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The Forum > Article Comments > Project Bantu: refugee youth finding their way through Capoeira Angola > Comments

Project Bantu: refugee youth finding their way through Capoeira Angola : Comments

By Kali Goldstone and Raphael Brasil, published 21/6/2011

A holistic approach to refugee resettlement in Australia through Afro-Brazilian culture.

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It would be a revealing scenario if Australia was ever subject to imperialistic invasion - and the white bread sensibilities of some on this forum were challenged.

If, at some juncture, our society turned "extremely violent", it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the LEGOs and individuals (and their ilk) of this country would be the first ones flapping their checkbooks around trying to secure passage out of here.
Posted by Poirot, Friday, 24 June 2011 9:12:30 AM
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Hi LEGO

To answer your question, I’m an Australian who lives in Brazil (I suppose you could figuratively call me an “export” – apparently we exist after all, that is me and the other 86, 276 people that left Australia last year http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/05emigration.htm).

You’re right, Brazil does have its problems, just like everywhere else in the world, however these problems are more related to a history of colonial government and uneven distribution of wealth (which is an unfortunately familiar story throughout the world, and one of the many great legacies of your beloved white brethren) rather than overpopulation or some genetic predisposition to crime, a theory which you appear to subscribe to.

I also thought it might be fun to throw in a couple of facts (please note, I have chosen to use publicly-recognised statistical data rather than hand-picked anecdotes which have no doubt been sourced from Today Tonight):

1. Brazilians are not Hispanics.
2. In regards to a cost-benefit analysis of immigration in Australia, the Australian Government recently completed one on Australia’s humanitarian program (http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/research/_pdf/economic-social-civic-contributions-about-the-research2011.pdf), and found that it yields a “demographic dividend” due to the high rates of employment among refugees who settle in Australia, and the fact that their children are likely to be highly educated and are likely to work the majority of their lives in Australia.
3. According to the ABS, as at 30 June 2010, Australia was recorded as the country of birth for 80% (23,863) of all prisoners (sentenced and unsentenced). This was followed by New Zealand (3% or 842 prisoners), Vietnam (3% or 755) and the United Kingdom and Ireland (2% or 600).

I have been made to feel extremely welcome in Brazil, and can only hope that refugees and immigrants to Australia can one day experience the same level of courtesy. Much like Australia, Brazil is a country of immigrants, whose future prosperity depends on people living in harmony and treating each other with mutual respect – something which I hope one day we will achieve in Australia. Let's remember that our families were once immigrants to Australia too.
Posted by ausinbrazil, Friday, 24 June 2011 9:16:54 AM
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Hi ausinbrazil

Unlike Brazil, Australia does not have “problems” yet like the extrajudicial killings by police to try and control crime. Although people like yourself should be congratulated on your efforts to remedy that through the immigration of crime prone ethnicities. And if poverty causes crime, why is violent crime in Australia exploding during an age of unprecedented prosperity? And why are some of the poorest areas in rural Australia almost crime free? Perhaps you had better bone up on your criminology? No criminologist today would claim that poverty causes crime, because that is an easily disproved premise.

I see that you are another one using the “Blame the White Guy for Everything” explanation for all that ever went wrong in the world. That makes you just as big a racist as I am. Welcome to the club.

I am sure that there are plenty of official government policy papers written by recently naturalized “Australians” who are telling us just how wonderful immigration and multiculturalism is. But the only benefits which I can see, is an increase in employment opportunities for security guards, prison guards, police, lawyers, judges and an ever increasing army of social workers teaching "Bantus" to sing and dance to Brazilian sambas.

80% of prisoners may be “born in Australia” but that hardly refutes the fact that incarcerated criminals of Middle eastern, Pacific Islander, African, aboriginal, Romanian, and Vietnamese ethnicity are very disproportionately represented in violent criminal behaviour and drug trafficking. One senior police officer noted that it is the second generation “Australian born” who are most prone to committing criminal acts.

Finally, genetic predisposition to crime is already widely accepted in the scientific community. You might like to read the Australian Institute of Criminology’s publication (trends and issues, October 2003 Is There a Genetic Susceptability to Engage in Criminal Acts?)

Their conclusion? Well, ummmmm, well, the evidence is compelling, but we better keep this quiet and ignore the implications.

Food for thought, ausinbrazil, bon apetite.
Posted by LEGO, Friday, 24 June 2011 3:40:38 PM
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protecting" and have "worked for" is a "white" Australia,
morgonzola,
What exactly is your reasoning for bringing race into this ? The debate is about protecting our society which, in case you aren't aware of it, is made up of people from all over the world who came here because they appreciate what they see. Or, are you saying that the many non-white immigrants aren't interested in protecting the result of their efforts here ? Many non-whites from outside Australia obviously appreciate it why else would they take so many risks of getting here ? I think you're a fair way off the beaten track with your view of things. Have you ever tried to work for a living only to not give a hoot about protecting your aquisitions ?
You give the impression of being one of those silly ungrateful & unappreciative hangers-on.
Posted by individual, Friday, 24 June 2011 6:40:21 PM
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@ individual:

Firstly, I didn't bring race into it. My first comment was in response to the explicitly racist comments that preceded it. Also, could you please refrain from attributing imagined motives to what I say.

I can assure you that I both work and protect my "acquisitions". Where we seem to differ is apparently the degree to which we perceive our precious acquisitions are under threat, and the actual source of the threat.

In my case, I sleep quite soundly without fear of imminent social collapse, knowing that I live in one of the safest and stablest countries on the planet, where we celebrate ideals like mutual tolerance, mateship and a fair go. I'm sometimes mildly disturbed by the more extreme expressions of racial, sexual, cultural and religious bigotry that are part of our tradition of discourse, but hey, it's all part of the mix.

I won't engage in silly speculation about your own motives, work ethic etc, but it must be hard being fearful and angry all the time.
Posted by morganzola, Friday, 24 June 2011 10:21:19 PM
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Hi LEGO

I read the paper you referred to, interesting stuff – here are some excerpts below which I found particularly useful:

“Recent twin studies show persuasive evidence that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to antisocial behaviour. However the genetic evidence indicates that there is no single gene, or even a small number of genes, that predict an increased risk of antisocial behaviour. Where there have been some effects the increase in risk associated with antisocial behaviour is modest.”

It warns that heavy reliance on theories of genetic links to criminality “raise fears of a return to the type of state-sponsored intervention in reproduction, pre-emptive incarceration or medication, and scientifically sanctioned racism that earlier enthusiasms for biological explanations of crime have prompted.”

“The majority of genetic research on antisocial behaviours has been conducted on Caucasian populations, and does not aim to identify race-specific susceptibility alleles for antisocial behaviour. The polygenic nature of antisocial behaviour also means that even if a susceptibility allele is found at a high frequency in a particular ethnic group, it is likely that a different susceptibility allele will be found at a similarly high frequency in another ethnic group.”

So it seems environmental factors, rather than race, have an important part to play. If we accept your assertion that particular second-generation ethnic groups in Australia are over-represented among criminals, perhaps we should take some time to evaluate the Australian environment they have grown up in – no doubt marginalization and discrimination have largely featured.

I’m sure you will just interpret this evaluation as more “white man bashing” – haven’t we just had such a rough deal?

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

I hope you too will learn to love – not just those who are familiar and look like you, but also those who need it most.
Posted by ausinbrazil, Saturday, 25 June 2011 3:28:11 AM
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