Everyone's a little bit racist...
(Enter Kate Monster & Princeton.)
Both:
Everyone's a little bit racist
Sometimes.
Doesn't mean we go
Around committing hate crimes.
Look around and you will find
No one's really color blind.
Maybe it's a fact
We all should face
Everyone makes judgments
Based on race.
Ever since I moved to Jakarta to work at an international school, I had declared myself as a citizen of the world, not so much in terms of residence but in terms of loyalty. Of course, I will always be Filipino - sa isip, sa salita, at sa gawa (in mind, word, and deed / thoughts, words, and actions) - but I also chose to tread the new path with a heart that goes out to people and not just to Filipinos. Everyone deserves the same compassion, the same love. That, I believe, was how I learned to love my students and colleagues and the work that I do, by being open to what opportunities the experiences will bring me. I had been careful to not be too ethnocentric. To not fall into the trap of thinking that Filipinos do it best. That the Filipino way is the only way. There were times when I felt I was missing the familiar work environment, but it was not the Filipino work environment, perse, I was missing.
A friend of mine once told me, "You cannot expect people to work in the same way that you do, Jowi. As long as the goals are the same, people must be able to work in the way they know best" I agreed then and I agree now. In fact, a leader should be able to manage his or her people and allow them to do their best in the things they do best. S/he must not insist on his own way of doing things. In such case, therefore, the important thing is that the objectives are clearly disseminated and the people are inspired to reach the goals together. "Hows" are more palatable when the "whys" are explicit and comprehensible. Yes, the ways of doing things can and will be different. But I believe that it is reasonable to expect that something is being done. That people are doing different things towards the same goal, yes. But people must be doing something. Way back in grade school, I remember my groupmates ousting one of my classmates for being a freeloader. Freeloading is just not good practice.
Special events allow for a showcase of special talents - art, physical abilities, kinetic abilities, music, beauty, etc. A friend told me that the event allowed her to see the differences in culture - that some were more into it than others. That it was not possible for them to have the same intensity. In my mind, I asked if it is really a difference in racial culture or just a difference in personality. Because I believe the drive for excellence is universal. It is either you strive for excellence or you don't. It has nothing to do with whether you are Filipino or American or Indonesian or Australian. True, some cultures are more loud, more "out there" and therefore appear more driven and more passionate. But to me, you take your passion and make it happen. It doesn't have to be ostentatious. You can be passionate yet quiet at the same time but quietude due to apathy and unwillingness to do the job is a different thing altogether.
Of course, I don't think she was being racist against us whom she thought were very "in to it". I didn't think of it that way. It was even a compliment, I believe. But isn't that a little racist against her own race, thinking that they, as a race, are not capable of the same passion and drive for excellence?
But then again... I am reminded by Kate Monster and Princeton...that...
Ethinic jokes might be uncouth,
But you laugh because
They're based on truth.
Don't take them as
Personal attacks.
Everyone enjoys them -
So relax!
Both:
Everyone's a little bit racist
Sometimes.
Doesn't mean we go
Around committing hate crimes.
Look around and you will find
No one's really color blind.
Maybe it's a fact
We all should face
Everyone makes judgments
Based on race.
Ever since I moved to Jakarta to work at an international school, I had declared myself as a citizen of the world, not so much in terms of residence but in terms of loyalty. Of course, I will always be Filipino - sa isip, sa salita, at sa gawa (in mind, word, and deed / thoughts, words, and actions) - but I also chose to tread the new path with a heart that goes out to people and not just to Filipinos. Everyone deserves the same compassion, the same love. That, I believe, was how I learned to love my students and colleagues and the work that I do, by being open to what opportunities the experiences will bring me. I had been careful to not be too ethnocentric. To not fall into the trap of thinking that Filipinos do it best. That the Filipino way is the only way. There were times when I felt I was missing the familiar work environment, but it was not the Filipino work environment, perse, I was missing.
A friend of mine once told me, "You cannot expect people to work in the same way that you do, Jowi. As long as the goals are the same, people must be able to work in the way they know best" I agreed then and I agree now. In fact, a leader should be able to manage his or her people and allow them to do their best in the things they do best. S/he must not insist on his own way of doing things. In such case, therefore, the important thing is that the objectives are clearly disseminated and the people are inspired to reach the goals together. "Hows" are more palatable when the "whys" are explicit and comprehensible. Yes, the ways of doing things can and will be different. But I believe that it is reasonable to expect that something is being done. That people are doing different things towards the same goal, yes. But people must be doing something. Way back in grade school, I remember my groupmates ousting one of my classmates for being a freeloader. Freeloading is just not good practice.
Special events allow for a showcase of special talents - art, physical abilities, kinetic abilities, music, beauty, etc. A friend told me that the event allowed her to see the differences in culture - that some were more into it than others. That it was not possible for them to have the same intensity. In my mind, I asked if it is really a difference in racial culture or just a difference in personality. Because I believe the drive for excellence is universal. It is either you strive for excellence or you don't. It has nothing to do with whether you are Filipino or American or Indonesian or Australian. True, some cultures are more loud, more "out there" and therefore appear more driven and more passionate. But to me, you take your passion and make it happen. It doesn't have to be ostentatious. You can be passionate yet quiet at the same time but quietude due to apathy and unwillingness to do the job is a different thing altogether.
Of course, I don't think she was being racist against us whom she thought were very "in to it". I didn't think of it that way. It was even a compliment, I believe. But isn't that a little racist against her own race, thinking that they, as a race, are not capable of the same passion and drive for excellence?
But then again... I am reminded by Kate Monster and Princeton...that...
Ethinic jokes might be uncouth,
But you laugh because
They're based on truth.
Don't take them as
Personal attacks.
Everyone enjoys them -
So relax!