Keith, thanks for that, looks very interesting. I'll wait til 4 of 4 are in before responding. I also received your email, but my acknowledging reply was bounced back for some reason. Cheers.

•About our ethnic mates and media constructions of invisible whiteness.

While commendable that many Australians pride themselves on not seeing the ‘ethnicity’ of the ‘mates’ they inherently know (and like to proclaim loudly like its a public service broadcast) when someone is not ‘all Australian’, and one often hears pronouncements by 'real Australians' (and ‘Ethnic' assimilators alike) that others or themselves are ’half Lebanese’Aboriginal, a quarter this or that.

This is a language that is very much embedded into the rituals of nationalism - these are rationalisations that intimately linked right back to the first fleet. My point is that this is measured up against notions of purity of “Australianness” a purity that is Anglo, white and unquestionable authenticity.

By denying race and racialization plays a role in how public discourses play out in situations mayt give comfort to our self flagellating egalitarianisms, but it denies whole chunks of social history.

As I’ve stated in previous posts, white Australians do think of themselves as a dominant ethnic group and often refuse to see this same ethnicity as dominant and causative to how Australian society is organised and plays a pivotal role in how they go about discussing issue of race and ethnicity. I’m not ascribing blame, just naming what I see happening every time issues of race and ethnicity become national issues of concern.
Of course not one wants to be called a racist, but this doesn’t mean racism is not at play, however benign and or latent.

When news media report on these issues they lend from a long history of reporting on issues, a glossary of ready made language triggers and texts that do not identity and keep comfortable white Australian notions of their invisible‘ethnicity’. In other words white Australian need to get comfortable with discussing these issues as racial issues – this also requires them to name and understanding their own social, cultural and ethnic agency in a much more sophisticated way than they do now. And the media can play a pivotal role in this as well. I think this is what Dirk is on about

Thanks Rainier for a useful contribution. It is a welcome change from the reactionary knee-jerk posts that are more about justifying one's own political/ethnic/racial/ stance

Rainer

Sorry, it has nothing to do with race. If so the Chinese would be the target as they are far more dominant in south and south western sydney. It is purely cultural and religous.

I am, along with so many others are sick of this race issue. Religion is not a race. Culture should NOT be legalised and cultural changed forced upon people as if it is a race issue. religion SHOULD NEVER be forced on to people. End of story.

Try to undertstand the difference.

Verdant, Convince me that it isn't racism. Simply expressing indignation that I do not wish to identify these phenomena your way is not enough.

To me this is a new racism that is much more subtle and even depersonalizes prejudice against persons of colour. It is still prejudice based on notions of racial inferiority.

This new racism represents and articulates itself as increasing intolerance towards cultural and ethnic diversity. The rioters I saw on TV were very clear about who they wanted to target and they didn’t in this by declaring ‘culture’. It was directed toward Lebs, wogs, and anyone who wasn’t white it seemed. I saw no Koori's amougst them.

Even cultural anthropologists who study cultures would agree that hate is not simply motivated by cultural differences alone. You don't explain how it not racial but simply defer to cultural explanations because it feels less morally corrupt.

To those of us that know racism (and pretending to be colour/culture blind is one form of racism) this convenient segway into cultrualism sticks out a mile. Racism is racism and calling it for what it is – is the first step to fixing it.

How exactly do we eradicate 'racism'? It is hardly a fixed state, it is more fluid and transient, insidious and overt 'emotion'. Our dear friend Rainier may be expressing a more passive kind of racism towards whites, and the Cronulla troublemakers a more overt 'racism' towards leb 'aussies".

I personally think racism is another word for anger (one that is directed towards another's ethnicity). We all know we can be angry one day, happy another - we are all guilty as hell!

How is the Black Panther movement these days Rainier? BLACK POWER, I SAY!

Anyway, Dirk Moses needs to get a head check. Ethnic violence is now a reality in Australia. All sorts of 'gangs' (kids from dysfunctional families usually), Cambo Clowns (Cambodians), FOB's (fresh off the boats)and assorted stupid names they can come up with. In fact the other night there was a machete attack downtown Springvale (a HOLE - thank god I left): I am a perfect example of 'white flight' with no shame whatsoever. Sudanese refugees are planned to be dumped in my area, yay, they fit in so well?