While I welcome criticism, I am disappointed with some of the anonymous, unintelligent comments I get from time to time. I was hoping to engage in intelligent conversation and debate. Instead, I often get bigoted “You’re not from here so shaddup your mouth!” remarks.
Why do people have to resort to racism and bigotry? I don’t get it. Is it a bad thing to be Filipino, German, Norwegian, Chinese, Spanish, and Irish? That is what I am in blood. But what I am in my heart and mind is local. After being raised here since I was four and after growing up in a neighborhood with kids of different ethnic backgrounds, I just can’t understand the whole racism thing.
I know that racism exists everywhere in the world. That doesn’t make it right. We need to stop teaching our children what separates us, and start teaching them what unites us.
I have always admired the Civil Rights movement and its greatest leaders, particularly the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. One of his greatest quotes continues to inspire me: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
My two children will be taught the value and importance of their Chamorro culture and heritage. They will be taught to respect and amen their elders; they will be taught to understand the history and language of the Chamorros; they will be taught the spirituality, superstitions, beliefs, myths, legends, and ways of the Chamorros; they will be taught to be generous and giving like the true Chamorros.
The true Chamorros are a great people, and I am proud to have so many of them as family and friends, and I thank them all for welcoming me and allowing me to be a part of their home for the past 35 years. Racism is not a trait of the Chamorros; rather, it is a trait of ignorance. I have experienced random acts of racism here, but it has only been at the hands of a few small-minded individuals.
While I have been subjected to a few racist attacks here, I want you to know that I have also experienced racism in mainland America. When I was 12 years old visiting my grandparents in Paris, Illinois, I was chased by a truck filled with teenagers who were shouting things like “You Spic! You wetback! Go swim home! We don’t want your kind!” I fortunately survived, but I never forgot that day. I was so young and naive and had no idea what a wetback was! That truck load of teenagers does not represent all of America. It represents xenophobia and small-mindedness.
I am proud to be an American, and I am proud to be a local from the CNMI. I will continue to speak my mind and speak about the issues. Yes, I am not Chamorro by blood. But that should not preclude me from having the right to speak about what is right and what is wrong about my beloved home of Saipan. It does not matter if I have lived here for 35 years or 35 days. I love Saipan, and I will continue to fight for it. This is home.
And for those of you who do not like what I say, I ask you to challenge me. No, not in a fistfight. This is not high school anymore, and we need to stop using our fists and start using the minds that God gave us. I ask you to challenge my views. Don’t just tell me I am wrong. Tell me how and why I am wrong. Tell me why it is wrong to question our leaders and hold them accountable for their misdeeds. Tell me why it is wrong to challenge the Old Boys Network. Tell me why it is wrong to challenge the decades of decadence at CUC. In short, tell me why it is wrong to go against the grain.
I will take criticism any day and any time. But please, let’s not make it about race. We can all do better than that. I am what I am —a haolepino who loves this island, and knows that it is in dire need of change.
ED PROPST
Advocate for Change
