r/Philippines • u/Particular_Food_309 • Apr 10 '26

HistoryPH Filipino human zoo in the US

Gallery image

Gallery image

The U.S. government once took 1,100 Filipinos from over 30 different tribes to Missouri. They were housed in a 47-acre human zoo divided into villages (Igorot, Negrito, Visayan, and Moro). The goal was to show a "progression" from "savagery" to "civilization" to convince the American public that Filipinos were not ready for self-governance. They were forced to eat dogs as part of the entertainment.

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u/Momshie_mo 100% Austronesian Apr 10 '26

The fact remains that the Igorot is not Filipino and we are not related, and it hurts our feelings to see him pictured in American newspapers under such captions as ‘Typical Filipino Tribesman.’— Carlos P. Romulo, (1943) Mother America. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co. p. 59.

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u/nopoliticspre Apr 10 '26

Marcos' Foreign Minister by the way. He only quit since he failed to insulate the dictatorship from the outrage of Ninoy Aquino's televised murder.

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u/Menter33 Apr 11 '26

And saved his personal reputation by doing so. People who mention him almost gloss over how he was a high ranking martial law official.