We are all mixed up

When Jessica Sanchez nabbed second place in American Idol Season 11, she stood as a living testament to social diversity.

In such a world, racial discrimination ought to be a thing of the past. But for some, the land of the American Dream still is (or was) a predominantly white country, a land where only WGWGs – White Guys With Guitars – could triumph in American Idol. Not for Jessica. This Filipino-Mexican-American teenager trumped all stereotypes, having descended from two of the United States’ occasionally maligned racial minorities.  The classic image of the Mexican is that of an illegal immigrant crossing the American border in search of a better life, and the same can be said of Overseas Filipino Workers, perceived largely as maids or caregivers.

Jessica is a mix of both, or all three. That this crossbreed of ethnic minorities could ever nab a place in a show as “all”-American as American Idol lends clear support to the opinion that perhaps race has indeed become irrelevant.

As of 2010, the Hispanic or Latino population makes up as much as 16% of the total US population. Statistics reveal similar patterns across the board for other ethnicities. And despite their minority status, opportunities are constantly growing for these people, some in the form of university scholarships and reputable positions in various industries. The ethnic divides between Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans and the like are fast fading. Birthrates of Caucasians are plummeting while those of mixed race are on the upswing. Whites are getting older too, and thus dying off quicker (to be blunt about it), relative to the rest.

In short, we’ll be seeing a very different America in the coming decades.

That being said, stereotypes – both good and bad – remain. The National Basketball Association (NBA), for one, has been dominated by African-Americans (72-75%) through the years, and basketball fans from all over the world still flock to the arenas to watch their favorite players. Track and Field, meanwhile, is the domain of Kenyans and Jamaicans, and people from all walks of life hold high respect for these athletes.  Yet at the same time, some choose to ignore the best of their own race.

Like here.

In June, fashion brand Bayo launched the ad campaign “What’s Your Mix?”, featuring Filipino models of mixed race, with taglines like “50% Filipino, 50% Australian”. While Bayo has always claimed to be a pro-Filipino brand, a few lines penned by the campaign sparked a public backlash. One of these lines read, “Call it biased, but the mixing and matching of different nationalities with Filipino blood is almost a sure formula for someone beautiful and world class.” Some condemned its tendency to portray Filipino women as mixed breeds, as somehow less beautiful or worthy of attention if they did not have foreign blood. Indeed, the campaign became so popular, or infamous, that online puns of the posters quickly went viral. One of the most popular ones was a fake campaign with a photo of Jessica Sanchez alongside a British Filipino model, with the tagline, Kapag Pilipino: hinahanapan ng dugong dayuhan. Kapag Dayuhan: hinahanapan ng dugong Pilipino (roughly translated, “If Filipino: they yearn for foreign blood. If foreign: they yearn for Filipino blood.” And no, they aren’t vampires). Although Bayo apologized for any misconceptions its campaign may have caused, one cannot help but wonder if any of these “wrongly conveyed messages” are true. Is a pureblood Filipino somehow – socially, politically, aesthetically – beneath a mixed breed? Are we so dead set against our own race that to envision the rise of Pinoy Supremacists is laughable at best? What is Pinoy, anyway? Should we just give up on ourselves and give ourselves over to the Americans?

Perhaps so. Last June, renowned singer-songwriter Cynthia Alexandra migrated from the Philippines to Seattle for good, after suffering limited support for her career in the country of her birth. Previously she had been to Seattle for half a year, but felt no one had even noticed she was gone – around the same time Jessica Sanchez had embarked on a five-city Philippine tour. Like a dude on crack, the media hypes up on any Filipino that gains international attention in a desperate attempt to rekindle nationalist sentiments, while ignoring local talents right under their noses. Maybe they’re wrong.

At the end of the day, maybe all our race needs is a bit of appreciation, a bit of acceptance from its own kind.