signatory # 4540

someone forwarded this e-mail to me and i am reprinting it in full. thank you kevin nadal for jumpstarting this. this is regarding the desperate housewives episode last sunday, yes, the one with the unnecessary dialogue between teri hatcher's character and her gynecologist. i got it this morning and when i signed, i was signatory 4540. it's now at 6,000 as i write this.

shame on you marc cherry for greenlighting this script. shame on you abc for this insensitive episode.

Dear Kababayan and Allies:

I heard through the grapevine about a remark made on an episode of
"Desperate Housewives" last night. The scene entailed Teri Hatcher's
character (Susan) at a hospital, being told by her gynecologist that she
might be hitting menopause. Susan replied, "Can I just check those diplomas
because I just want to make sure that they are not from some med school in
the Philippines." If you go to abc.com, you watch the full episode and
witness the scene at about 18:50 minutes into the episode.

This type of derogatory remark is not only unnecessary and hurtful, but is
also unfounded, considering the presence of Filipinos and Filipino
Americans in the health care industry. Filipinos are the second largest
immigrant population in the United States, with many entering the U.S. and
passing their U.S. licensing boards as doctors, nurses, and medical
technicians. In fact, the Philippines produces more U.S. nurses than any
other country in the world. So, to belittle the education, experience, or
value of Filipino Americans in health care is disrespectful and plain and
simply ignorant.

As Filipino Americans, we need to band together to ensure that this type
of hateful message is not allowed to continue on our television and radio
airwaves. Given the recent amounts of media attention that has been given
to Michael Richards (against African Americans), Isaiah Washington (against
gays), and Rosie O'Donnell (against Asian/ Chinese Americans), it is
ridiculous that this type of hateful speech made it through various
screenwriters, the show's producers, the show's actors, and ABC itself.
Yet, this isn't the first time that negative remarks have been made about
the Philippines or Filipinos in the past. In recent years, we've heard one
too many "dogeater" comments by "comedian" Joan Rivers on the red carpet or
in her standup act, and I believe that it is about time that we stand up
for ourselves, so that this type of hateful speech never happens again.

Please join me in expressing your concern, disappointment, and/or disgust
to the producers of ABC.com. You can sign the petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/FilABC/
or you can reach them directly at
abc7@abc.com .

And please feel free to forward this widely to other Filipinos/ Filipino
Americans/ Asian Americans/ and other allies.

Sincerely,

Kevin Nadal,
Filipino Performance Artist/ Activist
knadal@gmail.com