Throughout Spanish colonization of the Philippines, jobs such as fishing and farming - which require people to spend hours under the sun and resulted in darker skin - became perceived as lower-class occupations. This discrimination against darker-skinned individuals - or colorism - is rooted in white supremacy, David added. A racial hierarchy was established where Spaniards born in Spain were at the top, while brown and darker-skinned Indigenous people were at the bottom.
It was Spanish colonialism that solidified the "whiteness equals better" mentality, he said. He noted that some research suggests that an association of lighter skin tones with nobility existed in the Philippines prior to Spanish colonization, though there is no evidence this perception was widespread across ethnic groups. "It just made theoretical sense that if you feel ashamed or embarrassed of who you are, there might be some mental health implications," David said. "'So what if I prefer a lighter skin? Maybe it'll make me look more beautiful and then I'll face less discrimination.'"īut the feelings of inferiority that people experience led him to dig deeper. "Many people have asked the question, 'So what? Maybe it's good for us to have colonial mentality because we can speak English well and we can get better jobs,'" David said. He said it's seen in the community's widespread preference for lighter skin, feelings of inferiority, shame for being Filipino and discrimination against Filipinos perceived as not Westernized enough. EJ David, a professor at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, whose research focuses on the impact of colonial mentality on Filipino Americans, said this mentality manifests in a number of ways.