Friday, April 13, 2012

Jessica Sanchez saved by American Idol judges--wrong move. America is right when it voted Sanchez out

It came as a shocker---the best singer in the competition was voted off by the American public. It happened before in the case of Jennifer Hudson, who, after the competition, went on to win a Grammy and an academy award for both her singing and thespian skills.

Let me be frank and say that we should not blame America for what happened. America did not really vote along racial lines. 

I blame Filipinos for alienating Jessica Sanchez from the rest of America. I blame Filipinos for being "racists".

Before you hit me, let me explain why I think we, Filipinos, are to blame for what happened to Jessica today.

Jessica Sanchez was born and raised in America by a hard-working father, a Mexican who works in the US military and a Filipina. The two countries where Jessica's parents came from, are formerly US colonies. These two countries have strong relationships with America since the early years of US imperialism. 

When the American republic was being formed, these two races were already in America. Mexicans and Filipinos, along with Chinese, Indians, Japanese and other Asians have been in America since the very first time the Federal government was being formed. Hence, like Negros, these races have already been infused or synthesized so to speak with the American public. They are as Americans, as the "whites" or the Anglo-Saxons.

America has accepted this as "fact"--hence, the social harmony now being enjoyed there. What was then a "white supremacist" America of the past has been transformed into a tolerant America of today.

Meaning, in the eyes of America, Jessica is as American as Hollie Cavanagh. 

Now, here's the thing.

Every single time Jessica performs and every video uploaded in the internet, there is always some Filipino out there, claiming to "own" Jessica and trying to "pronounce to the world" her being Filipino and of how, she must "represent her race."

This confuses Jessica and even America. For Jessica, she is American. She was born in America and is a legitimate American citizen. She knows her mother is Filipino and her father, Mexican but deep down inside of her, she's pure American. Why would she represent Filipino, when Jessica is really not purely Pinoy, nor purely Mexican. Her blood is American.

If a particular race is claiming Jessica and trying to tell America that Jessica is not American, but Asian Filipino, why will America vote for a non-American as the top "American idol"? The contest is about looking for an AMERICAN IDOL, not an Filipino-American IDOL or a Latino Americano as AMERICAN IDOL".

I asked Filipinos in my earlier posts to refrain from claiming Jessica as our own. Jessica is not just for Filipinos, but for everybody. Fact is, Jessica is soooo good, she belongs to the world! Jessica Sanchez, ladies and gentlemen, is the property of the world, not by Filipinos.

Whenever Filipinos rant about "Pinoy power" and Pinoy this and that, we are exposing our racism. Remember that Jessica is running in a competition in America, and not Miss Universe. She's running to become the idol of the Americans in terms of singing and not Miss World. 

In a very surprising move, the American Idol judges saved Jessica Sanchez from total elimination. The judges thought that America decided wrong when a majority voted Sanchez out of the competition.

What judges did was admirable but, actually, was totally wrong. It was unfair to the other contestants. It exposed their prejudgments very early in the game.

Really now, when that Korean-American crooner was ousted, I had a feeling that the same thing will happen with Jessica. For one, minority groups in America have a weaker voice than the rest. In America right now, the minority are really Asians, and not Negros. Since the early 1980's, Negros have been integrated successfully into the American society. They are considered mainstream already, not minority.

What consist of the minority groups are Asians, such as Filipinos, Chinese, Koreans and Latinos. They are the new minority groups.

Now, many people think that America is still "white America". The pattern of voting, many people say, depends on color lines. 

In Sanchez's case, America did not vote along racial lines. America just did what it is supposed to do--vote for their idol. Of course, Americans will never vote for someone who claims to be of a totally different race as their "idol"--it is unfair and beneath them to do just that.

Again, let me emphasize this, and this is a lesson for Team Jessica.

Jessica Sanchez is AMERICAN, not Mexipilipino or FilMexican. She must act the way she was born and raised.




3 comments:

  1. It is sad that some people think that your opinions in this blog are facts. It is very sad for you to form such negative opinion on national pride and identity of Filipinos. In a multi-racial, multicultural country like America,we are encouraged by the social norm to promote this uniqueness and diversity. When we became Americans, we certainly did not lose our national identity as Filipinos. You probably know that many of the Filipino-american organizations in America promote our uniqueness and pride as Filipinos by carrying a nationality identifiable word in the name of their groups (thefilipino.com, n.d.). When the Filipino-americans community could identify with Jessica, America applauds that-- you would hear from everyone,"that filipina girl can sing." Whatever was the reason why she almost got eliminated, it is not because the Filipino-american community could identify with her. In the past, best singer-contestants, white or black or brown, got eliminated prematurely because of their weak fanbase. Why would you make such conclusion in your blog that is purely baseless and deduced by guesswork? Where is your sense of national pride?

    nile

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  2. tama ka diyan Tita!

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  3. People create "stupid" and baseless blogs such as using the antiquated word "Negros" (Negroes would have been a more grammatically correct word) etc to get noticed.Well you got your 5 second of fame. Not worth my time, sorry. You need to live in America, to know how it is to live like a minority here in the States.

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