Topic: Racism in Australia : Immigrants live in fear!
R .P. BenDedek
Administrator
Forumposts: 80
Articles: 593
Comments: 58
Racism in Australia : Immigrants live in fear!
Posted on: 09/17/05 at 03:03:07 AEST
The following comments are those posted at the Courier Mail Feedback Column (Brisbane Australia) in relation to an article entitled: Migrants say half assaults racial (17sep05)
I wrote this comment because I feel that society is just too free in it's quoting and it's acceptance of 'Research'. One cannot begin to insist that 'Reasearch' is Gospel, until one puts all the issues, (Assumptions and limitations) on the table. And even then, the research must be subjected to independent verification.
It is just too easy to read a negative report and arrive at definite conclusions about the 'fact' of the matter.
QUOTE: While 32 per cent of the general population feel very safe, only 24 per cent of the Vietnamese and Middle Eastern migrants felt that way...... I'M SORRY but I can't understand the fuss.
If the statistics said 70% of 'others' felt safe but only 24% of migrants, then perhaps there is an indication of a significant problem. But the discrepancy between the two groups, no matter how real, cannot be stated as an evidentiary fact, based solely upon an 8% variance.
Being a 'migrant' (I live in China) brings with it, it's own increased sense of apprehension and mistrust, as well as a raised security awareness, that can easily account for the reason that fewer migrants feel as safe as others.
Quote: The findings of a new study based on the survey indicate 38 per cent of actual attacks are perceived as being racially motivated. This compares with just 12 per cent of attacks for the general population and eight per cent of threats.
Sorry! But if you are the victim of an attack, it does not make you feel better that you were not 'attacked for the colour of your skin or your accent'.
I don't question the motives of the researchers for this study, HOWEVER, there are so MANY reasons why people are attacked. If a Vietnamese boy 'looks' GAY, do we claim that he was attacked for being a Migrant or for being gay? It really does not matter for which reason he was attacked.
No amount of social education about 'racial equality' and 'multiculturalism' will change the violent natures of violent people, who at the end of the day 'need no particular excuse' for their actions.
I see this report as just another 'fear and/or guilt' dump on society at large. In my life I have been abused for being Jewish, German, Catholic, Protestant, Rich, intellectual, Male, Straight, and Gay. The abusive person is 'abusive' and the most 'obvious' excuse is the easiest, even if what is obvious is not true.
Let's bash the wog! may be what someone says, but is it the truth. How many 'foreigners' (eg: Chinese) are actually 4th or 5th generation Australians? Is the Asian appearance the excuse or the reason? Because if it is the reason, then the 4th or 5th generation Asian is MORE AUSTRALIAN than the second generation 'Aussie!'.
Do Australian born Vietnamese feel more or less secure than the new migrants? Do the Australian born Vietnamese have a similar level of opinion as that of the new Vietnamese immigrants?
I feel that this article is far too sweeping. It projects a 'popularist image', without there being any substantial evidence to support the notion that 'Australia' is a place for migrants to live in fear. --------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.couriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16633426%255E1702,00.html
The original article may be viewed at the http address listed above. When that article is archived and is no longer available to the general public, readers may request a copy of the original article from KingsCalendar (Under the terms of Private Non commercial Use)
She said that she like my article and wanted to know if I would be interested in writing something for them on the issue of Multiculturalism, and in particular, on issues related to 'fear' and 'harmony'.
HERE IS WHAT I WROTE.
My name is R.P.BenDedek. Well actually it is not. It is the name I write under. I have a website and a newspaper column in America, and in addition to more serious stuff, I write photographic articles about China (where I live and work) as well as social commentaries on varieties of issues.
I was asked to write something for this site, a site I might add, that I cannot view from China. As I understand it, the object is to share thoughts and opinions about our 'multicultural Australia'. (Yeah! I am Australian - from Brisbane).
Because I am rather frank and straightforward when I write, I sometimes come in for abuse, often being called a 'racist'. But the truth is that I am not!
I am Caucasian - white! Within my family, there are the Japanese (Mum's favourite Auntie), Italians, Greeks, Russians, Germans, Irish and Scots (not the pom's thank God) and a rather odd assortment of other people. My Sister married a part Aboriginal, and it shows in the features and colour of one of her kids in particular, (and 'her' kids as well). One of my sisters grandkids married a Vietnamese, as did also my cousin. My youngest brother's first wife was also aboriginal, and his second wife is Asian. The next brother down has a wife and child who are Chinese (born and living in China). My eldest daughter was married to a Philippino (they got divorced - without kids), and a daughter in law is Indian (and Muslim). One Grandchild is obviously Asian (Thailand) and another not so obviously Chinese. I went to schools that were well mixed racially and religiously, and spent the last few years of high school, working before and after school in my parents shop, in a predominantly Italian and Greek community.
Because my cousin was in the American Air force in Vietnam and had a Vietnamese wife, and because his mother's family were married into Aboriginal communities, whenever we had parties at his home, the place was full of whites, blacks and Asians, a fair number of which I was related to either by blood or marriage.
I could now talk about religion but that would be a whole other long and boring story. Suffice it to say, I grew up seeing people as people and not this and that.
Nevertheless, I have a very big problem when it comes to this political football known today as 'Multiculturalism'. Like so many 'isms', it has become a 'weapon' in the hands of fanatics who seek to dominate all around them; setting themselves up as 'gods' whose laws and statutes must be obeyed or you get sent to hell.
Multiculturalism is supposed to be about welcoming other cultures, and sharing in their culture, but what it has become, is a tool in a very decidedly vicious attack on 'Australian' and western culture, in an attempt to overthrow the 'norms' of society so that 'anything and everything goes' (meaning that everything is permissible).
We have forced down our throats that we must respect other cultures. It should not have to be forced, because it is the right thing to do. But then, 'lack of respect' is classified as being anything you do or say, that does not hold up another culture or ethnic person on a pedestal. (If they are white Australian it doesn't matter). And when you express an opinion that does not support this goal, you are immediately branded 'racist and discriminatory'. And this of course is the final goal of the activists who push this doctrine.
The real aim and objective, is not to raise other cultures to mystical heights for us to worship, but to guarantee that they (the politically motivated activists) can 'control' society, so that no one will ever have the right to express their true feelings about the personal activities of the activists themselves. In short, they use the term and accusation 'racist', to silence all negative public expressions against 'everyone and everything'.
Multiculturalism has been hijacked by base people trying either to make their 'marginal' lifestyles become the 'norm', or at least to become 'protected'.
What has happened as a result of this, is that Australians are beginning to feel under obligation to become what they are not, and to adopt cultural practices or ideas with which they have no affinity, and in the process, feel that they cannot 'be natural', 'speak the truth' about anything, or 'have an opinion' that is not officially sanctioned.
It's like being in a pressure cooker, and one day, there will be a violent explosion, as average Australians refuse to be told what to think and believe and feel about just about everything.
From this perspective then, one of the negative things that a migrant might feel in Australia, even if it is not spoken or actively demonstrated, is that they 'do not really belong'; that no one wants to know them.
Historically however, this is just not true. We are a country of migrants, coming from vastly different backgrounds. After the war, many people who were formally our enemies, (soldiers who fought for the other side for instance), were welcomed in Australia.
Naturally, 'foreigners' are kept at a distance for awhile while people work out what they are made of. The modern day multiculturalist can jump up and down and scream about this statement as much as they like, but you don't have to be a different colour, religion, or race, to find yourself in this very same situation, when you move into a small community. I have moved around enough in Australia, to speak with Authority when I say, I have been the outsider enough times to know, that it often takes a lot of time and patience to be 'accepted'.
Acceptance however, is not a right! It is something you gain as you demonstrate your good character, and willingness to 'enter in' to community life. Living in China as I do, I know only too well what an 'outsider' feels like, and also know only too well, how it feels to know when I am accepted as one of the family.
I was at a friends house having lunch one day, when I got up from the table and went to the rice cooker, lifted the lid, and helped myself to more rice. There was a sudden burst of laughter, accompanied by many remarks in Chinese. When I asked what was going on, my friend turned to me and laughed, "Grandma says that now she KNOWS that you feel like a member of the family - you help yourself!"
From time to time we read reports in the paper of how some 'racially motivated' attack occurred, or how an 'anti-gay' attack occurred. It is so easy to call an attack on a migrant 'racist', or on a gay person 'homophobia', but the reality is that being abused, attacked or robbed, is rarely the result of being different, in a society where everyone 'is different'.
People cop abuse and are attacked firstly because it is in the nature of the perpetrator of the violence to behave this way. They need no excuse at all. That they 'use' an excuse, is a mere convenience for them; a way to 'justify' their behaviour in their own imaginations.
Another reason why people get attacked, irrespective of race, colour or creed, is that they don't use common sense. If I, a white guy, gets beat up in a dark alley late at night, everyone says, "What were you doing there! You should have known better!" But if the victim is 'a protected species', then obviously the attack was racially motivated.
When it comes to common sense, it often appears that young people have none, for in their fervent 'faith' in 'my human rights', they will often speak and behave unwisely in a potentially explosive situation. So naturally, when the trouble breaks out, 'it wasn't my fault!'
That my in fact be true, but if only you had used some wisdom!
One of the results of these constant accusations that 'we Australians' are racists, is that 'we Australians' feel that 'we' in fact, are the victims of 'reverse racism'. Our culture, our traditions and especially our religious beliefs are publicly denigrated, despite the fact that such behaviour is by definition, discriminatory.
I think it is fair to say, that Australians could care less where you come from, what religion you are, what language you speak, or what your affiliations are, as long as you make the effort to 'be Australian'; to be one of us, and not 'one of them!'
As a 'foreigner', you undoubtedly feel that you have to watch your 'P's & Q's, which means, you have to be careful not to offend anyone. Well, I can tell you, that the average Aussie today, finds him/herself in the same situation. We have been through the whole feminist thing, where you got into trouble no matter how you addressed a woman; you got accused of being chauvinistic if you did or did not open a door for a woman; where you were impolite if you did not offer your seat to a woman and yet got abused if you did: 'What? You think I am such a weak wilting lily that I can't stand for 10 minutes?"
I think that the average Australian today is constantly, paranoically, and pathetically on guard against saying or doing the wrong thing, and worried that even the best intentions will be misread.
Our traditional culture taught us 'to give 'em a fair go!' and as many of us fight to 'retrieve our culture', I hope that this attitude takes root again, and instead of people insisting on their rights, that they begin to think about the feelings of others!
I'm not sure if this makes sense to a new Australian, but I hope that one day it does, and that you can understand that the best way to go through life, is by following your path and experiences and not allowing your head and heart to be filled with false, overstated or unfounded fear.
Welcome to Australia!
R.P.BenDedek.
Hubei Radio &Television University Wuhan. Hubei GuangBo DianShi DaXue (LuXiang) (+86) (027) 8752 6349
Logged
