Darker-skinned Filipinos who lived in the United States in 1950's were invariably mistaken for Negroes: they were barred from decent hotels, denied service in restaurants, forbidden from sitting in front of the bus, and required to use rest rooms designated as "colored."

Those darker-skinned Filipinos who were proud and arrogant to begin with had a rougher time. They were considered to be "uppity" Negroes who "didn’t know their place" and who therefore "had to be brought down a peg or two" If such a Filipino happened to be small in stature, he received even more bullying.

Periodically scolded in public and more frequently snubbed in private as "uppity riggers," such Filipinos invariably developed a very negative attitude toward the United States. One cannot humanly expect such people to be rational or reasonable in discussing the United States, its agencies, or its citizens.

This is why it is virtually impossible to engage in a reasoned discussion about the United States with Mr. Hilarion Henares, Jr. and his kind. When Mr. Augusto P. Acabado tried to do this (Special Edition, Mar. 107), he was engaged in an exercise of futility.

WILSON G. ABAYA