Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Justice, Benjamin

Titel

Education at the End of a Gun: The Origins of American Imperial Education in the Philippines

Ist Teil von

• American Post-Conflict Educational Reform, p.19-52

Ort / Verlag

New York: Palgrave Macmillan US

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Uncle Sam looms aggressively into the frame, palms extended, making an offer that cannot be refused. A soldier or a teacher? A disparate group of Filipinos stands in the other corner—smaller, lower, proud but indecisive. Their leader, an Orientalized depiction of the Filipino revolutionary leader Emilio Aginaldo, considers the intruders. The hand upon his chin supports an infinite frown. “Take your choice,” says Uncle Sam. “I have plenty of both.” This image from a November 1901 issue of Puck magazine captures beautifully the logic of American imperial education (see figure 2.1). While American forces conducted a bloody program of destruction, torture, and killing in the Philippines, pro-imperial enthusiasts at home championed their efforts in the name of civilization and benevolence. The choice—and responsibility— rested with the Filipinos. It was, in the words of the caption, “Up to them.”