Someone finally commented on the last part of my manifesto! Here is what she said: My heart breaks as I read through this, because I am thinking that you are a child of guest workers who used to be here but are now living in California. I am happy for you and your family if that is the case. But, now you are A US Citizen and may have been born here so while you have bleeding heart for your own race, remember that your allegiance is now to the CNMI, if you truly consider yourself a citizen of it. There are a lot more at stake here than your mere desire to afford all who wish to be US citizens to become one. Take into consideration your families and friends who are still in your parents countries and imagine how they would feel should things turn and the outsiders become the controlling number in their own countries. Take a good hard look and do not wear pink shades to color the things you do not wish to see truthfully. It is not bigotry or racist. It is simply human nature to protect what is your own. You have become one of our own, with certain limitations due to the Covenant, but it is time for you to protect your resources for your own children and grandchildren. Take more time to study and analyse this issue. In the meantime, I applaud your desire to seek a peaceful resolution, and I encourage you never to let go of your optimism. Who knows? You may be the leader that this world needs. And here is what I said in response: Thank you for being one of the few people who actually read the entire thing, and for your honest and calm response to my manifesto, Juanita. Most others who dont agree with me have usually resorted to leaving angry comments directed at me instead of addressing my points. Please allow me to address your concerns. I was born and raised on Saipan and lived there for the first 18 years of my life. My heart and soul are with the people of the CNMI, always and forever. You are absolutely right, my allegiance IS to the CNMI, and it always has been. However, you are incorrect in saying that I have a bleeding heart for my own race. Race has nothing to do with any of this, contrary to what some people would like to have us believe. I dont only support the Filipino guest workers, though it may seem that way because they are the biggest number of foreign workers in the CNMI. When I fight for these people to gain the same rights that we all currently enjoy, I am not only fighting for the Filipino workers. I am also fighting for all of the Korean workers, the Chinese workers, the Bangladeshi workers, the Indian workers, the Thai workers, etc. We have a very diverse guest worker pool in the CNMI, and Im fighting for all of them, not just my own race. As for your point about the people in my parents country of origin, I dont believe that is an appropriate analogy to the current situation in the CNMI. The situation in our Commonwealth is different from any other situation where outsiders become the controlling number in another country, because, in our particular situation, it was our own government that opened the floodgates for all of these people to come to our islands; it was our own government that invited all of these guest workers to come and work in the CNMI. Furthermore, they set up a system in which all of the workers they allowed to work in our islands could be exploited indefinitely. Because of this simple fact, I dont believe we can just say well what if the tables were turned and outsiders started coming to __________ (insert name of Asian country here) and began to outnumber the native population and then started demanding more rights, etc. because it just isnt the same kind of situation. Now, if those countries did what our Commonwealth did and began inviting foreigners to come and work for them in an exploitative guest worker program that seemingly had no end in sight, and then thousands of outsiders ended up staying and working in that country for many years, decades, even, without any voting rights or a chance at permanent residency and citizenship, then yes, I would absolutely support those outsiders as well. Now, I will admit that at one point, I was one of those people who were quick to cry racist! at the simple mention by someone from the CNMI that these foreign workers dont deserve improved status and must go back to where they came from. I was young and naive back then, and I was looking at our situation from only one perspective, refusing to hear the legitimate concerns of our people. I was blind to the reality of the situation back then, and I unwittingly played right into Their game because all I was doing by calling those people racists was throwing fuel on the fire of this manufactured divide between our people. Youre right, its not racist or bigoted to want to protect what is your own. However, two things: 1. I dont understand how, after 31 years of being with us and working alongside us to develop the Commonwealths infrastructure and economy, becoming our friends along the way, we still cant see these people as our own, as true members of our CNMI family who deserve the same rights that we all have enjoyed from the moment of our birth (for those of us who were born in the islands after we became a Commonwealth in political union with the United States). 2. If anyone is wondering why people are calling them racist, when in their own minds, all they are doing is standing up for themselves and trying to defend their culture and way of life, I encourage you to look into examples of racism and racist conflicts throughout history, and pay close attention to the kinds of things that the racists were saying. Then think about the kinds of things that the anti-foreign worker group have been saying. I am sure you will find a striking resemblance between the two. So in your eyes, you might not be intentionally racist, but in the eyes of history, you will certainly be seen as such if you continue using the same rhetoric that racists of times past have used. Back when I still played into their game, I was quick to accuse any anti-foreign worker person of being racist precisely because of that. However, I can now understand that its quite possible that the majority of anti-foreign worker people truly are not inherently racist, and certainly dont consider themselves to be racist despite using historical racist rhetoric in their opposition of our brothers and sisters. I have since then had time to realize the error of my ways and have now seen through the long game, and this is why I wrote this Unity Manifesto. Because I had hopes that our people would actually read it and would understand where I am coming from now, and that they would have a change of heart and see the situation for what it really is. Its just not right, what weve done to these people. I say we, because although it was our own government that enabled and prolonged the exploitation of our brothers and sisters, when it comes down to it, it was us who allowed it all to happen over the years. One of my more regrettable memories from my younger days when the garment factory was still in full swing in the CNMI was when my friends and I would make fun of the Chinese workers for stupid things like not being able to cross the road properly, etc. I had no idea at the time what we were doing to these people, but perhaps if I had known back then what I know now, I would not have been making fun of them and I would have been more compassionate and understanding of their situation. The garment factory era will forever be a dark scar in our Commonwealths history and will forever bear a sense of shame and unbelievability akin to how slavery in the history of the USA is now seen by most Americans. The garment factories arent around anymore, but what they left behind is still a shameful problem that needs to be addressed properly and justly. Well, I certainly did not intend for this response to get this long, so I am sorry about that. I hope we can continue discussing this in a calm and civil manner going forward.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 04:31:25 +0000
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