Sally Rawsthorne
by Sally Rawsthorne
An unknown Australian girl decides to host an ‘African’-themed 21st birthday party. One guest is dressed as a Klu Klux Klan member; numerous Caucasians have shoe polish on their faces. She then posts the pictures on Facebook for all to see. When confronted about their racist nature, she posts an apology for the unintended offence she had caused, rather than addressing the problem with hosting such a party. Coverage on American websites Buzzfeed and Jezebel is met with disgust and outrage.
It didn’t take long for commenters on both sites to claim that Australia has a problem with racism — hotly denied by the Australians who posted. Comments such as “Jesus, Mississippi thinks these guys should tone it down” were countered by “Some idiotic bogan having a racist party is not a question of national character.” In the world’s reaction to a bad-taste theme party, we can see the disconnect that exists between Australian and international perceptions of racism here in the lucky country. The University of Western Sydney’s Challenging Racism report found that 87 percent of Australians believe that we benefit from cultural and racial diversity. Although the report is more nuanced than this statistic suggests — Australians don’t deny that racism exists here — it hardly paints a portrait of an Australia “chockers with racists”, as one Jezebel commentator thought was the case.
On an institutional level, racism still exists in Australia. But the repeal of the White Australia legislation, and the enactment of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and its state counterparts demonstrate how far we’ve come. This progress also provides a framework for how we see ourselves — according to the most recent Mapping Social Cohesion report, Australians see themselves as “kind, caring and friendly”. The plethora of specific organisations dedicated to eradicating racial vilification — Racism No Way, It Stops With Me and Human Rights Watch all indicate that while there is a problem, we are taking steps to address it.
To us, web posts saying “When I hear Aussies talking about non-white Asians, it sounds like white in the US talking about people from Latin America” seem unwarranted, given the US’ well documented history of treating non-Caucasians poorly. The idea that Australia is a bigoted place of institutionalised bias and discrimination by individuals flies directly in the face of our insistence of this self-perception, “racist” was one of the kinder descriptions of Australia by one Jezebel commentator, and the thread was dominated by anecdotal evidence of racism by Australians.
No studies have been completed on international perceptions of Australian racism, but this avalanche of anecdotes demonstrates that there is a definite disconnect between our perceptions of ourselves, and how we appear to others. In the age of increasing globalisation, this old-world White Australia approach is less and less appealing; more than one Jezebel commentator states they won’t be visiting Australia due to our atrocious treatment of our Indigenous population.
On Jezebel, many Australian commentators are quick to point out that other countries don’t exactly have a clean slate when it comes to oppressing racial minorities. As seen in the Challenging Racism report, we see ourselves as believers in multiculturalism and diversity. But this is obviously in direct contrast with how we are seen on a world stage. Type “Why are Australians” into Google, and wait for the autofil to ask you “Why are Australians so racist?” The disconnect between the perspective espoused by the Challenging Racism Report and the observations made by our foreign friends must surely undermine any confidence we have that Australia is a multicultural place where a fair go is offered to all. THE GUARDIAN
by Sally Rawsthorne
An unknown Australian girl decides to host an ‘African’-themed 21st birthday party. One guest is dressed as a Klu Klux Klan member; numerous Caucasians have shoe polish on their faces. She then posts the pictures on Facebook for all to see. When confronted about their racist nature, she posts an apology for the unintended offence she had caused, rather than addressing the problem with hosting such a party. Coverage on American websites Buzzfeed and Jezebel is met with disgust and outrage.
It didn’t take long for commenters on both sites to claim that Australia has a problem with racism — hotly denied by the Australians who posted. Comments such as “Jesus, Mississippi thinks these guys should tone it down” were countered by “Some idiotic bogan having a racist party is not a question of national character.” In the world’s reaction to a bad-taste theme party, we can see the disconnect that exists between Australian and international perceptions of racism here in the lucky country. The University of Western Sydney’s Challenging Racism report found that 87 percent of Australians believe that we benefit from cultural and racial diversity. Although the report is more nuanced than this statistic suggests — Australians don’t deny that racism exists here — it hardly paints a portrait of an Australia “chockers with racists”, as one Jezebel commentator thought was the case.
On an institutional level, racism still exists in Australia. But the repeal of the White Australia legislation, and the enactment of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and its state counterparts demonstrate how far we’ve come. This progress also provides a framework for how we see ourselves — according to the most recent Mapping Social Cohesion report, Australians see themselves as “kind, caring and friendly”. The plethora of specific organisations dedicated to eradicating racial vilification — Racism No Way, It Stops With Me and Human Rights Watch all indicate that while there is a problem, we are taking steps to address it.
To us, web posts saying “When I hear Aussies talking about non-white Asians, it sounds like white in the US talking about people from Latin America” seem unwarranted, given the US’ well documented history of treating non-Caucasians poorly. The idea that Australia is a bigoted place of institutionalised bias and discrimination by individuals flies directly in the face of our insistence of this self-perception, “racist” was one of the kinder descriptions of Australia by one Jezebel commentator, and the thread was dominated by anecdotal evidence of racism by Australians.
No studies have been completed on international perceptions of Australian racism, but this avalanche of anecdotes demonstrates that there is a definite disconnect between our perceptions of ourselves, and how we appear to others. In the age of increasing globalisation, this old-world White Australia approach is less and less appealing; more than one Jezebel commentator states they won’t be visiting Australia due to our atrocious treatment of our Indigenous population.
On Jezebel, many Australian commentators are quick to point out that other countries don’t exactly have a clean slate when it comes to oppressing racial minorities. As seen in the Challenging Racism report, we see ourselves as believers in multiculturalism and diversity. But this is obviously in direct contrast with how we are seen on a world stage. Type “Why are Australians” into Google, and wait for the autofil to ask you “Why are Australians so racist?” The disconnect between the perspective espoused by the Challenging Racism Report and the observations made by our foreign friends must surely undermine any confidence we have that Australia is a multicultural place where a fair go is offered to all. THE GUARDIAN
