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Forbbidden Book (2 of 3)
Now, 104 years later, The Forbidden Book has been opened. And the newly
published
work utilizing that title does even more than bring to light events that have
been
subject to a 100-year long cover-up. The volume is simultaneously a vivid illustration
of the direct continuity between the ideologues of "manifest destiny"
in 1900 and the neoconservative Project-for-a-New-American-Century crowd that
is
in charge of Washington's policies today.
The historical narrative provided by activist/historian authors Abe
Ignacio, Enrique
de la Cruz, Jorge Emmanuel and Helen Toribio is fact-filled, concise, and supplemented
by a convenient timeline and extensive bibliography. But the heart and soul
of this
book lies in the reproduction of several hundred images - many in full color
- from
the U.S. popular media 1896-1907. The majority are political cartoons (a few
are
photographs) which appeared in U.S. newspapers and especially in the "illustrated
magazines" (Puck, Judge and Life) which were the most influential opinion-makers
of the period. Assembled mostly by co-author Ignacio via three decades of combing
antiquarian bookstores, libraries and the internet, this unique collection
gives
The Forbidden Book the kind of gripping, eyewitness quality that would not
be matched
by text alone.
There is political subtlety in many of the cartoons, but most - especially
the ones
which favor the U.S war - go right for the emotional jugular. They offer flag-waving,
heroic images of "our troops" and demonic images of the "enemy."
But what stands out above all is the blatant, let's-flaunt-it racism in the
way
Filipinos are portrayed, in particular the widespread transference of the era's
racist images of African Americans to Filipinos.
Pictures worse than minstrel-show caricatures are commonplace, such
as one in a
cartoon depicting McKinley as a circus trainer and a Black/Filipino as one
of many
circus animals ("Trouble Ahead for the Trainer," 1906). Even a fond
look
back at outright slavery was not too much for pro-war cartoonists: Puck magazine
proudly featured the image of Uncle Sam auctioning off a dark-skinned Filipino
under
the heading "Make Me an Offer" (1907).
Such images corresponded to events taking place within the U.S. as well
as in the
military's campaign of death and dehumanization abroad. In 1896, the same year
Filipinos
were beginning their independence struggle against Spain (to be continued against
the U.S.), the U.S. Supreme Court approved the "separate but equal" doctrine
in Plessy vs. Ferguson. An average of three Blacks a week were lynched across
the
South as white mobs cheered.
