It's not common for Australians to have to endure accusations of racism against them.
This protest by visiting Indian students in Australia is the exception.
WTF?
Racism in my home town...Melbourne
Apparently there are 80,000 Indian students in Australia and they contribute to the education sector which earns $15.5 billion from the international students fees.
It's very hard to accept that racism is rife in Melbourne. For a start, I'm not an Indian student.
There's no doubt that these students have been targeted as easy victims but racism?
If racism exists then I don't really know my own community, my own country. If racism exists then I must be insulated from it and completely naive.
I should mention that my day at work involves dealing with these Indian students.
They are soft spoken, polite and unfamiliar with the Australian way of life.
I'd hate to think that their most lasting impression of Australia will be one of a racist country.
It seems that perceptions that arise out of mass hysteria (see my posts on swine flu) have a unfavorable impact.
More and more I see that the mass media is toying with our minds and influencing our perceptions.
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3 comments:
The line of what is so called racism is being blurred.
Simply stating that I'm more comfortable with people more like myself is considered racist.
I think that because of the attention it gets, people who are "different" like to jump on a soapbox and blame any perceived slight, rudeness or frustration on racism. Sometimes people are just assholes and it has nothing to do with who they are assholes at. And I'm not now saying that Australians are assholes. What I might say, is that Australians behave differently than Indians in this case. Australians, at least the ones I've met, tend to be quite laid back, familiar and inclined to make a joke or two possibly at someone's expense but all in fun. A reserved, formal "foreigner" might perceive this familiarity as an insult when it is anything but. It is a clash of culture. It is up to the Indians to figure out the culture of the country they are in, not the other way around.
My kids grew up friends with a guy from India - and got to know his family. The oldest son, who my oldest played soccer with, is entering an arranged marriage soon. An Indian girl of course. Years ago, the Mom told my daughter that she would be the only white girl her (other) son would be allowed to marry. If a white family were to insist that their children marry only whites, they'd be accused of being KKK members.
Racism gets the attention it gets because the Left's entire strategy for achieving a democratic majority DEPENDS upon there being a problem of racism. Remove identity politics from the equation and the Left would remain an unpopular permanent minority party.
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