Why blame Teri Hatcher?
While it is impulsive to blame Teri Hatcher because she allowed herself to become the instrument of a prejudicial statement, it is the scriptwriter, director and producers of Desperate Housewives who have a lot more explaining to do. Teri Hatcher was just following the script. Was it a racial slur? Although Teri Hatcher’s dialogue did not say ‘Filipinos’, it was nonetheless derogatory to the people of the Philippines by suggesting that medical professionals who graduate from Philippine schools cannot be trusted. Why do Filipinos feel insulted by the dialogue? It is because Filipino doctors are now among the visible minority in the medical field in the United States, alongside South Asian Indians. This same is true in the nursing field. Aside from White people and Blacks — the two major racial groups — professionals from the Philippines and India already comprise a sizable and respectable segment in the American medical field. Teri Hatcher’s dialogue is a recognition of this fact. If no
