As President Barack Obama , the first African-American president, visits the Philippines this week, this may be a good time for both Filipinos and African-Americans to acquaint themselves with an often-forgotten part of the historic Philippine-American war (1899-1902), which transformed the United States into an empire and a global power.

I refer to the quizzical role played by African-American soldiers in the war of conquest and empire, and their curiously ambivalent attitude to the proclaimed mission of “taking up the White Man’s burden” and civilizing Filipinos.