Filipino Americans have a long and rich history with and within the United States, and they are currently the
second largest Asian group in the country. However, very little is known about how their historical and
contemporary relationship with America may shape their psychological experiences. The most insidious
psychological consequence of their historical and contemporary experiences is colonial mentality or
internalized oppression. Some common manifestations of this phenomenon are described below:
.Skin-whitening products are used often by Filipinos in the Philippines to make their skins lighter. Skin
whitening clinics and businesses are popular in the Philippines as well. The "beautiful" people such as actors
and other celebrities endorse these skin-whitening procedures. Children are told to stay away from the sun so
they do not get "too dark." Many Filipinos also regard anything "imported" to be more special than anything
"local" or made in the Philippines.
.In the United States, many Filipino Americans make fun of "fresh-off-the-boats" (FOBs) or those who speak English with Filipino accents. Many
Filipino Americans try to dilute their "Filipino-ness" by saying that they are mixed with some other races. Also, many Filipino Americans regard
Filipinos in the Philippines, and pretty much everything about the Philippines, to be of "lower class" and those of the "third world."
The historical and contemporary reasons for why Filipino -/ Americans display these attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors - often referred to as colonial
mentality - are explored in Brown Skin, White Minds. This book is a peer-reviewed publication that integrates knowledge from multiple scholarly and
scientific disciplines to identify the past and current catalysts for such self-denigrating attitudes and behaviors. It takes the reader from indigenous Tao
culture, Spanish and American colonialism, colonial mentality or internalized oppression along with its implications on Kapwa, identity, and mental
health, to decolonization in the clinical, community, and research settings.
This book is intended for the entire community - teachers, researchers, students, and service providers interested in or who are working with Filipinos
and Filipino Americans, or those who are interested in the psychological consequences of colonialism and oppression. This book may serve as a tool
for remembering the past and as a tool for awakening to address the present.