Relationship of colonial mentality with Filipina American experiences of racism and sexism

The Filipino American community is the second largest Asian American/Pacific Islander population in the United States, yet few research studies are dedicated to Filipino American issues. Oppressive ideologies instilled through Spanish and United States colonization of the Philippines have influenced the values held by Filipino Americans. In particular, the combination of patriarchic and racist ideologies stemming from colonization has concealed the plights of Filipina Americans. This study examined the relationship between colonized thinking and experiences of sexist and racist oppression. Two separate multiple regression models were developed to examine the relationship between the manifestations of colonial mentality with sexist discrimination (N = 137) and with racist discrimination (N = 124). Both regression models were found to be significant with one factor, Internalized Cultural and Ethnic Inferiority, as a unique contributor in both models. Colonial Debt also served as an important predictor in the variability of sexist discrimination. The majority of the sample reported some degree of colonized thinking. A strong correlation was found between sexist and racist discrimination, though more women reported sexist degradation than racist degradation No significant differences were found across generations in the mean levels of colonial mentality manifestation, though unequal sample sizes for this analysis should be noted. Implications of these findings for the Filipino American community are discussed. The results of this study highlight the importance of continued research with this population.