The Athletic Crusade: Sport and American Cultural Imperialism

4. Sport and Colonialism in the Philippines

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 [First Page] [45], (1) Lines: 0 to ——— 0.0pt PgV ——— Normal Page * PgEnds: Eject [45], (1) 4 Sport and Colonialism in the Philippines Under Spanish control for nearly three centuries, the PhilippinesopenedtheportofCebuforworldtradein1860 .AnAmerican firm quickly established an office in the city, signaling the start of American intervention in the islands. By the end of the century the United States possessed the entire archipelago as a colony. Paul Kramer has stated that the ensuing occupation served as a “a laboratory for reform” that merged imperialism with progressivism. Such reforms attempted wholesale changes in governance, administration, education, cultural beliefs and values, and even recreational practices.1 In 1989 Jan Beran published a seminal and insightful article on the introduction of American sports to the Philippines. She analyzed the role of the schools, teachers, and the ymca in the transition from traditional folk games to organized and competitive athletics that taught American ideals. Beran concluded that the process proved to be one of relatively beneficent assim- 46 sport and colonialism in the philippines 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 [46], (2) Lines: 51 ——— 0.0pt PgV ——— Normal Page PgEnds: [46], (2) ilation. More recent studies of imperialism, colonialism, and acculturation suggest that the process is more complex.2 Sports are not value-free entities; nor are their producers. Though more subtle than government impositions, sports and their administrators play a key role in the evolutionary process of cultural change. In the case of the Philippines, that change brought racial, gender, and religious relationships into question and ultimately fostered a new product unforeseen by either side. Having acquired the Philippines through the brief Spanish-American War of 1898, the U.S. government faced considerable opposition to procuring the archipelago both within the United States and in the islands. Some anti-imperialists argued that the new territory would prove a drain on national resources, while Carl Schurz, formerly a senator and secretary of the interior, argued that Filipinos were “a large mass of more or less barbarous Asiatics . . . far less good-natured, tractable, and orderly than the negro [sic] is.”3 Even coreligionists warned that “the inhabitants of the Philippines include . . . Kanakas and Malays who are half-civilized and in rebellion; canny Chinese and shrewd Japanese and—in the interior— thousands of naked negritos [sic], wild and untamed as the red aborigines .”4 As racial concerns affected some, others thought the concept of colonies a betrayal of the American heritage and its democratic promise of independence.5 Many Filipinos agreed with the latter stance as their rebel army had already declared a war against their Spanish overlords and had them surrounded in Manila when the American army arrived, then surreptitiously claimed the victory. Nevertheless, the rebels maintained their own governmental headquarters, produced a constitution, and chose a national assembly.6 Given such circumstances the U.S. government needed a way to rationalize further deployment and occupation of its “liberated” domain. Colonial proponents proved ready with economic, religious, and ideological reasons. The overheated American economy had surpassed the industrial output of Great Britain and the European powers by the 1890s but had stalled in the depression of 1893. Producers needed new markets for their goods, and the Philippines offered a gateway to the rest of Asia. Protestant missionaries saw a chance to win souls and perceived it as their duty to provide a “Christian education,” neglecting to consider that the sport and colonialism in the philippines 47 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 [47], (3) Lines: 63 to ——— 0.0pt PgV ——— Normal Page PgEnds: TEX [47], (3) largely Catholic Filipinos were already Christians. As early as July 1898 an interdenominational conference met in New York to divide up the spoils among Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians; congregationalists had already determined that “morally and religiously, we should not shun an opportunity to lift up a barbarous people.”7 This and similar...