WE have often talked about how it is to be “Pinoy” in America, as other races/ethnicities would also have their own conversations about their unique experiences as they live new lives and get assimilated in our adoptive country. This comes out naturally to us because this is OUR experience, our perspective, living in America.
But part of our new reality in this country that has become so diverse is how we relate to the “white” people of America, who are as important as we, immigrants, are in defining the new evolving America.
This is the subject of my interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning Filipino journalist Jose Antonio Vargas. Vargas is an undocumented immigrant, and was brought here in the United States when he was a little boy by his grandfather. He has then lived here without the required immigration papers and like many of our kababayans, had been living in fear until he came out in the open via an Op-Ed he wrote for the New York Times. This jumpstarted his advocacy to fight for the plight of the undocumented immigrants as he started the national conversation of defining what, who “Americans” really are.
Jose founded the website DefineAmerican and produced the provocative documentary “Documented”, which has sparked a nationwide conversation about America’s broken immigration system and humanized the plight of the undocumented.
He said he wants people to once again feel “uncomfortable” in the new MTV documentary “White People”, which explores the issues of white privilege and racial identity.
Jose was quick to clarify that “whiteness” or issues about “white people” is not just an issue that is talked about as we “define American”.
“Whiteness isn’t just an American conversation. That’s a global conversation. That’s a Filipino conversation,” he said.
The DefineAmerican blog shares this information about this new documentary that followed five young Americans across the country to get to know their perspective about racial identity and white privilege in America:
“WHITE PEOPLE”
“I’m trying to be careful.”
“I don’t want to offend people.”
“I don’t want to say the wrong thing.”
How do you get young white people to talk openly and honestly about race? As part of its ongoing “Look Different” campaign, MTV is encouraging the conversation with “White People,” a new documentary from MTV and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Jose Antonio Vargas, airing Wednesday, July 22 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.
“Whiteness often remains unexamined in conversations about race in this country, even as it acts as the implicit norm against which other racial identities are judged,” said Stephen Friedman, President of MTV. “By shining a spotlight on whiteness, we hope ‘White People’ will serve as a powerful conversation starter that encourages our audience to address racial bias through honest, judgment-free dialogue.”
THE FIVE WHITE YOUNG AMERICANS WE WILL GET TO KNOW:
About the Cast:
Dakota, 22
Dakota grew up in a small town in Virginia and was rarely exposed to people of color. It was in this conservative town that he was taught by his community to be apprehensive of black people. Despite what he learned, Dakota chose to attend a Historically Black College where he experienced being the “minority” for the first time. The film documents Dakota introducing his black friends from college to his white friends from childhood; a scene that highlights the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding.
John, 22
John is born and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn—a historically Italian area his family has lived in for decades. Bensonhurst has since gone through a dramatic demographic shift making white people the minority. Vargas and John uncover how the change is affecting both the Italian and Asian residents in the neighborhood and explore whether or not John and his family can adapt to the “new normal.”
Katy, 18
For financial reasons, Katy was forced to sacrifice her dream of going to Grand Canyon University. When Jose meets Katy, she is convinced that being white prevented her from receiving scholarships—a belief echoed by other young white people across the country – and one Vargas sets out to investigate.
Lucas, 21
Growing up in Washington State, Lucas was rarely exposed to people of color but when he went college, his perspective on race broadened. He became passionate about the topic of race and began teaching white privilege workshops, an aspect of his life he had not shared with his family. The film documents his work as well as an emotional and thought-provoking conversation between Lucas and his conservative parents, prompting them to attend one of his workshops for the first time.
Samantha, 23
The day after California native, Samantha, graduated from college, she got on a plane to South Dakota and began teaching on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Samantha and Jose explore what it means to be white in an environment where she’s seen as “the other,” and where there’s a long history of tension between Native Americans and whites.
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
