August 1 - 20, 2017
OPINION
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
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Racism and other spades
Breaking
Point
can you imag-
ine the damage
that social media
and some groups have done
to our future generations by
redefining vocabulary? I also
tell my students a story of how
I learned the different races
as a child through a Christian
song taught to us in Catechism
that goes, “Jesus loves the little
children, all the children of the
world. Red and yellow, black
and white, are most precious
in his sight. Jesus loves the
little children of the world!” As
a seven year old, I thought,
“Well, I’m sure Jesus loves me,
too, even though I am brown!”
and as a child, you really don’t
see “colour”. Now, however,
because of our constant bad-
gering of children regarding
race, beliefs, gender, morality,
etc. we have taken away their
innocence, and their ability to
decide and ascertain, based on
truth, what really matters most,
and what values their families
are trying to uphold. People
fear that if you say something
against the popular notion, you
are anti-this and anti-that, and
this is what our children are
now learning - they are learn-
ing not to speak up and stand
up for what they believe in for
fear of ostracism.
US President Donald
Trump is under fire (once
again!) for not speaking against
white supremacists right after
By Rosette Correa
In 1775, German physi-
cist and anthropologist Johann
Friedrich Blumenbach com-
posed a treatise called, “The
Natural Varieties of Mankind”,
and proposed five major divi-
sions: the Caucasian or white
race, the Mongolian or yellow
race, including all East Asians
and some Central Asians; the
Malayan or brown race, includ-
ing South/Southeast Asian and
Pacific Islanders; the Ethio-
pian or black race, including
sub-Saharan Africans; and the
American or red race, including
American Indians. Blumenbach
based this on the shape of the
skulls of the people from these
races, however, he did not give
it a hierarchy or ranking. If Blu-
menbach had done this study
today, he would have been dis-
missed as “racist”, despite his
work, as most scientists and
other professionals in the fields
are debunked by social media
and called names for revealing
truth based on careful study.
In this day and age, a
lot of people don’t really know
what the word “racism” actual-
ly means. My Grade 7 students
call everything you say against
what social media has estab-
lished as “the truth” a “racist”
remark, even if it had nothing
to do with one’s origins. I have
to give them Blumenbach’s
explanation, and redirect, but
Bulong
Pulungan
By Deedee Siytangco
Angel Thoughts
“Never reply when
you are angy. Never make a
promise when you are happy.
Never make a decision when
you are sad.” Spirit of the
Unbounded
**************
Meet Nelia Cruz Sarcol,
a vivacious person who started
out as a flight attendant.
She “took off her wings” to
go back to the academe,
graduated magna cum laude
and received awards from
two prestigious international
honor societies of the USA.
Afterwards, she founded
an international school, the
how old I am. I tell them I am
overweight and that I’d rather
be a size 8 than a size 10. I
tell them that these things are
arbitrary, and I am not sensitive
about these things because
these are facts. This is how I
tell people that I am secure
about who I am, regardless
of how people see me, and I
don’t impose these things on
other people, nor will I go to
Parliament and change laws
based on what I perceive things
should be. I will not let long es-
tablished laws and codes be
changed because of my per-
sonal and selfish definitions.
Imposing my beliefs on oth-
ers is outrightly disrespecting
their rights as individuals, and
their right to live and raise their
families as they fit. It is outright
bullying, and therefore, unjust
and a form of discrimination.
We need to go back to ac-
cepting the truth, even though
Jack Nicholson says,”You can’t
handle the truth!” When one
learns to accept that one is dif-
ferent, and that their difference
is what makes them unique,
this is when forbearance hap-
pens. When one is able to en-
dure and forebear, when they
don’t need to insist that an
entire system based on estab-
lished science, nature and mo-
rality be changed so that they
can be “accepted”, that’s the
time that true tolerance hap-
pens. Race is an established
truth, so let racism retain its
definition as it is, without be-
ing confused with other ide-
ologies that people and groups
say is the absolute truth. Let’s
go back to calling a spade a
Learn life lessons from the pearl
CIE British
School which
is recognized
by the University of Cambridge
International Examinations,
UK. Nelia calls this, “The
School for Leaders.”
The CIE British School
awards British IGCSE and
GCE A Level qualifications
to its High School and pre-
University
students.
To
date, there are now three
campuses: Makati, Cebu, and
Tacloban. College bachelor
degrees have been added
as well as a Master’s degree
in Management. The current
CIE Non-Academic programs
that complement the rigors
of academics are impressive
Reprinted from Manila Bulletin
the Charlottesville attacks, talks
about racism in America being
so blatantly alive is the talk of
the town. It was pretty obvious
that neo-Nazis were present
during the protests, but it took
Trump a few days before con-
demning the act by the group.
He said that they staged their
protests as a reaction to the re-
moval of the statue of US Civil
War General Robert E. Lee,
who led the Southern insur-
rection for state’s rights and
slavery. Trump even furthered
his argument by saying whose
statue was to be brought down
next, with both George Wash-
ington and Thomas Jefferson,
two other US Presidents, being
slave owners themselves.
One thing he said was
true, though. “Where does it
stop?” referring to the endless
protestations about anything
that irks the very nature of
every human being. Whether
we like it or not, it is the truth.
When will it ever stop - the ac-
cusations that one thing is bet-
ter than the other, that one’s
rights is more important than
another’s rights, that one fac-
tion is more respectable than
the other, etc. Who gets to de-
cide on these things?
I tell everyone that I’m
brown, and I actually use the
racial definition to describe my-
self. After all, we Filipinos grew
up proudly speaking of our ka-
yumanggi race. I tell everyone
as well: art, violin, swimming,
aikido, fencing, golf, and
travel.
An imposing structure
that houses the CIE British
School main campus on
President Magsaysay Avenue
in Cebu symbolizes the
vision and dedication built
into this school by teacher
Nelia. It would be difficult
to put in a nutshell all of
Nelia’s continuing roster
of accomplishments and
achievements but a review of a
simple and unpretentious but
very patriotic book provides
an insight of what drives this
gem of a woman.
Nelia authored a book
on her leadership goals,
The Pearl Principle. This
was published in 2008 by
the CIE Global Colleges,
Inc., which revolves on the
cycle of life of the oyster
giving birth to the pearl. It
recounts how the teredo
microorganisms invade the
oyster and make it secrete
nacre to protect itself. Out
of this unique natural event,
the beautiful, precious
pearl emerges as well as its
story of inspiration. This,
Nelia likens to adversities
which constantly challenge
Filipinos to face and which
they can transform into
Prof. Nelia Sarcol
opportunities to improve
nation.
themselves as a people and a
Teacher
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
Nelia Cruz
Sarcol to this day espouses
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