Ducky Paredes: Fr. Reuter is clearly a racist

On his Sept. 14, 2006 article:

My July 2, 2005 Malaya column had this item:

"The Rev. James B. Reuter told this story during his sermon at a mass at the Heroes Hall in Malacañang last Monday: A Pinoy illegal (TNT) in the US was having a hard time finding a job because whatever job he applied for, he was in danger of being picked up by the immigration authorities.

"Finally, he was able to find a job as a chimpanzee. Well, he did all right in that job where he had to perform tricks on trapezes and horizontal bars. One day, however, he got over-enthusiastic in his acrobatics and fell into the cage of the gorilla. On seeing the gorilla moving towards him, the Pinoy chimpanzee screamed in Pilipino. And the gorilla said: ‘TNT ka rin?’

"That this sort of story can be told by a foreigner before a Filipino audience of students, leading members of the Evil Society and even GMA herself during a mass in Malacañang itself tells you just how low we now regard ourselves as a nation. No wonder no one respects us anymore. We do not even respect ourselves enough to protest when a foreigner insults us all, even during a religious function in the presidential palace itself!

"This sort of joke might be funny to white men who regard Pinoys as monkeys with no tails; it is not funny to Filipinos! A racial slur is never funny.

"Think on that!"

***

Now, the same Rev. Reuter has signed on as a spiritual adviser to the four American Marines implicated in a criminal case where Nicole, a Filipina says she was raped by one of them – Daniel Smith, while the three others cheered Danny on.

According to a story by Seth Mydans in the International Herald Tribune, the Rev. Reuter says: "I think it was seduction. She was 22 and Danny was 19. The only one accused of touching her is Danny, the baby boy. I don’t think they’re guilty, not a bit."

Reuter is clearly a racist. Reuter, 90, is an American Jesuit priest who has lived in the Philippines for most of his life. The man was my professor and was moderator of the Ateneo Glee Club, which I joined. Thus, in school, I had a lot of respect for him.

Somehow, however, after school, since he was very much in the public eye, one could not help notice the man. A feeling of unease about him had somehow crept in. Suddenly, Reuter was no longer someone to admire. I really do not know what bothered me about him but there it was. There was something not right. Something was just not ringing true. I have never really understood this feeling.

What Reuter is saying about the Marines has nothing to do with being a spiritual adviser. He does not seem to be doing any spiritual advising. He is clearly doing propaganda work. He spouts propaganda and is doing for his fellow Americans what he does best – influencing public opinion. Will Reuter succeed in influencing the judge and the public by painting the Marines white and, at the same time, blackening Nicole, the Pinay victim?

"Danny, the baby boy"? "She was 22 and Danny was 19"? Come on now, I honestly do not think that Pinoys will still fall for shallow propaganda tricks like that. In fact, I wouldn’t even be in the least bit surprised if the tale told by Danny, "the baby boy," at the trial about how Nicole, the older woman seduced him and practically forced him to do her might have been suggested by Reuter himself. It sounds to me so much like dialogue coming from a 1930s movie script.

(I realize that a lot of Ateneans will react badly to this column against one of the school’s icons. But I do what I do best – speak my mind and sometimes, offend a lot of Ateneans.)

Strong words from Ducky Paredes.