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The Misplaced Filipino

This year’s winner of the Andrew Cunanan Memorial “Yes, I am” Award is Al DeGuzman, whom we shall describe here without hesitation as an “Asian American male of Filipino descent.”

Why did every one else have a problem with that?

Cunanan, you will recall, is the internationally famous serial killer, who targeted fashion designer Gianni Versace. His total command of the headlines in 1997 even surpassed the media hogging, teary-eyed Imelda Marcos after her husband, Ferdinand Marcos’ death.

Cunanan’s special distinction is that he was Filipino American and no one, at least at the start, thought that was important enough to mention. Was it so obvious? The FBI in its wanted poster described Cunanan as “White.” A Filipino is loose and the FBI is looking for a white man?

So when DeGuzman made news last week I just know Cunanan was rolling in his grave, knowing DeGuzman worthy of this award.

DeGuzman became at least nationally infamous when he decided it was time to pick up a few photographs at the local drug store. They were photographs of his favorite guns and bombs, a small arsenal not inconsistent with someone preparing for “Armageddon: the home version.”

This of course alarmed the young photo clerk, one 18-year-old Kelly Bennett, who alerted authorities. And the rest is history. Police swooped in and promptly made their arrest. Bennett became a hero, complete with a visit to the new president. And Al DeGuzman was still the generic 19-year-old.

DeGuzman has pleaded not guilty to 122 felony counts from illegal bomb and firearm possession to plotting to injure people and property. Police say he intended to pull off a Columbine-style massacre at nearby DeAnza College. DeGuzman’s trial date is to be set next week.

Without condoning a copycat crime in the making, one still wonders about DeGuzman’s treatment by the media. In none of the print accounts was his race ever mentioned. And in the general coverage I noticed it mentioned once, but by a Filipino American reporter who seemed sensitive to the same issue.

Facts are facts. DeGuzman was Filipino American, but there was a real reluctance to mention it.

In the past civil rights activists have complained that identification of race tended to brand all members of the group. That it fostered stereotypes of criminality that were negative.

Most members of the media still operate in that fashion, not wanting to bring in race until it is relevant. So suspects are left in that politically-correct “race limbo.” They are objectified to the point of dehumanization. The basics are there, name and age, but beyond that some key facts are left out.

But is race relevant in the DeGuzman case?

You bet your sweet pipe bomb.

DeGuzman had a Web site on which he described himself as “a walking hate crime.” He spoke about “people who hate the white man.” He wore a t-shirt that bore the phrase “Natural Selection.”

Now that’s something to crow about. An advocate of Filipino superiority!

But just who does DeGuzman hate exactly and why? Without the fact of his race, where are we? DeGuzman by name would be what exactly? Spanish? Mexican? Portuguese?

By his mug shot, people may think “Asian,” but what happened to accuracy? When readers are left to guess, it’s time to take the next step and name the man’s race.

There are still those within the community who say, let’s not make a big deal about this. They see the media’s generic blanket thrown over DeGuzman, and they feel embarrassment has been averted. When they say crime stories foster stereotypes, I say that incomplete coverage fosters ignorance. Besides if there are too many crime stories, then there’s an imbalance in the media’s coverage of the community.

The reluctance to identify DeGuzman, like Cunanan, is just another symptom of our Asian American community’s own general invisibility. When we can’t even get credit for the scurrilous, anti-societal, pathological things we do, well, that’s just not fair. That perverse bit of Filipino pride comes out and says, don’t you know who we are? We are capable of even this. We can shatter that model minority myth all on our own. But worse is to see one of your own, and to witness that no matter how desperate the cry, no matter how much the need for attention, in the media we still don’t count.

ETHNIC MEDIA: So where do we count? The ethnic media. It still goes back to the medium where they value the blood connection. It covers stories where race is always relevant. Next week on Feb. 15 at San Francisco’s Masonic Auditorium, New California Media, a consortium of ethnic media organizations will hold its annual EXPO event. Businesses and marketers are invited to find out more about the different news organizations that serve the ethnic communities of the state. The full day affair features panels, a speech by Gov. Gray Davis, and a buffet. At night there will be an awards ceremony honoring the best in ethnic media. You can bet there will be no “Andrew Cunanan Memorial Award” necessary.