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The Forum > Article Comments > Defining racism > Comments

Defining racism : Comments

By Anthony Dillon, published 9/3/2012

Is a law racist just because it affects one race more than others, or must there be other elements?

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1. I checked with the university and he does not have a doctorate so don't know how he gets off on claiming this.
2. There are just so many things wrong with this piece of opinion that it would take forever to unpack even its most glaring mistakes let alone the more subtle or simply ignorant declarations.
3. This man is either suffering from a mental illness or is on the verge of a breakdown - and is clearly in denial about it.
Posted by Rainier, Friday, 9 March 2012 5:17:56 PM
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Dr Dillon,
as you are a man who identifies as Aboriginal, you would know the literature and research on how racism, overt, covert and structural, combine to negatively affect Indigenous Australian health outcomes.

Sure, not all foot-in-mouth statements and meant to be racist but the socialisation of mainstream Australia to look down on Indigenous Australians is a fact of history and can be interpreted as racism. When racism is so pervasive, due to the historic social structure of racist laws that enabled colonisation, and it being such an everyday experience for many of our mob it is easy to understand how some people's actions are seen as racist - rather than them just being an ignorant mean so-and-so.

Racism directly affects an Indigenous people's (and probably other ethnic minorities) prospects of gaining employment. When educational outcomes are the same or better, and still sidelined in employment it is pretty obvious that education is not the panacea. So education is not the only answer - racism needs to be discussed and addressed. Education is just part of a complex set of issues that need to be addresses in order to achieve equality.

I find it interesting that you deny the cultural and spiritual differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians when there is considerable evidence to the contrary. On what basis do you make these claims? Have you researched Indigenous theory and mainstream theory to the extent that you can make such a statement? If so I would very much like to see your research.
Posted by Aka, Friday, 9 March 2012 5:34:41 PM
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Rainier,

1. Look a bit more closely.

2. What ? So you're just too busy to actually spell out the issues that you want to complain about ?

3. So you resort to personal attack ? That's usually a sign that you have nothing else to say, only p*ss and wind.

'The rest is silence' ?
Posted by Loudmouth, Friday, 9 March 2012 6:18:19 PM
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Rainier, if he doesn't have a PhD how is it that he is a Post Doc and has a Discovery Grant, according to his university's website http://www.uws.edu.au/cppe/postgraduate_study/anthony_dillon.
Posted by GrahamY, Friday, 9 March 2012 6:23:33 PM
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My mistake Graham, I retract. I'm even more disturbed by his opinions now.
Posted by Rainier, Friday, 9 March 2012 9:27:15 PM
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I suppose what I find disturbing is that Dillon generalizes and uses the (un cited) words of 'activists' without ever saying who they are. He then makes a quantum leap and uses this to 'suggest' all Aboriginal people share these views and that "Aboriginal people" do not have a nuanced and critical understanding of racism and when it is (or is not!) a factor in social and cultural interactions with other peoples or institutions. He sets up this straw man arguement from which he then emerges as the voice of reasonableness and clarity. Clever yes, but absolutely lazy in every other way.
Posted by Rainier, Friday, 9 March 2012 9:44:27 PM
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