Category Archives: Race Relations

KKK Members Claim They’re Not White Supremacists, Nor Filipinos

December 12, 2016 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Ku Klux Klan members in North Carolina. Inset: Filipino Katipuneros of the KKK

PELHAM, North Carolina (The Adobo Chronicles, Washington Bureau) – Masked members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), while claiming that Donald Trump’s election as president is proof that whites are taking back America from blacks, immigrants, Jews and other groups, insisted that they’re not white supremacists.

They also denied any connection with Filipinos who also have a history of (a different) KKK, although both organizations were founded in the 1800’s.

Six Confederate veterans from Pulaski, Tennessee created the original Ku Klux Klan on December 24, 1865, during the Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War. The name was formed by combining the Greek kyklos (κύκλος, circle) with clan. The group was known for a short time as the “Kuklux Clan”.

The Filipino KKK, on the other hand was founded on July 7, 1892, when Andress Bonifacio became convinced that the only way the Philippines could gain independence from the Spanish colonizers was through a revolution. He then formed the “Katastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipuanan ng mga Anak ng Bayan” (KKK) on July 7, 1892 in a house on Azcarraga street (now Claro M. Recto), in Tondo Manila.

Now you know.

Diversity, Film and TV, Politics, Race Relations

Asian Americans Protest Casting Of Michelle Yeoh On Star Trek: Discovery

November 26, 2016 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

HOLLYWOOD, California (The Adobo Chronicles, Los Angeles Bureau) – Asian Americans have long criticized the lack of Asian American lead actors and actresses in Hollywood films and on prime time television.

They protested when Emma Stone was cast in the role of a quarter Hawaiian in the film, ‘Aloha.’ With the release of the new Disney film, ‘Moana,’ they are not happy about how Polynesia was portrayed as an encompassing race. They are angry that in the film, ‘Doctor Strange,’ a character that had originated in comic books as a Tibetan monk was reimagined as a Celtic mystic played by Tilda Swinton.

When “Fresh Off The Boat” made it to prime time TV, they said, “it was about time.” When a Filipino American became the love interest of a white womn in “My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, they were titillated.

Now, Asian Americans are again complaining after Michelle Yeoh was cast in ‘Star Trek: Discovery.’

‘Discovery,’ the name of the show’s main ship, marks the franchise’s return to the small screen since ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ concluded in 2005.

Yeoh is best known for her role in ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.’

In in new upcoming series, Yeoh is set to play the character of Han Bo, Captain of the USS Shenzhou.

In criticizing Yeoh’s casting, Asian American activists said that they are unhappy about her role as the captain of a ship other than Discovery. “It seems the show’s producers think the seasoned Asian actress is not capable of being the captain of the main ship, and that’s why they cast her to be the leader of a lesser ship,” they said.

Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t.

Economy, Government, International, Politics, Race Relations

Donald Trump Jealous And Very Disappointed For Not Being Invited To APEC Summit

November 19, 2016 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

LIMA, Peru (The Adobo Chronicles, Washington Bureau) –Sure, Donald Trump is not yet president of the United States, but the president-elect has expressed deep disappointment for not being invited to a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders here in Lima, Peru.

Leaders of some 21-member countries belonging to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group (APEC) are meeting here amid speculation that Trump will scuttle President Obama’s key trade initiative in the Asia-Pacific region, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

But apart from being disappointed, Trump said he was very jealous that he was not able to personally meet two of his idol world leaders — Russia’s Vladimir Putin and the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte. The two leaders met for the first time while in attendance at the APEC summit.

Duterte has publicly acknowledged that he was a fan of Putin, and so has Trump.

In contrast, Trump has repeatedly criticized China for what he had called unfavorable trade deals with the U.S. China, an APEC member, has seized the opportunity to extend its already massive economic clout in the Pacific Rim, in anticipation that the TPP is laid to rest by Trump.

The Adobo Chronicles had the rare opportunity of speaking with both Duterte and Putin, and we asked both gentlemen what they thought about Trump.

Putin merely shrugged his shoulders, while Duterte uttered some intelligible cuss words which we assume were directed at the American president-elect.

For now, there are no selfie opportunities for Trump with the two popular leaders.