The Forum > Article Comments > The Bolt saga detracts from RDA reform > Comments
The Bolt saga detracts from RDA reform : Comments
By Dilan Thampapillai, published 20/3/2014Bolt wanted an apology from Marcia Langton, and got one. The plaintiffs in Eatock v Bolt wanted one, but had to sue to get it.
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Aggressors attack by drawing attention to skin colour for the same reason. It may well be the only point of difference they perceive so they use that to try and put an aboriginal person down. It is an act of aggression – it is not an act of racism. They attack people because they are different and difference can be a cause of insecurity. Those girls may well have attacked others that day but by focusing on other differences.
It only inflames the situation when such behaviour is described as racist. People who need to verbally abuse others do so because they are very insecure in their own identity. They do not discriminate about who they hurt – they want to hurt everyone. They know what insecurity feels like and they know how to hurt others who may feel insecure for some reason. A secure person will not be hurt by their abuse but not everyone faces their insecurities and takes responsibility for how they react to such attacks.
We have laws to deal with violence because violence hurts even those who cannot be hurt by words. It does not mean that without legislation we are helpless in the face of those who aim to hurt by words. Bus companies have codes of conduct that allow them to call security or police whenever someone is acting in such a way that threatens the peace of anyone on a bus. Peer pressure from other passengers, phone cameras and security cameras all contribute to making a bus safer from violence. Changing legislation to curtail speech is never going to be valid unless it protects every citizen and at what cost?