Résumé:
Throughout its long history, the Philippines has witnessed years of severe torture, ethnic
cleansing, and harsh conditions at the mercy of American colonialism.Today, after decades of freedom, the Filipino people continue their attempts to restore stability, recover from the effects of the past, and restore their authentic essence. In this regard, this thesis aims to reveal the lasting effects of The White Man's Burden ideology on colonial rule, its continuing effects on Filipino society, how it served as a justification for American authority and a basis for shaping the country's institutional structures, social and cultural norms. Using a qualitative methodology, this research blends historical and contemporary analysis, including Filipino works, their cultural production, and online discourses. Based on this, the results of the research reveal the colonial authorities’ preference of the English language at the expense of indigenous languages.
Accordingly, government and education were restructured, forming a hierarchical society with Western hierarchies that prefer superiority over everyone. These effects still exist today in political practices, academic preferences and Western knowledge. For contemporary Filipinos,their response has been one of adaptation and resistance, as social media trends and surveys have revealed generational changes, especially in young Filipinos' interaction with colonial influences
in their ordinary lives. This research sheds light on the widespread consequences of colonialism that go beyond formal independence by revealing the role of imperial ideologies in promoting the long-term cultural dependencies. It also supports future research that examines the response of indigenous societies tocolonial legacies and their adaptation to it, and compares post-colonial societies to reveal broader patterns of cultural continuity and transformations.
