by Emil Amok Guillermo
When you want justice, turn to art, and my long-time friend, the Oakland playwright Ishmael Reed. More on that in a second.
But first, October is Filipino American History Month. It also brings us Hispanic Heritage Month, Italian American Heritage Month, once known as Columbus Day. And let us not forget Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Diversity abounds even during an administration that sees diversity as evil.
But by his actions, you can tell what Donald Trump would rather celebrate.
On my birthday, October 9th, he could have mentioned the coincidence of Filipino American History Month, but instead the president issued a proclamation to Leif Erikson, the Viking legend, calling him “the first European to land in America,” which Trump says, “paved the way for the first American settlement in Jamestown, Virginia, more than 600 years later.”
It was an excuse to “celebrate our Nordic American heritage,” Trump said in the proclamation declaring my birthday, Oct. 9 as one of the official whitest days of the year.
There are an estimated 4.6 million Norwegian Americans, and another 4.3 million Swedish Americans.
There are more than 4 million Filipino Americans, a subset of the more than 20 million Asian Americans in the U.S.
Will Trump take time this month to mention how Filipinos were the first Asians to step foot in the New World, Oct. 18, 1587, near what is now Morro Bay in California?
Unlikely. (Incidentally, 1587, is 20 years before Jamestown in 1607).
But Trump’s preference for “Nordic Americans” and Nordic American history shouldn’t surprise.
As Trump beats back diversity, he shows his rooting interest.
The Trump MAGA mindset is against inclusion, revealing a disgusting inclination, toward white bias based on a sense of white supremacy.
If we go back to the times of slavery, this is historically, the American standard.
It’s truly the only way to understand the Trump anti-diversity push.
The only way to counter it is to make sure you know your African American history.
If you understand that, then you understand the Trump push to whitewash slavery to the point of stripping how it is represented even in places like the Smithsonian.
ENTER ISHMAEL REED’s “The Amanuensis.”
If you know a bit about Br’er Rabbit, Uncle Remus and Disney’s “Song of the South,” go see Oakland writer Ishmael Reed’s new play this week—to learn the rest of the story.
The acclaimed novelist, playwright, poet and essayist, debuts “The Amanuensis” in a staged reading in San Francisco at Theater33.org, Oct. 16-19.
I have a small part in the play, but that’s not why you should see it.
As I said earlier, if you want justice, turn to art. It’s faster, and you’ll learn something.
The term “amanuensis” refers to one who takes dictation. It was the term the writer H.L. Mencken used to expose the writer Joel Chandler Harris for taking the stories of slaves and passing it off as his own.
That’s nothing new, really. In rock and roll and the blues, a white cover on black artistry was standard.
But in Reed’s play, the writer imagines Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Fox and the others ripped off by Harris, settling the score. The slave storytellers kidnap Harris and demand a cut from the hundreds of thousands of dollars Harris got from Walt Disney for “Song of the South.”
As the kidnapping unfolds, you’ll learn how whites have justified their supremacy over Blacks historically. And you’ll see how people of color, including Asians, were seen as no better than animals.
For Reed, who has always been on the front lines battling for diversity and multiculturalism, the play serves as his take on the attacks we’re seeing today.
As we speak out and tell our stories, Trump’s continues his anti-DEI push.
But it’s just to clear the way for his own white identity politics.
Leif Erikson Day on my birthday? Does that make me a co-conspirator?
That day has passed. For all of October, it’s still Filipino American History Month.
Emil Amok Guillermo is an award-winning journalist who has written a column on Asian American culture and politics for more than 30 years.
See a staged reading of “The Amanuensis” by Ishmael Reed, a new play about “The Song of the South” and Joel Chandler Harris, at Theater 33, 533 Sutter Street in San Francisco.
Thursday, Oct. 16; Friday Oct. 17; and Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 pm.
Sunday matinee, 3pm.
Theater 33, 533 Sutter St. 2nd floor, San Francisco.
Registration is closed for Common Ground: Building Together conference and gala award banquet in San Francisco on January 24. A shoutout to our planning committee: Jane Chin, Frank Mah, Jeannie Young, Akemi Tamanaha, Nathan Soohoo, Mark Young, Dave Liu, and Yiming Fu.
We are published by the non-profit Asian American Media Inc and supported by our readers along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AARP, The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, The Asian American Foundation & Koo and Patricia Yuen of the Yuen Foundation.
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