From running amok to eating dogs: a century of misrepresenting Filipino Americans in Hawai'i

摘要

This article reviews and analyses historical and contemporary processes of the racist representation of Filipino Americans in Hawai'i. Historically, it discusses the causes and consequences of the extreme over-representation of Filipino men among those executed from 1900 until 1944. In contemporary terms, it examines how the news media, ethnic joke telling and the 'local literature' of Hawai'i reinforce stigmatizing stereotypes of Filipino Americans. While some of these stereotypes are new, others have been revived from the pre-Second World War era. The factors that explain why Filipino Americans have been subject to extremely denigrating stereotypes include their continuing subordinate status and the considerable proportion of immigrants among them, which result in their being associated with especially perverse and 'barbaric' activities, such as running amok and eating dogs, that are common in the Philippines as a seemingly culturally underdeveloped nation.