In terms of whitewashed Filipinos, all of my interviewees agreed that whitewashed Filipinos have little to no exposure to the native culture and are unaware of what their heritage entails.
My third question was the most simple: asking about their birthplace. Although the quickest question, I specifically asked this question in order to gain a lens through which I can understand their opinions on the Filipino cultural identity. The responses I received from the Philippine-born students were similar to each other and those of the American-born
students followed suit; both parties shared their respective sentiments about what it really means to be a Filipino in this day and age.
For the fourth question, I was really curious about how my friends identified themselves: broken, whitewashed, or real. Based on the previous question, I had predicted the Philippine-born students would see themselves as real, and the American-born ones would be either whitewashed or broken; ironically enough, I was not completely correct. Joshua is
an American-born Filipino and he views himself as a real Filipino because he understands the aspects of the culture that he knows well, and he doesn’t use them to place himself upon a pedestal of being better than his peers. Jan, in contrast, is a Philippine-born student, and what he tells me is very interesting: in the past 3 years, he saw himself as broken because he didn’t want to really practice his culture, but as of now, he is beginning to see himself edging towards being a real Filipino because of his involvement in clubs like Samahan; he is re-appreciating his native culture. Alvin is the other Philippine-born student, and he sees himself as broken because the aspects of culture that were prominent in his life before moving to America have then since faded slightly, since he lives in an area where there is not a lot of exposure to Filipino culture. Ashley and Nicole see themselves as broken, as I had predicted, since they have some exposure to the culture but they are not fully-versed in it nor are they completely comprehensible in their culture.
The fifth and final question refers to what could possibly make someone more or less Filipino, based on their knowledge of the culture, current news, language, and history of the Philippines. Each and every of the students I interviewed said that there is no way of detracting from their Filipino essence just because of the limits of their knowledge. The concept of effort resurfaces: as long as you try your hardest, you are really progressing towards achieving full understanding of who you really are. This question hit me personally, because I have been openly criticized by friends and family, in a joking manner where I am not very Filipino because I’ve never been to the Philippines and I am not too fluent in either of my parents dialects; however, I am always practicing my limited Tagalog skills every day so that I can communicate with my family on another level.
The behavior exhibited by my interviewees was intriguing; the use of hand gestures was anticipated, since Filipinos typically use their hands and other forms of body language to express what they feel and think. In addition, there were pauses in each response to the questions, especially the first because there is no concrete definition of what it means to be Filipino since everyone has different experiences.
Overall, I think that these interviews were really successful and insightful. The data that I’ve gathered will not go to waste; I will be utilizing this information in my ultimate research paper due at the semester. I cannot wait to conduct further research.