Cringeworthy moment: Filipinos get mentioned on TV

IF YOU'RE NOT watching a boxing match featuring Manny Pacquiao or talking about Typhoon Haiyan, it is super rare that the Philippines and Filipinos get mentioned on American television. So when those rare moment occur and we are mentioned, its a big deal.

Bill Maher and Ben Affleck engaged in a heated debate over radical Islam and Islamophobia on Maher's HBO-TV sho
w last week. It was rare that these two noted liberals disagree with each other, but Affleck 

Ben Affleck, left, and Bill Maher, right, are still friends despite debate.

vehemently (and rightly) objected to Maher painting the entire Muslim world with a broad brushstroke.

Near the end of the heated debate, Maher brought up an example to make a point that made me cringe. Following is that portion of the debate, which starts with a statement from conservative pundit Nicholas Kristof.

***

NICHOLAS KRISTOF: This is such a caricature of Indonesia, of Malaysia, of so much of the world. And this does have a tinge a little bit of how white racists talk about African-American and define blacks by --

MAHER: What you're saying is because they are a minority, we shouldn't criticize.

AFFLECK: It's not a minority, it's the second biggest religion in the world.

MAHER: Exactly, but you're treating them like a minority. I mean if Filipinos were capturing teenagers and sending them into white slavery, we would criticize that. We wouldn't say, oh, well, they're Filipinos.

AFFLECK: You would criticize the people who are doing it, not the Philippines. A Filipino kid who lives on the streets has nothing to do with that. These are different things.

***

Great, just great! Horrible example, terrible example, from my admittedly biased point of view. Am I oversensitive? Probably. 

Maher must have Filipinos on his mind. The last time he mentioned Filipinos on his show was when he talked about the Taguba report written by Gen. Anthony Taguba, who investigated  the Abu Graib prison interrogation techniques (also known as torture). Maher badly mispronounced his name. How difficult is it to say "Tah-goo-bah"? Well, I could see how someone could switch the two vowels. It came out "Too-gah-boo."

For someone seeking more visibility and acceptance in this country, it was a moment of mixed emotions -- cringeworthy. Thanks, but, no thanks, Bill.

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Here's the debate video but if you want to read the words, click here.