MEMA ENTRY #1

James Stephen H. Balbuena

2020-05374

Carl Ritter, quoted in The Myth of Continents, claimed that "… Europe as the land of
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white people, Africa that of black people, Asia of yellow people, and America of Red People."
The remark could have been harmless if it only refers to the physical characteristics of
individuals. However, it is birthed from Europeans' belief that they are the center of the world as
manifested in their attempts to determine continental borders based on their metrics. Aside from
the vagueness of the continent's physical and geographical standards, this remark proves how
the concept of continental separations is a social construct that is exclusionary, elitist, and
racist. This statement was from 1779, more than two centuries after, we still have white
privilege, and oppression still exists against native Americans, Asians, and Africans. It is proof
of how deep-rooted systemic racism is.

I remember my inquiry paper in English 13, where I discussed how gender labels are
regrettable and how society would be better off without these labels. We could also ask what if
there were no continental borders that determine where you are from? There would be no
Europeans, Americans, Asians, or Australians. Would Magellan realize that we are not others
but part of their world that does not need to be conquered? Would we be able to walk in the
streets of Paris and London without being mocked?

More than assessing the development of how history transpired, we must consider how
we are going to value it based on our lens, as an Asian and as a Filipino. I think continental
architecture's history presents how we have no obligation to accept such oppressive labels and
why we should reject such.

References:

1. Lewis, Martin W., and Wigen Kären E. "The Architecture of Continents." In The Myth of
Continents: A Critique of Metageography. Berkeley, Calif: Univ. of California Press, 1997.