The Racist Portrayal of the Philippines in Historical Cartoons as US Troops Invaded � Global Voices

22.2.16

The Racist Portrayal of the Philippines in Historical Cartoons as US Troops Invaded � Global Voices: In the past decade, Filipino-American scholars reviewed these cartoons and other propaganda materials that expose how the United States government tried to hide its colonial agenda by describing the occupation as an act of benevolence.

What the cartoons failed to illustrate is that a Philippine Republic was already existing when American soldiers arrived in 1898. Furthermore, Filipino revolutionaries had already defeated the Spanish colonial forces, which ruled the Philippines for more than 300 years. The cartoons also didn’t show that the subsequent war between Filipino and American troops killed more than a million people in the country. The war ended in 1901, but it was only in 1946 when the Philippines gained its independence.