I ask you Joshua, which is the greater crime, bashing an innocent citizen and stealing everything they have on them, or calling the perpetrator a 'coon'?

I had a long response prepared for this well intentioned but poorly researched article then remembered that rational argument is illegal in Australia when the subject is racism, so I scrapped it.

The bottom line is you discuss a couple of isolated personal experiences then generalise by extrapolating them to national level, with no examination of the underlying causes.

I'd like to know if Joshua Lloyd only knows derogatory english name calling or is he aware of derogatory indigenous name calling as well. If so, why doesn't he write them as well for the sake of a fair comparison. Perhaps fairness isn't a popular word with the ignorant academic bleaters of discrimination.

Good article.
Actually Individual, I can't think of any derogatory names Indigenous Australians call white Australians. I know of specific words such as migloo and gubba, but these are descriptive words, like Victorian etc.

To be racially specific, I think you will find that there is the adjective of 'white' added to other profanity, when an racial insult is intended.

The only word that really seems to get a rise out of non-Indigenous people is not even racial - the word is Racist.

If a non-Indigenous person is called a Racist they seem to really take offence- even when it is true. Kind of funny really.

Well, certainly no perls of wisdom, out of the mouth of this babe.

I wonder what he'll think, if he ever grows up, & gets free of the anti white racism of many of our academic institutions. Try Bronwyn Winters bit, if you doubt this.

the author is naive if he thinks that low employment among aboriginals is because of racism. Numerous mining companies and government agencies have given employment opportunities to many aborigines. The reality is that the vast majority of families are dysfunctional in a big way. Even the individuals who want to do the right thing are dragged down by a culture of alcohol, bludging and abuse. Few are willing to turn up to work and are expected to attend funerals on a very regular basis often halfway across the country. IF racism is telling the truth then so be it most are racist. The reason the prisons have large amounts of aboriginals is because they commit much more crime than the average population. No doubt that also means we are racist to many. In many towns the police force could be reduced massively if not for aboriginal crime. Academics and journalist who teach an unbalanced view of history are the ones who should really be blamed for this dysfunction as they continually promote a victim status. People caught up in famine and poverty in other nations would not believe how many services as well as free food, grog and clothes being given to people who won't work.

The key issue, I believe, is not the extent of racism and other prejudices, but what to do about them. I had hopes of the school systems, once they realised that they needed to do something about openly prejudiced teachers and students, and once the systems developed policies on racism and on indigenous people. Yet it is plain that they are at best partly successful. Not only is racism still easily found amongst young and fairly young people, it has been easy for politicians and shock jocks to develop new prejudices, which become widespread, and which take huge efforts to combat. Schools, anti-discrimination bodies, NGOs and the courts are not enough.

What else can be done?