Service: to supply a person with something.

“I want us to talk about why, in the context of conflicting interests and the historical dominance of one racial or gender group over another, it is possible that ‘service,’ in and of itself, can have racist or sexist outcomes despite good intentions.  For example, I resist the notion of service learning for U.S. students in the Philippines, my country of origin, because I think it perpetuates a ‘colonial mentality’ among Filipinos and a kind of ‘manifest destiny’ amoung U.S. students.  To my way of thinking, the results of the history of U.S. dominance in the Philippines is so overwhelming that it is almost impossible for a U.S. student doing what is regarded on both sides as ‘service’ not to deliver a message of superiority.”

This quote is taken out of A Challenge to the Notion of Service by Nadinne Cruz.  It occurs in the middle of her three page article.  It funtions her to show how one persons thought of service and doing good can really have a negative effect then the intended one.  One may go into service with the thought of having a positive influence or doing something that makes them feel good and as if they’ve done something for someone.  Yet through the ripple effect their so called good intentions can create a bad and negative effect on the people or service they have done.  Is service really that benefical in this case?  Can someone service someone without any negative effects?