I can't take credit for the idea. It was the title to a segment on a TV show I like to watch called the '7pm Project.' It's a daily news program with a panel of hosts and various guest hosts with a comical twist. I like it because it highlights Australian news stories and sometimes goes a little more in depth and invites experts on to discuss them as well.
There are a couple of regulars on the show who grate me sometimes due to their sometimes racist-leaning or sexist-leaning jokes and comments. I'm trying to open-minded, though. Maybe this is simply a more honest/raw culture? The female host on the show never seems to be bothered by the comments, so I guess she represents the majority female perspective.
I think it's ironic that the show decided to do a segment on racism since I continually notice their seemingly racist comments. The one that grated me most was a discussion about immigration. This is a hot topic in the US as well, and spurs a lot of racism at home, so I'm familiar with this subject. But the difference in this case is that the immigrants are asylum seekers. They're escaping harsh conditions in their homelands and as a desperate (sometimes last-ditch) effort, they're paying some guy to (hopefully safely) take them on little boats from Southeast Asia to Australia so they can have a normal life. They even showed some statistics comparing the US, France, Canada, etc. who have accepted tens of thousands of asylum seekers versus Australia couple thousand. So what's the problem? I have no idea. I can't remember exactly the horrible comment that was made, but even one of the other hosts called the comment out as being racist during the show. Of course it couldn't be straightforward, it was more like "Now, I like to have a good time, but that sounds racist."
The day before the show they interviewed an Aussie college kid who called President Obama a monkey on his twitter account. He was extremely defensive despite the interviewers using kid gloves with him. He insisted it was a joke and that people were stupid if they didn't understand that. A professional comedian guest host on the show suggested that comedy was not as easy as it seems. That was as harsh as they got with him. He obviously deserved an intellectual pounding, but the hosts were either unable or unwilling to do battle.
Then the day of the show, during a previous news story, they were discussing a prison murder of a notorious Australian gang leader. They discussed the increasing gang activities and mentioned the influx of immigrants from ever more "scary" countries. I'm not sure what that means, but at the very least it sounds like a generalization and at the worst, racist. So next up... "Is Australia racist? We hit the streets to find out!" Seriously, do they not hear themselves talk?
So then they do a very unscientific man-on-the-street poll. Of course some say yes, some say no. Then to throw in some diversity they interview an Indian cab driver who says he's been the victim of racial comments, but doesn't really seem that bothered by it. It's better than it used to be, is his attitude. They also have an Indian "Racism Expert" on the show who says Australia is no more racist than other countries, but admitted that Australia is indeed pretty ignorant about diversity issues. They probably picked Indians because there have been some high profile incidents of violence towards Indian students in Australian universities, further spurring international debate on whether Australia is racist and whether international students are safe here.
I'm no racism expert, and I don't even know what qualifies you to be one, but I think it would be really hard to determine the amount of "racism" of a country, unless you used obvious metrics - such as unfair incarceration rates, EEOC lawsuits, etc. Of course, I don't think that even paints the entire picture. The only evidence I personally have is anecdotal. Our friends here happen to be mostly immigrants, and some darker-skinned than me, so I may be a little sheltered from it.
But even so, within a month of being in Australia, I heard a negative comment about the "Blacks" living in a certain apartment complex. Blacks here meaning Aboriginals.
(As a side note, I've heard the word Blacks used in a positive manner, but in New Zealand, where I was asked about my background. I said Black and White, like I usually do, which was met with "So am I!!" Odd to me since they are Maori. But that was the end of my naivety about the use of the word Black. It's definition changes depending on where you are.)
But back to Australia, Theo had an incident with a group of older (all white) Aussies discussing the use of the N word in a very racist manner. I've also talked to a multicultural family, white and Japanese that has experience a lot of racism here.
I'm not the only American to notice this either. I heard a US comedian joke that visiting Australia was like going back in time - "You still have Woolworth's and racism." Another example was a horrifying fiasco that occurred last year when Harry Connick Jr. was on an Australian TV show where a Jackson 5 spoof was done in blackface. I think he did a great job of articulating why it was offensive.
I wanted to learn more about race relations here, so I rented a DVD about the Australian reconciliation movement started in the mid-90's (and still continuing to this day, I think). The purpose was to gather information about Aboriginal and White relations and to formulate a plan for reconciliation between the races. They started with focus groups to discuss race issues. It was an all white focus group, but still many opinions were discussed. An interesting session included an Aboriginal facilitator who started with asking the group to name Aborigine tribes. They didn't know more than 1 or 2. Then he asked them to name American Indian tribes. They crowd went wild. They could name tons. Eventually, I think some people were enlightened by their new knowledge. On the other end of the spectrum, I saw a similarity between bigots around the world in that they clutch on to unfounded and unsupported views despite learning the actual facts.
I guess as long as we are highly emotional beings, we will continue to believe things that are clearly not true. Hopefully some people will eventually learn their way out of their ignorance, but ultimately we will never have a world free of racism.
I can't say whether Australia is more racist than the US, but it does seem to be more out in the open - at least on television. There doesn't seem to be a social standard making it unacceptable. I've never been personally insulted to my face, but I do find any racist statement about any other race extremely disturbing. But it's nothing worse than what I've experience growing up in the US. Apparently racist group activities in the US have increased since Obama became president, so we definitely have our own issues at home.
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This is really interesting. I just figured we were a lot more racist than everyone else, but perhaps it's the opposite. We probably have more exposure to a lot of different groups (maybe not in Missouri, but definitely on the coasts) than some parts of the Anglo-leaning world.
ReplyDeleteAs for the uptick in racist activities, yeah. It's kind of ridiculous with the teabaggers...ugh. I wish they'd just go back in time.
I had heard that the aboriginals were the 'blacks' of Australia and certain movies I've watched on the subject seemed to indicate that they have had to deal with pretty much the same things there as African Americans here had to. I've also recently watched several documentaries about the aboriginal peoples here, i.e. the American Indians since I have the ancestry of at least a couple different tribes in me. It would be about the same here with the Indians, even people who may be part American Indian, if they're not aware of it, probably couldn't name you very many of the tribes (of course they wouldn't know the Australian ones either). But I was really taken aback to learn some of the true history of my own roots. The American Indian has been dealt largely a very bad hand from the Anglo-Saxons that came and took their lands and forced a life style upon them that they didn't want. The American government has broken nearly every treaty ever made with the different tribes. Now they didn't have to be subject to slavery, as such. Rather, for the most part, the government would just have them disappear - go extinct, and has done much to reach that goal. Have very many Americans ever really peeked into the conditions that they're expected to live in on the reservations? I never really thought too much about this aspect before recently, I guess you start searching for your past more as you get older. I knew all along that I was part this and part that American Indian or the other but generally considered myself and was received as being white, as we lived the Anglo-Saxon American lifestyle and didn't know or practice the American Indian culture. But I really got kinda mad when I started learning these things that were done to these people. I also grew up until senior high school living in a neighborhood and going to schools that were 90% or more African American during the 1960's and early 1970's. Being in the minority in that situation led to kids trying to blame me because their ancestors were slaves when my ancestors couldn't have afforded slaves if they even wanted them. As I've said my ancestry derives from American Indians and European immigrants involved in agriculture, not rich slave owners. I fully believe that slavery of any kind is wrong. But I know what it is like to be part of a minority group, even to the extent that I was aware of growing up. It is only as I get older that learn that I've descended from peoples who have become minorities in their own country. Perhaps that is all that has made it possible for me to be here today is that some ancestor somewhere decided to assimilate rather than hold on to their own life and cultures or perhaps they got yanked away by the government to some boarding school somewhere, forcing assimilation in the process. I've grown up with racism all around me and even more so than I realized. Those who choose to continue in racists views and attitudes only show their true ignorance or perhaps stupidity. Yes, as humans, we can see that there are differences between peoples of different cultures and skin color, but we're all of the human race and should treat each other as the equals that we are.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Sid. I can relate to your horror about the Native Americans. I grew up identifying with them, but in a vague way. I was even more shocked when I read "Lies My Teacher Told Me" where the author went into more detail about how the "settlers" on the East coast actual ran the Native American's out of their already-established cities and actually lived in their houses after they had been exterminated.
ReplyDeleteThe bitterness within Black community in the United States is very strong still and it is really counter-productive to blame white people at this point. The energy needs to be towards rebuilding black communities, which are pretty broken. But it's a negative cycle and positive leaders within the community are the greatest hope for that kind of change, in my opinion.
The most positive thing I can say about the Australian government is that I think the top leaders of government do understand that reconciliation has to be something intentional and public. The work they did start in the '90s helped them come to the decision in 2008 to publicly apologize to the Aborigines, something that might seem lame and insignificant, but I don't think it is. I think it is a first step to take responsibility (even if it was our ancestors) for something terrible that happened... an acknowledgment of pain and suffering that could never be mended. But it shows the desire to help in some way and sets the stage for a new starting point. I think the US needs to do something similar and then move on in an intentional manner with a clear plan and vision. It can't be fixed overnight, but maybe concentrating on small steps would turn the tide...
Fascinating to read the Aussie perspective, so thanks, luv. I imagine Australia is just like the rest of the world, as I've learned in my brief travels that people are essentially the same everywhere, so I think it's fair to say that, yeah, Oz is racist.
ReplyDeleteAn old friend once told me that "everyone is racist - some admit it, some don't know it, and some don't want to admit it." I argued extensively at the time (college), but now, I see his point. I think you touched on this in your initial post, in how one defines a racist. Is it reliant on action and words? What about racist thoughts and stereotypes? And which races are included in racism? There's a lot of grey area when we try to define things, yet we definitely know it (and feel disgusted by it) when we see/hear/feel something that's racist.
Agreeing on what racism IS seems impossible in the U.S., let alone the rest of the world. Racism seems to occur everywhere and I think, sadly, it will always be that way. Australia's apology is a good FIRST step, I agree, and much has changed in the last 40 years, both legally and in terms of social awareness (even if it's political correctness). That said, even the most influential recent changes (Obama's election, equality legislation in the 70's in the UK and U.S., the end of South African apartheid, etc.) won't make a lasting impact on the minority of people who still believe one man is lesser than another due to the color of his skin. And we're not even talking about sexism, sexual orientation discrimination, classism or religious discrimination. It sounds awfully trite to say this, but I rather think racism is like some sort of a human social disease. What's most destructive about racism, in my opinion, is when Internalized Racism leads to further oppression from within. It is a vicious, sad cycle, and indicative of social oppression as a whole.
Thanks also to Sid for relating this thread to Native American struggles. It's important to note the similarities (and differences, of course) between the abuse of all endogenous peoples the world over. My great-great-great-grandmother was Mohawk and, as a result, my father is deeply literate in Native American history. I highly recommend anything written by Vine Deloria - God Is Red is especially moving. For contemporary studies, check out Mary Crow Dog's Lakota Woman and absolutely everything by Sherman Alexie.
Anyway, this is a great thread. Discussion about racial issues breeds awareness, which prevents internalization and misunderstanding, which can only lead to better things...right? :)
Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteIn America, there are no racists. The concept of a racist has been moved from Everyday Joe during the 60's to todays cartoon picture of a guy wearing a sheet actively hanging a black person. So if someone makes a racist comment on TV and gets called out, they say "But I'm not a racist!" as if to say, "I don't even own a sheet with holes cut out for my eyes. And I've never been to a lynching! Given these facts, how could I be considered a racist?! Jeez, such overreaction!"