Filipinos Denigrated on ABC's Desperate Housewives “Can I check those diplomas? Coz I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines.”

I'll try to post the link here. But for the meantime, please trust that I have seen the episode and sign the petition here: http://www.petitiononline.com/FilABC/

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Dear Kababayan and Allies:

I heard through the grapevine about a remark made on an episode of
"Desperate Housewives" last night. The scene entailed Teri Hatcher's
character (Susan) at a hospital, being told by her gynecologist that
she might be hitting menopause. Susan replied, "Can I just check those
diplomas because I just want to make sure that they are not from some
med school in the Philippines." If you go to abc.com, you watch the
full episode and witness the scene at about 18:50 minutes into the
episode.

This type of derogatory remark is not only unnecessary and hurtful, but
is also unfounded, considering the presence of Filipinos and Filipino
Americans in the health care industry. Filipinos are the second largest
immigrant population in the United States, with many entering the U.S.
and passing their U.S. licensing boards as doctors, nurses, and medical
technicians. In fact, the Philippines produces more U.S. nurses than any
other country in the world. So, to belittle the education, experience,
or value of Filipino Americans in health care is disrespectful and plain
and simply ignorant.

As Filipino Americans, we need to band together to ensure that this type
of hateful message is not allowed to continue on our television and
radio airwaves. Given the recent amounts of media attention that has
been given to Michael Richards (against African Americans), Isaiah
Washington (against gays), and Rosie O'Donnell (against Asian/ Chinese
Americans), it is ridiculous that this type of hateful speech made it
through various screenwriters, the show's producers, the show's actors,
and ABC itself. Yet, this isn't the first time that negative remarks
have been made about the Philippines or Filipinos in the past.
In recent years, we've heard one too many "dogeater" comments by
"comedian" Joan Rivers on the red carpet or in her standup act, and I
believe that it is about time that we stand up for ourselves, so that
this type of hateful speech never happens again.

Please join me in expressing your concern, disappointment, and/or
disgust to the producers of ABC.com. You can sign the petition at
http://www.petition online.com/ FilABC/ or you can reach them directly
abc7@abc.com.

And please feel free to forward this widely to other Filipinos/ Filipino
Americans/ Asian Americans/ and other allies.


Sincerely,


Kevin Nadal,
Filipino Performance Artist/ Activist
knadal@gmail. com