EDITORIAL - Security never trips on a slur

Another storm has erupted as a result of comments made by Hollywood actress Lucy Liu, who told talk show host David Letterman that her role in a new TV series made her careful about sun exposure, lest she tans more than is necessary and look “a little Filipino.”

Filipinos instinctively morphed into a defensive mode and took Liu to task, calling her a racist, with not a few nasty asides thrown in for good measure. But does this reflexive reaction convey the message we want the world to get or does it achieve the very opposite?

Not every comment about a people carries the gene of racism in it. Racist slurs are what they are only if there is a clear and malicious intent in their saying. They must not be confused with innocent remarks made purely for emphasis.

Over-sensitivity is not nationalism, and confusion about one’s standing as a people makes for a very weak platform from which to fly national pride. On the global stage, it is oftentimes quiet but enlightened dignity that speaks thunderously.

 One only has to watch how the great countries of the world conduct themselves in face of the global interfaces that happen everyday and one wonders why it’s only the Filipino that nearly always sees a slur in every negative comment and reacts violently to it.

The regularity with which this scene is repeated gives rise to the suspicion that, more than being nationalistic and prideful, the Filipino is in fact very insecure. Had Americans, for instance, been similarly disposed, all of them would have been driven nuts by now.

But Americans, as well as the Chinese, Polish, Israelis, Indians, Mexicans, and so many other peoples who feel secure in what and who they are, do not react in the same way that we do despite being “slurred” so much more often than us.

And the reason for that is they know who they are and are secure and confident in what that knowledge holds. What people say about them, even maliciously and intentionally, do little to distract the purpose for which they feel life is all about for them.

And so, while we mope and cuss and otherwise get angry and sleepless over each and every little thing said about us, other people secure unto themselves continue living their productive lives without losing step, or sleep. What disadvantages they have, they turn to their benefit.