Ducky Paredes

Deretsahan                                                                   

ni Horacio Paredes

Isang sulat galing sa isang Pinoy sa Amerika: “On November 7, next month, I would have been in Northern California for 23 years.  Ang karanasan ko sa kapwa mong Amercanong Itim ay mixed.  (Ganoon din sa mga puti. Kahit mayroon akong kaibigan na mga puti who… a long story.)

“Sa work ko in the State of California, I was helped get to the top of the eligibility list in a civil service exam because of the chair of the Examination Panel, a Black man, who was blind.  At present, the secretary of our division chief, a black lady, volunteers to do errands for me. Another one passes by my cubicle when I am at work, greeting me everyday.  She reminds me of that Black Poetess, Maya Angelou, an icon during the Clinton years. A Black-American Indian lady, wrote a poem about me.

“In Sacramento, a black woman hit the head of my cousin with a garden hose because she was being asked to pay the $100 rent to the one-bedroom house they were renting from my cousin.  In one apartment complex managed by the husband of this cousin, all the tenants were black.  It was owned by an LVN working in the San Francisco General Hospital.  Kasi seguro lahat ng kanyang sweldo binabayad sa amortization ng kanyang apartment complex, nagtitinda ng turon, ng lumpia, ng pancit, at kung ano ano pang pagkain para madagdagan ang kanyang kita. Kasi iyong apartment complex na iyon, ang lahat ng tenants ay mga itim,  ang hirap daw magbayad.  Seguro ginive-up na lang ang complex na iyon.

”Nuong mag-riot sa Los Angeles — sa Watts ba iyon? — iyong aming tiya who owned a hardware store, was almost beaten to death by one of the rioters, of course a black man.  Naiinggit sa kanilang tindahan.  She was saved by a black woman.

“A friend of mine, who is more than a brother to me, and has been in America for 35 years or so, is a Democrat.  But the last time I talked to him, he was campaigning for McCain.

“A classmate who lived in Vallejo, but takes the bus and the BART Train to his place of work in Oakland, has nothing good to say about the black people who takes the bus with him everyday.  He was anti-Obama and pro-Hillary.  Now I don’t know if he is voting for McCain.

“Of course not very many Filipinos know that during the Filipino-American war, many black soldiers joined the Katipuneros and fought against the White soldiers.  (But many White soldiers surrendered to the Samarena lasses also.  There is even a town in Samar named “Taft”, and in Northern Samar, there are many half-breeds, descendants of Sundalong Puti and the winsome and demure Samarena girls. Ayos sila sa pangiti-ngiti style of Filipina seduction.)

“Itong election sa Merica, parang may sakit at kailangan inumin ang gamot.  Take the pill.  Let it come, this mind-bending historical event that has a profound symbolism on mankind and America. Kung ano man ang mangyari at ang mga pinag-aralan ninyo ay mga librong gawa ng mga Cano.  You should be able to do something.” — Cesar Torres

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Ang masasabi ko lamang ay bakit ba marami sa ating mga Pinoy ay tumatanaw pa sa kulay ng tao sa ganoong ito na ring kulay natin ang ginagamit ng mga iba para laitin tayo. Hindi kaya nararamdaman ito ng ibang mga Pinoy na ang pagtanaw sa sarli ay mapuputi silang tao kahit ang tingin sa kanila ng mga Amerikano’s Asian at brown sila?

Napakita na ng Amerika na sa kanila’y pantay ang lahat ng tao. Kung hindi ganoon, hindi sana umabot ang kandidatura ni Obama hanggang sa kaniyang naabot.

Tiyak lamang na sa mga unang buwan ng kaniyang pagiging presidente’y napakaraming panunubok ang darating sa kaniya mula sa loob at labas ng Amerika.

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hvp (11.03.08)