There is no doubt that Indian students in Melbourne feel threatened, and there is evidence that some of the attacks on Indian students have been racially motivated. But it does not follow from either of these facts that there is widespread hostility to Indians in Australia, that racism is increasing, or that Melbourne is a more dangerous city than, say, Mumbai. On the contrary, all the available evidence attests to the fact that Australia generally, and its large cities like Melbourne and Sydney in particular, continue to become more culturally diverse and tolerant, as they have for many decades. And by global standards, the level of violent crime in Australian cities is low.
Nobody, but nobody, is willing to call a spade a spade and slam the perpetrators for what this is — latent racism in society coming to the fore. Everyone, the police first and foremost, is pussyfooting around the problem and trying to characterise the naked violence as anything but an expression of racial hostility.
As long as this goes on, we’ll continue to see more of such senseless violence in the suburbs. And it will embolden others in other regions of the country who have feelings of the same kind to express themselves with sticks, stones and knives.
It amazes me that the authorities don’t realise that the need of the hour is to out the cause. Yes, these savage beatings are one of the effects of a feeling of hostility within, fed by ill-informed radio jocks and others, over the perception that a foreign race is taking over the suburbs.
Not unexpectedly, following the peace rally and then occupation of the intersection of Flinders & Swanston Streets on Sunday evening/Monday morning — an action which was condemned by the Federation of Indian Students of Australia Inc. (FISA) — Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland ‘blamed a group of “rabble-rousers” for hijacking a peaceful demonstration, bringing in alcohol and weapons. He said most of them weren’t Indian and the situation got out of control.’
A statement, presumably, intended to explain why, in dispersing the crowd, police were forced to bust some heads. Witnesses claim “(There were) six (officers) to one guy who was sitting down peacefully, who was punched and dragged”; “a sitting protester was knocked unconscious by repeated punches to the head and another was hospitalised with a broken thumb”; approximately 18 were arrested.
Interviewed on 3AW, ‘When asked by Ross Stevenson whether the protest was ‘hijacked’ by people with different agendas, Overland confirmed this was the case. “I was down there late last night – and there were clearly people in there who had their own agenda and had little to do with the issue confronting Indian students,” he said. “I think [their] agenda is just to cause as much trouble as they can”.’
Other sources confirm the presence of foreign trouble-makers. Mick Armstrong of Socialist Alternative stated:
I was one of the organisers of the Indian student demo from the Melbourne Racism is Bad Coalition and I am also in Socialist Alternative.
The anarchist crazies involved in the ultra-violence were in no serious sense part of the demo. Just like their black bloc mates in Europe they simply exploited the demo for their own purposes.
Right throughout the lead-up to the demo they made clear their hostility to and contempt for other protesters. On the day they did all they could to disrupt the demonstration and were hostile, abusive, threatening and ultra-sectarian towards people on the demo.
Australia, fortunately, has not previously been blighted by the sort of black bloc anarchist activities which have had such a disastrous impact on demonstrations in Europe. These people are simply provocateurs that open up protests to police repression. In Europe their ranks have been riddled by police agents and fascists.
What gave them a certain critical mass at the Indian student demo was the presence of considerable numbers of anarchists from overseas. One of our members from New Zealand said he recognised at least 40 NZ anarchists. He knew at least 20 of them by name. There were also a considerable number of black bloc anarchists from Europe. We know of people from Sweden, Germany and England. These people are like football hooligans who travel the world looking for violence.
On top of that there were also a considerable number of anarchists from interstate.
Because of the behaviour of these provocateurs the media and the law and order brigade are having a field day.
The left should offer no comfort to these crazies. We should do whatever we can to isolate them. They are wreckers. If they grow in Australia it will simply make it harder to build future protests and movements.
Statistically speaking:
Police figures reveal a 35 per cent increase in attacks on Indians between 2006/07 and 2007/08.
Statewide figures show 1,447 people of Indian origin were victims of crimes such as robberies and assaults in 2007/08, an increase from 1,082 the previous year.
There were a total of 36,765 victims in the state in 2007/08, according to Victoria Police.
I says:
(Take) Indians Out (For Dinner)
Vegetarian Nirvana Cafe (Richmond)
The Melbourne Veg Food Guide
The Melbourne Veg Food Guide explores the very best of meat-free dining in Melbourne and regional Victoria. Including over 80 easy-to-read reviews of vegetarian, vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants, this guide will help you to seek out good food no matter where you are. From the bustling inner city streets of Collingwood to the serenity of the foothills in Belgrave, The Melbourne Veg Food Guide covers it all. Melbourne was named Australia’s most vegan-friendly city in 2008 and this book is testament to the amazing eating the city has to offer. A must for all Victorian food-lovers.
See also : Cowboys and Indians, John Birmingham, Blunt Instrument (The Brisbane Times), June 2, 2009:
“…But while there have been some awful assaults on individuals visiting from the subcontinent, there’s no evidence of a co-ordinated racist campaign, or of disinterest by the state. The idea of communal or political complicity in the attacks is insane.
There have been co-ordinated racist campaigns against foreign students in Australia before. During the 1980s the neo-Nazi group Australian National Action was responsible for a number of attacks on Asian students in Sydney and Melbourne. The Nazis were smashed flat by a couple of Special Branch detectives after foolishly trying to intimidate the family of one police officer who’d been investigating them.
They’re still around, but their ranks tend to be bloated, literally, by a preponderance of fat, sad, middle aged losers without girlfriends, so you don’t find them on the party circuit where at least one of the most serious of the recent assaults took place. Nor were they likely to mug their victims for profit. The NA attacks of the 1980s were an underground, politically motivated hate campaign. But none of the same signifiers (posters, pamphlets, fire bombings etc) are present in these attacks…”
In which context, it’s also worth mentioning the fact that: 1. NA obtained new leadership — Michael De Brander — in 1991, following the gaoling of James Saleam — currently the leader of the Australia First Party (NSW Inc.). 2. NA opened a bookshop in the Melbourne suburb of Fawkner in January 1997; it closed in April 1998. 3. Australia First was founded in 1996 by former Labor MP Graeme Campbell. 4. Another major racist campaign of note was launched in WA by the Australian Nationalists Movement, under the leadership of Jack Van Tongeren. 5. A brief account of anti-/fascist activity in Melbourne during the 1990s is available here.
Hmmmm, Times of India interviewed an Indian student who had been called back from Australia by his parents, he noted that:
“Interestingly, the attackers are mostly not locals and are themselves people of foreign origin who resent the fact that Indian students go there in large numbers and take up jobs which may otherwise have gone to them.”
[ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Worried-parents-call-student-back-from-Aus/articleshow/4601485.cms ]
Maybe I’ve missed something but what makes these attacks racist? Because they are Indians? Don’t think that’s going to cut it. Can I call hate crime if I get ganked by a black person?
Like I said if I’ve missed it can you point us in the right direction?
Hmmm.
A few questions.
First, if Mukul is correct, and the attackers are not “locals”, are they in fact “Negro savages”?
Secondly, if correct, should these “Negro savages”, “these scum” be deported? (“There is no place in this country for these scum and they [should] never have been allowed here in the first place.”) And does this apply to their (presumed) victims as well?
Thirdly, given that both Indian students and their alleged attackers are from the ‘Third World’, which of the two is more responsible for turning Australia into a “shithole”? Further, given that they do not spread the “religion of filth”, are Hindu students OK?
Finally, do KRudd’s public expressions of disgust at these crimes further facilitate his plan to ‘Asianise’ Australia, and if so, how?
vents,
The degree to which racial animosity serves as motivation for the attackers is in dispute. That is, the other explanation for the attacks derives not from the ‘Indian-ness’ of those assaulted but the perception that they constitute ‘soft targets’: ‘Indian’ students are, it is believed, less likely to resist assault, and less likely to report assaults to police. Therefore, someone bashing and/or robbing them is more likely to get away with it than they would in circumstances involving non-‘Indian’, non-students. Not having looked closely at the nature of the crimes, I’m unsure which is the dominant factor: I suspect both racism and opportunism play a role.
Indians say they lost faith in police force
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1021196/Indians-say-they-lost-faith-in-police-force
Geez Ana. So the Police in India are an example for Police around the world? It[‘]s about selling News Print and stirring a bit of Nationalism in India.
I am trying to take this serious[ly] but it is a bloody joke. It is a law and order issue. But if the Police crackdown on the ethnics who are committing these crimes you guys are the first to start screaming racism [and] Police Brutality. Unless it[‘]s one of us hey @ndy.
I thought I better add a White Nationalist point of view seeing as I am the only one here.
Yes,yes,yes,both,no,blame whitey.
Haere Atu Racist Scum
I’ve seen this happen here, in Adelaide, ongoing. Worked with some Indians and I think I know why they get the worst of it, they’re naive and not the fighting type, and generally are geared to just doing the right thing. Naivety is definitely something I’ve tried to explain to them. When one was telling me about the Aussie in the balaklava who robbed him, he said ‘he was drunken’, the thing I asked him? ‘What were you doing?’ He was walking around Enfield to use a public phone at 10PM at night – doesn’t have one in the house he shares with 3 other students. Enfield is a terrible area, you can tell them here by the Crime Stopper signs standing next to the 60km/hr signs, it’s some basic street smarts to recognise little things like that.
Anyways, Enfield has had a community meeting, this was back in 2007, to address the assaults on them. My suggestion was? Get your arse out of Enfield! I told them to move to the beach-side suburbs and pay a bit more for rent. I know all the red flag suburbs and these brainy double-degree guys keep setting up camp in them, never gauging the culture like the learning they do in classes. Their problems have a lot to do with simple naivety/stupidity.
We shouldn’t brand Australia racist, give it time to act.
Speak English!
It[‘]s amazing the only White Nationalist group in attendance was once again the CNKKKK.
No matter what misinformation you post Andy, we always know what really went on.
Your mates the commies are most amusing, cracking the shits when we didn’t take their flyers, but they took ours.
Credit where credit[‘]s due, the dot heads knew their place, and stepped aside for the Klan, and stay at the heel like any good animal, when they know their master is about.
What kind of Dragon are you Tina?
Kao, korero Maori, akonei te reo rangatira 🙂 cause white men speak with forked tongues, & that isn’t no dragon just some racism infected cockroach.
There is an Australian klan? Maybe thinking yous would do a bit better with a bag on your head?
It’s all Greek to me…
KKK!
‘Indian’ students are, it is believed, less likely to resist assault, and less likely to report assaults to police.
“I have the power of five Gandhis!”
Other ‘soft targets’ are Chinese students, but less so with Aussies and more with Asian community members here. I’ve seen protection rackets going on (from Asian gangs), knew a South Korean student for a bit through mates who was being told to pay up or they’d hurt him, he paid up. I just put it down to ‘their culture not mine’. These days I’d speak up and no doubt run into trouble… for instance! I would tell that student, “You tell those pricks to get stuffed or go back to that organised thug network they call a country. Now get yourself a gun, illegally if [you] must, and take your chances with self-defence.” Of course, I’ll just avoid all those types of ‘issues’ and more passionately embrace this multi-cultural society through restaurants.
Dear SLACKBASTARD,
Your name just about sums it up.
You have lied about Mick Armstrong’s so-called quote. This is the original, ON YOUR SITE. See number 5 for the exact quote.
http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=474
I knew i recognised it from somewhere.
The original statement that you CUT AND PASTE from was made in 2006, regarding a demonstration where a MINORITY bloc of less than 50 people – not all identifying as Anarchists, but all fetishisers of VIOLENCE – THREATENED TO BRING THE POLICE DOWN HARSHLY ON THE CROWD of some 3,000 by directly attacking and injuring police.
This did no good and made a great many people feel uncomfortable attending ANY demonstrations since.
In this context you have not only lied, cutting and pasting text to suit your slander – and indeed the source link from Socialist Alternative’s website has rather a different message and tone, and is not from Mick Armstrong at all.
That’s about that, for lying.
What’s worse is that you’d either be careful not to become a principal supporter of racism, or you’re plainly clueless about the fact that a great many Indian students and residents are ready to stand up for themselves against violence.
Thankyou for being less obviously blatant in future, but i won’t be looking at this site again,
Jay Ayerson
Unfortunately for you Jay, your spin has come out three years too late. Mick’s derogatory comments (post g20) are out there, & have been out there for a while for all to see. I suggest you worry more about pigs infiltrating your ‘organisation” than doing free pr for the victoria police & taskforce salver.
Jay,
Leaving aside G20:
Definition of take the piss
intransitive verb
1. to mock, make fun of, kid. Origin: British.
Are you taking the piss?
transitive verb
1. Also: take the piss out of, to aggravate someone on purpose.
You’re taking the piss out of me!
Which part of “Grand” Dragoness don’t you understand Andy, plus my name is not Tina. You must make sure Etain gives you better information next time Hahaha.
My apologies: you are obviously Bigger Than Tina — and your pointy hat conceals a tinfoil helmet Hahaha.
Oh yeah.
Dear JAYAYERSON,
Your name just about sums it up… Somewhere… In some other language than English… Probably.
I have not lied about Mick Armstrong’s so-called quote. This is the original, ON MY SITE. See number 5 for the exact quote.
I knew I copied it from somewhere, but thank you for the reminder anyway.
The original statement that I CUT AND PASTE from — in fact, merely substituted the terms ‘G20 demo’ for ‘Indian student demo’ and ‘Stop the War Coalition’ for ‘Racism is Bad Coalition’ — was indeed made in 2006; on November 19, to be exact, on the Leftwrites blog. Mick’s angry diatribe was made by his knee in response to what he described as being ‘ultra-violence’ performed by ‘anarchist crazies’ at a Melbourne rally against the G20 (note that Mick fails to specify exactly what these appalling actions were). Further, Mick claims that this group of ultra-violent anarchist crazies — the number of which he does not provide an estimate of — were mostly foreigners — English, German, Swedish; but also, and most spectacularly, 40 Kiwi anarchists: 20 of whom he could actually name — or from interstate.
Regarding what happened: a lot, apparently. One group of people — I don’t know how many — dressed in white overalls. This was, apparently, the ‘Aterial Bloc’. Others dressed in other fashions, including Melbourne black. On the basis of my own experience attending rallies over about a 20-year period, the few thousand people who gathered at the State Library otherwise consisted of all ‘the usual suspects’: anarchists, greens, leftists, members of various environmental, peace, social justice and labour groups, as well as otherwise ‘ordinary’ members of the general public. Oh, and a shitload of journalists and police.
Following the ultra-violent riot by anarchist crazies, the police established a taskforce — ‘Operation Salver’ — to hunt down individuals suspected of involvement in the carnage. To this end, on January 18, 2007, The Age published a rogue’s gallery, consisting of photos of 20 individuals the police had determined were ‘persons of interest’ to them: you can still view these at The Age website.
Most of these photos came from the media pool; several were taken by police when they raided two squats that had recently been established, one called The Wake, the other used as a venue for a protest convergence (both evicted on November 17).
What were the motivations of the anarchist crazies involved in the unspecified acts of ultra-violence? Clues may be found by way of reference to some of the writings of those who took part:
That text formed one of the original ‘call-outs’ to form some kinda bloc party. Two delicate little flowers offered the following afterg20:
A first communiqué from two uncitizens of Arterial Bloc
Gertrude and Fuchsia
November 22, 2006
A month or so later, one of the Kiwi hooligans broke their silence:
The Urge to Destroy is Also a Creative Urge
An Aotearoa Anarchist
December 15, 2006
Another view, by some bloke called Dave, is titled ‘In the Wake’.
The idea that it was the Arterial Bloc what done it was cemented in the minds of the general public when the DSP’s Marcus Greville, during the course of an interview with ABC radio, explicitly nominated the Bloc as being responsible for the ultra-violence.
With that said, when you write that less than 50 individuals, constituting a ‘bloc’ with a fetish for violence “THREATENED TO BRING THE POLICE DOWN HARSHLY ON THE CROWD of some 3,000 by directly attacking and injuring police”, you’re distorting the historical record. For one thing, the activities of those associated with the bloc — and indeed those who challenged police lines — took place largely in the absence of these thousands (although many spectated), at different times and locations on the Saturday. Further, police expressed their willingness to use force towards the end of the first day, and on the day following (see, for example, footage on EngageMedia of police assaults on a small group protesting outside the Museum). You can blame the Arterial Bloc for police action, but at the risk of sounding crazy, I reckon the police are responsible for their actions (as does the law — at least in theory).
The political consequences of ‘G20’ are open to debate, so I won’t bother going into that subject in any detail at this point. That said, the brief essay ‘Protest, Politics and Policing’ by Victoria Stead and Shane Reside (Arena Magazine, April–May 2007) is worth reading. Also worth noting is the fact that SAlt released a further statement on G20, but then withdrew it from circulation (with no explanation).
A few final points:
“…indeed the source link from Socialist Alternative’s website has rather a different message and tone, and is not from Mick Armstrong at all”; this could be read as a clue eh?
“What’s worse is that you’d either be careful not to become a principal supporter of racism, or you’re plainly clueless about the fact that a great many Indian students and residents are ready to stand up for themselves against violence”; this statement doesn’t make a great deal of sense.
“Thankyou for being less obviously blatant in future, but I won’t be looking at this site again”; I’m not surprised. To the best of my knowledge, only one SAlt member has ever bothered responding to my blog directly (and partly in response to Mick’s statement, which he distanced himself from).
In the unlikely event you do ever read through my blog, you’ll discover that: I use the speech by Mick’s knee frequently; I often ‘detourn’ other’s work, sometimes sparking recognition, other times not.
What pointy hat? We never wear hats. As your Red friends can tell you 🙂
Nice song… is there one about Michelle ??? I am sure Etain *cough* I mean Panarab, would like it.
Maybe something from the Hammerskins, or Blood and Honor??? Or does the NA have any?
I never can keep up with music nazis, for ever changing their names, but all the same people…
Can you be a dear Andy and help us out on telling us which one your little friend Etain belongs to now?
Ah… er… um…
Am I the only one asking “who the fuck is Etain?”
Inre the subject of the post, also of interest are Andrew Norton’s thoughts:
Are migrants more at risk of crime? (June 1)
What can politicians do about crimes against Indian students? (June 2)
Could hate crime legislation increase risks for others? (June 3)
— and —
Assaults on Indians ‘not race-based’
Rowan Callick, Asia-Pacific editor
The Australian
June 3, 2009
AS protests grow louder against allegedly race-motivated attacks against Indian students in Australia, police say the number of such robberies and assaults is falling.
Police commander Trevor Carter, whose division covers Melbourne’s west, the national hotspot for attacks, said yesterday assaults on Indians had declined over the past three months.
However, the police chief’s comments coincided with another attack, in which a 21-year-old Indian student was slashed with a box-cutter when confronted yesterday afternoon by five men who demanded money and cigarettes at Dandenong, in Melbourne’s southeast.
Police said there was nothing to indicate that the assault, which within hours was being widely reported on Indian news websites, was racially motivated.
But following a series of such incidents, Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls said yesterday the state Government was planning to introduce a law requiring judges to “take into account whether or not a crime has been committed purely based on hatred or vilification of a particular group” and to apply tougher sentences if so.
However, one of Australia’s leading experts on race hate attacks, Sydney-based Jeremy Jones, said that while “racists are everywhere”, there was no sign of a surge in organised racist groups in Australia…
I think a few important issues regarding the racist attacks against the Indians are overlooked. Firstly, and foremost, Indians are granted a permanent residency visa once completing their respective degrees. Such cases as these create an unfair environment for Australian born citizens – the tax payers – seeking housing. Remember, the laws of supply and demand?
Let’s not forget, India is in fact 99%… Indian, while White Australia is experiencing a declining ethnic European population through factors derived from Multicultural and Anti-Whitism [sic]. I ask the question: are Australian’s [sic] given the privileges in India like vice-versa? I honestly cannot see the argument in this.
It’s quite irritating that there are laws in place protecting the special rights of minorities in this country which are not extended towards our White European brethren. The problem with new legislation imposed [sic] by the state is it denies the freedom of many to speak their point of view. I don’t want a society restricted by the [sic] state powers – where is the liberty in that?
Scott Harrison, a Geelong-based fascist, ‘National Anarchist’, and former admirer of Darrin Hodges, in a December 2007 post in a Stormfront thread on ‘race mixing’, imparts some of his ‘wisdom’ on the Australian Indian community:
“You obviously haven’t met many Indians…
They are a dirty, unhygienic breed with next to no morals at all. All of the girls I know hate them, they are sleazy and have no decency. They do get around in gangs and I’ve been in more fights with Indian gangs than I ever have with Asian gangs! Indians to me are a mix of Muslim/African type character and Asian type intelligence and breeding rates, they are a very real threat to any White society!
I have only too often been walking down the street with an attractive White girl and seen Indians stare back at her. My theory on it is that those Indians that come here are the low-caste that can’t get a Uni placement in their own country (taken by the higher Brahmin castes) and when they come here to work, they find out the White whores will have sex with them, they are scum!
Regards
NoCrusties.”
stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?p=4879656#post4879656
Won’t post up my comments…
Seems like Andy has no answer.
Tony Fucking Whitemore,
We both agree you’re stoopid. Even so…
Yes, Indian students may apply and qualify for permanent residency if they satisfy Government requirements (typically, those contained in the ‘General Skilled Migration programme’). Australian Governments have been importing workers in this fashion — that is, in response to labour market demand — for decades (the fucking country was fucking established in order to fucking provide a fucking dumping ground for fucking surplus fucking labour for fuck’s sake). Having foreign workers pay for their education and then be employed in these sectors is a more profitable and stable system of managing labour than is investing in longer-term projects aimed at (re-)skilling Australian workers.
It’s called ‘capitalism’.
Further, the availability of other commodities/goods/services such as education, employment and housing is a function of a wide range of economic, social and historical factors — all subordinated to suit the needs of capital and state.
You’re not only stoopid, but a bigot, so you’ll never understand this.
India is a big country: there’s well over 1,000,000,000 of the buggers. The demographic composition of the country — which, like other parts of South Asia, has undergone significant changes over the last few centuries, and in India’s case, especially since the 1947 partition — is complicated. Being a complete fucking ignoramus, you know nothing of this, and hence “Let’s not forget, India is in fact 99%… Indian”. In reality, and in summary, India is the world’s most culturally, linguistically and genetically diverse geographical entity after the African continent: there are, in fact, thousands of ‘ethnic’ and cultural groups within India, many hundreds of languages, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Jews and more besides. There are also considerable environmental / regional differences among Indian citizens… and so on and so forth.
Fuck off.
Indians passive by nature? Don’t add insult to injury
Guy Rundle
The Age
June 7, 2009
INDIAN students have some strange friends in Australia. One major columnist condemned attacks on Indian students last week, deeming them especially odious because “Indians are naturally passive” — a piece of condescending racialism that would not be out of place in an 1890s booklet for colonial administrators. It will be news to anyone who was in Mumbai for the terror attacks last year, or who has lived through the complex and violent encounters of religion, class and caste that echo across that billion-person land…
It will be news to anyone who was in Mumbai for the terror attacks last year, or who has lived through the complex and violent encounters of religion, class and caste that echo across that billion-person land…
Well that goes for culture being more powerful than race (I would say negating its retarded impact since the late 19th century). Indians can become Muslims, Indians can become Christians, Indians can become Hindus, what happens to them after that? They change according to that religious culture and faith on top of any other local cultural aspects mixed into it. They become a part of a tribe, and it doesn’t matter a damn what their genetics are after that.
The attacks don’t convince me that Australia is racist.
The posts here do.
Oh please, Australia is a colonial settler state, racist by its very existence at the continuing expense of its Aboriginal peoples. India was successful at kicking out the British Empire from their lands, so they know how to stand up for, fight & win their rights.The reality of Australia is that racism is so overwhelming that many choose to live under a cloud of collective amnesia and denial.
“Australia has been found guilty by a United Nations body of practising racial discrimination against its own citizens.
Australia has agreed to be bound by all major international human rights Conventions and has taken a high profile on promoting human rights internationally – especially in opposing apartheid in South Africa. But both national and international bodies are now saying that Australia is itself guilty of fundamental human rights breaches in its treatment of its indigenous citizens.”
http://www.eniar.org/humanrights.html
India was successful at kicking out the British Empire from their lands, so they know how to stand up for, fight & win their rights.
See this is where you have to be real careful when criticising national independence movements. You’re mirroring the people you’re fighting, I mean on the one hand, you have foreigners being booted and the left approves (Partition of India), on the other you have foreigners attempting to be booted and the left boos (BNP’s goals).
As for this:
Australia is a colonial settler state, racist by its very existence at the continuing expense of its Aboriginal peoples.
It’s logically consistent to call Alexander the Great the same, and the Romans, and Ottomans, Mongols, Islam outside the Arabian peninsula, Marxism, Spanish in the Americas… if imperialism means racism all of the previous are guilty of warping and sometimes destroying entire local means of cultural operation and function in lands that never developed those things among the people indigenously.
The truth is rarely pleasant: racism, white denial, and some thoughts on being
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=1058
Just read this everyone ….
http://www.antar.org.au/node/221
http://gideon.sulekha.com/blog/post/2006/12/white-australia-racism-against-indian-students.htm
This two things pretty much clear up the things. Being a developed country i guess Australia has started moving backwards.
The truth is rarely pleasant: racism, white denial, and some thoughts on being
That article’s all well and good, but some points of criticism when painting such a portrait:
The South lost in the US Civil War, the British Empire went bankrupt, Nazi Germany lasted 13 years, Australia is today a Multi-Racial society, the current Western superpower has a black president, a Jewish central banker and a female Secretary of State, also Australia’s only significantly disadvantaged community remains the Aborigines, aside from the minority of illegal immigrants from Asian countries.
In 2009, if I consider a manager at my work to be discriminating against someone I can take him to my Equal Opportunity Advisor and have him disciplined or sacked.
I’m sorry but I no longer see it on a large scale, maybe 30 years ago, going into 2010? Nah. All that’s left is some disillusioned kids on the streets taking out their angst-ridden age-group predictabilities.
‘Street violence to blame, not racism’
Liz Porter
The Age
June 14, 2009
FORMER Australian Medical Association president Mukesh Haikerwal, savagely bashed last year, believes the recent attacks on Indian students, while dismaying, are basically unrelated to issues of racism…
Lifting the veil on our ingrained racism
“Racism in Australia is pervasive, part of the fabric of everyday life and normalised in ways that render it invisible and make it one of the strongest forms of structural violence.”
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/lifting-the-veil-on-our-ingrained-racism-20090612-c637.html
white denial, lol
Violence against Indian students in Australia: the class issues
Laura Tiernan
WSWS
June 13, 2009
Protests by Indian students in Australia over the past 12 days have brought to light an ugly under-current of violent and racist attacks that have produced outrage and deep concern among many ordinary people in both India and Australia. Once again the suppressed tensions produced by social inequality and decades of free market policies have erupted in a malignant and reactionary form with “foreigners”—this time Indian students—subjected to racist abuse and violence…
someday kicks @ndy ass ..i wil[l] do it if he gives me his address..what poor bugger..he is frog of the well who never been to outer world..let me stay in well otherwise..if he tries to come out of the well..i will drive off car left front wheel over [h]is head..bugger..go stand in line at centerlink [sic]
Bathtub full of powertools.
Good to see you’re giving a voice to undiscovered stream of consciousness poets, @ndy.
I think this is just a sign of the times in Australian cultural life. I think that we as decent Australians [no matter what our racial background is], should side with the Indian visitors and students against these attacks, and I think that the Indian government has every right to be concerned about its citizens abroad. I just hope that the people of India realize that the criminals that have attacked and murdered some of their people here in Australia are looked on as the scum of the earth by most of our society, and I suspect that most of the perpetrators of these crimes are lower class thrill-seeking teenagers and young adults (which is a sad state of human existence that anyone should degenerate into a Neanderthal thug- they themselves are a product of our society in many ways- the sort of people that have fallen through the cracks of healthy social development), just simply because anyone who murders and attacks another human being is a vile disgrace.
I stand with the Indian residents in Australia and support them fully.
Mate I don’t really think it’s racism. It’s more about opportunism.
So many times I’ve been out late at night in the city and there is a little Indian with his laptop who’s probably 5’6 and weighs 60kg ringing wet walking home.
Because they work long hours and study long hours and don’t have much money they often make long commutes by themselves at all hours of the morning coming back from work. Because they don’t have much money they are also forced to ride public transport late at night when most of us would drive.
It’s about picking an easy target. I’m not really sure if you can call it racism when the attacks have been perpetrated so far groups of people from Asian, Caucasian and Middle Eastern backgrounds.
Is everyone out to get them? No. They are just easy victims. I’m sure if i was walking home by myself through the city late at night i would probably have a much higher chance of being attacked myself.
I think it just highlights a bigger issue which is not based on race at all. Which is the high levels of assaults. I’ve got mates who’ve had knives pulled on them and been bashed late at night. Just because we are all Caucasian doesn’t mean I’m not going to turn around and say it must be racism. It’s just opportunism. Every time they were by themselves or with only one other person, and it mainly happened when we were closer to 18 and much smaller.
I think Jamie R makes some good points about the naivety of the Indian students, they should take more care to protect themselves and learn a bit about the area they reside in. At the same time these attacks are clearly racist – there is no doubt about it. In London we have a fair few Aussies about and they tend to go and live in the shabbier areas too since they don’t earn much money. London is far rougher than Melbourne as far as I know but they wouldn’t get attacked just for being out of place, and Aussies are seen as being fairly soft over here when compared with other ethnic groups (ironically enough including Indians and Pakistanis). Everything is different country to country I guess but I think the reason people have jumped on this story is that Australia has a reputation for being racist. The European immigrants who went to Australia all those years ago and their descendants who now run the country didn’t care for the language of the locals or their culture – they just overran them and killed masses of them. Now they complain that Australia is losing its identity! It lost it hundreds of years ago and those that have now populated the country beyond all others (the whites) should realise that what goes around comes around. Australia’s 18 million or so white people will not be able to resist the five billion non white people around the world who demand a piece of this world for themselves for too much longer. I think it’s time to quit the crap and unite. Its the only hope for the Aussies – you can’t afford to lose trade with an emerging giant like India.