I think America has a better grip on racism than we do in Australia: you seem better able to discuss it openly and note the issues.
I grew up in the country where you had CB's not telephones and it took half an hour to walk to the end of the drive to wait for the school bus and, where I came from on the York Peninsula, I had never seen an Australian aboriginal, didn't know that Italians, Greeks or other existed in a real context let alone asians. No racial differences were ever discussed and therefore I never heard any negative comments outside of 'freckle face', for which I am eternally grateful.
On holiday visiting my grandfather when I was 7 years old we were told to wait outside while my mother spoke with my grandfather. She came out about an hour later where she told us that Pop had a new girlfriend and she was aboriginal. My brother and I didn't see the point of telling us she was aboriginal as it didn't mean anything to us. We were introduced to a wonderful lady who had gone out of her way for our coming, we met her grandchildren (there were many) and although we believed a couple to be very spoiled it didn't occur to us that 'we' were different.
A few days later we travelled out to the aboriginal mission and for the first time in our lives 'felt' different. My brother and I were both 'white-blonde' with big blue eyes in a territory where no admittance to 'whites' was allowed without direct consent. After that initial blow we again forgot we had different skin until one of the elders wanted to rub me in goanna oil to get rid of my cold.
A few years later we moved to the city and I started to hear all the negative comments about aboriginals: 'they're all alcoholics'; 'drug addicts'; 'thieves'; and so on and I found myself having to defend some of the most beautiful and likeable people I'd ever met.
White kids at my school thought it was okay to refer to people with a different skin colour as 'coons' (which didn't make sense to me, as Coon was a brand of cheese to me, which is most definitely yellow). I started to ask questions and generally the hatred came from urban myths 'my friend's cousin was...', 'the Australian government allow Aboriginals...' and in this country if anyone has a real agenda against aborigiinals it can only be our government as they don't want to lose land to aboriginal activists.
In this country the man that started the apartheid in South Africa tried his policies first in Alice Springs. In this country Aboriginals didn't get the vote until 1972, they had to have passports to enter townships. The last Tasmanian aboriginal died just over a year ago because white people swept the island from one end to the other killing aboriginals out of fear.
On the other side, I have been casually walking to the video shop and been stopped by a group of young aboriginal girls who were abusive, only backed by the fact that they were in a group and felt they held the power. I also know they were and are reactiing to their own experiences and what they've been told by their parents about white people. They felt empowered to tell the epitome of what they considered a white person what they thought with attitude. I know that many find this sort of behaviour intimidating, but I'd rather be faced by that group of girls than two brown snakes anyday.
I am pregnant with my first child and I want her to see Australia outside of its prejudices. In Australia we don't really get what white Amercians have against black Americans or what certain Indian 'Castes' have against the others or what some of the English have against people from Pakistan etc. I believe hatred is irrational and bred in fear. Take people as they come and protect yourselves against what would be a threatening situation no matter the colour or race of the people around you.
In Australia you see a drunk Aboriginal on a train and people will say 'bloody aboriginals', they see a drunk white man on that same train and they generally question what could have happened to him for him to get to that state. We've seen what Hitler's regime did to the jews and we've seen what terrorism is doing to our way of life, when are we going to take off the blinders and realise that 'our situation' is not different, it's just personal.
From a celebrity’s controversial meltdown caught on tape to nooses cropping up around the country, Dr. Phil and Bishop T.D. Jakes tackle tough racial issues. First up, Dog the Bounty Hunter spewed slurs in a phone conversation with his son, Tucker, and used the N-word repeatedly when referring to Tucker’s black girlfriend, Monique. Monique’s mother, Linda Shinnery, joins the Dr. Phil show via satellite and says she was appalled by Dog’s tirade. Should the reality TV star lose his job over a private conversation? Civil rights activist Al Sharpton, rapper Master P, and BET correspondent Jeff Johnson weigh in. Then, nooses, a symbol of hatred for African-Americans, are cropping up more and more across the country – from Jena, Louisiana to Columbia University in New York. Najee Ali, founder and co-director of Project Islamic Hope, shares his views on empowering the black community and combating stereotypes. Don’t miss this intense debate about racism and sensitivity in America, and find out how you can educate your children. Join the discussion.
