Or is it just like other countries where the racist are in the minority?

I'm back and forth about my beliefs as to whether or not the majority of Australians are racist people.I know that there are probably more well known outright racist people in Australia than in other countries.Even though racism is all around.

But I wonder if Pauline Hanson, Andrew Fraser and some others are really the voice of the silent racist. Somethings just don't add up,maybe some Australians are pretending to like the new Mulitcultural Australia so they won't be seen as racist by some in their communities. Behind closed doors they create all kinds of trouble for the people they openly support and then silently hate. And some of these people want multiculturalism to fail because they don't see any use in it.

Australians give lots of money to charities and to people of all colours all around the world, but is it because some see giving to those with less as helping out, or do they see these others as hopeless uncivilized people who are not intelligent enough to keep things going and feel sorry for them.Do some silent racist want the people they give charity to as apart of their everyday communities? I'll say that there is a good percentage of non racist who truly have no problem living with other races and cultures. Its just that the Slient racist are dangerous for multicultural/racial Societies because the cause destruction, crime and anti-social activity.

Most people who toss about words like “racist” and “racism” invariable don’t understand what the words mean.

Racism is defined as 1.”the belief that human races have distinctive characteristics which determine their respective cultures, usu. (usually) involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has a right to rule or dominate others. 2. offensive or aggressive behaviour to members of another race stemming from such a belief. 3. a policy or system of government and society based upon it.” (The Macquarie Dictionary, 1985 revision)

Before your question can be answered, Amel, respondents are entitled to know if you are referring to this basic definition – i.e. are you asking if Australians do, in fact, demonstrate the characteristics of racism as referred to above.

Or, like many people, do you use the words racist and racism merely to describe people whose views you don’t like?

It depends what you call racism! Its such a loosely used word today. I mean it’s the word of choice for any whining person who is not white and did not get what they want.

When you look at it from a global prospective Australia would be in the top 5% of least racist countries in the world! That’s because we are a majority white country who are civilized. While at the bottom would be the countries we accept refugee’s from because they are usually fleeing civil wars because they cant even get along with there fellow countrymen let alone foreigners. Which makes me wonder is it just a big mistake that we accepting large numbers of immigrants from these countries or very big mistake?

As we all know the biggest problem with basket case countries is that they have to many people with basket case mentalities and shipping people with this sort of attitude to Australia can only have a negative effect on this country.

I very much doubt that there are many people who are racist in the way the word is perceived e.g. racist want to gas all the jews shoot all the aboriginals and hang anyone else who is not white.

I think most if not all people are tribalistic towards their own ethnicity in the same way we are towards our family and friends.
Is it ok to give someone a job because they are a family member and over look someone else who isn’t? Yes
Is it ok to give someone a job because he is a mate of yours and over look someone else who is not? Yes
Is it ok to give someone a job because they are white/aussie and over look someone else who is not? No because that means you hate everyone who is not white are a memeber of the KKK and Nazi party.

What I am trying to say is that people will always look out for there own wheather they be family friend or countrymen and if that makes people racist well I guess we all are.

All people are racist in one form or another. When you look at the number of people wanting to immigrate to Australia one can only conclude that we are less racist than some other nations. Racism is probably one of the most overused words around today. The greatest racism I have witnessed among Australian born people has been black man against black man. The family feuds over women and territory goes on for generations. I am sure many will consider me a racist simply for this observation. Often in the town I live in the whites are racially abused. A great big deal is made out of it if a white man racially abuses a black man.

The term "Racism" is definitely overused. Genetics has shown us more than anything that "race" is a complete construct and doesn't mean anything at all in terms of ability, intelligence or wisdom. In general, I believe that most Australians don't like D*ckheads and don't mind saying so. D*ckheads in any group that are partially (or mostly) separated from the rest of society reflect badly on that group as a whole, it is a tribalism thing. The "multicultural" industry strives to separate groups from each other, to resist the melting pot. The ideal is that everyone would be an Australian, not a this-Australian or that-Australian. No White Australia, no Black Australia, just Australia.

So if ones of your mates is acting like a D*ckhead, you would tell him so right? But if someone of another race tells him hes a D*ckhead, then thats racism? How stupid is that?

@Easytimes

Maybe its the loosely used word for people who are not white, and who are tired of racism.

Quote:

""When you look at it from a global prospective Australia would be in the top 5% of least racist countries in the world! That’s because we are a majority white country who are civilized. While at the bottom would be the countries we accept refugee’s from because they are usually fleeing civil wars because they cant even get along with there fellow countrymen let alone foreigners.""

Really? In the top 5% of least racist countries. As I said before I believe that theres a good percentage of Australians who are not racist like every where else in the world.But I still think theres a big percentage of silent racist. I could also get into Australia history and some majority white countries history,but thats another story.


I notice that you and some others think the word racist is over used.Is it because you don't care about racism because it doesn't really affect you?

Ofcourse all immigrants will not be good for a country just like some citizens,but if a country is willing to except immigrants to create a proper multicultural society then they would know that there are a few bad ones.

But when you set things up to fail it will, and so the people(some quietly) who want multiculturalism to fail can then say why did we get into this in the first place. 'We didn't want to give away are jobs but they force us to but we spoke out and now look'. When some deep down inside hate the idea of others because they see their ethnic group as superior. Most of the time it hardly has anything to do with looking out for ones family and friends or ethnic group. Some would never work and don't want to work at the jobs they talk about losing their just there to cause failures

Australia is a democracy.

A democracy recognizes individual rights.
Individual rights means that some folk, a minority, have a democratic right to be racist, like the Mad Mufti.

A democracy is also tolerant. Limits to how far a racist can go in promoting his or her views is regulated by law but provided a racist conducts and exercises his racism within the confines of the law, he is legal entitled to do so.

So “Is Australia Racist”.

Only someone who does not understand the nature of a democracy would bother to ask that question.

Better a question be asked by an educated source than an ignorant one. Racism and ignorance tend to go hand in hand and ultimately merge, to become confused and confusing.

As a nation-state that was founded on the expropriation of Indigenous people from their lands, that passed numerous laws directed at Chinese and Aboriginal residents, that denied citizenship to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, that enacted the White Australia policy etc etc etc, Australia certainly has had a history of explicit and institutionalised racism for much of its existence.

However, since the 1960s Australia and its constituent States have progressively removed virtually all legislative and regulatory instruments that discriminated against people on 'racial' grounds, so I don't think that it's accurate to say that Australia is a racist country today, at least on Leigh's definition.

On the other hand, there are still an awful lot of racist sentiments harboured and expressed by individual Australians - you can read plenty of them in this very forum. Whether or not the proportion of Australians who hold such views is greater than in other countries is a moot point. I'm not aware of any reliable statistics that might elucidate this, however it is obvious that certain politicians rely on a substantial vote from this sector of the electorate when they engage in tactical racist 'dog-whistling' to stay in, or seek, power.

Australia is therefore not a racist country (any more), but I think that a large proportion of the Australian population still harbours racist sentiments. These racist sentiments usually remain latent, until for example, a riot occurs on a Sydney beach, or the Federal government wants to resettle a few Sudanese families into a provincial city.

I suspect that a lot of people see the symptoms of a desire not to be imposed on by those with different cultural values and mistake it for racism.

The term gets misused to describe adverse reactions to groups where race is not the defining characteristic (the anti muslim brigade mostly don't seem to care what race a muslim is, it's their beliefs and the suspected impact on australia of those beliefs that they are frightened of). In other cases race may be more relevant but often the core issue seems to be concern about cultural values rather than skin tone or the shape of a nose.

I favour multiculturalism and think that overall it benefits Australia however that does not mean that we have always got the balance right.

Some are more concerned about where that will lead to than others of us. I tend to think that those who pose a threat are a small enough minority that the mainstream will win out, others disagree. That does not make them racist.

R0bert

Who said Australia isn't a Democracy?

The UK is also a Democracy,but does it have the reputation for being a racist country even though theres some racism there?*

No "country" is racist or non-racist. Some of the inhabitants of a country might be racist or non-racist. Some people in any country will object to people of different races coming to their country. Perfectly natural, and not racist in the true meaning of the word.

The fact that we have had so many people of different races coming to Australia in so short a time has naturally caused disquiet among Australians, just as it has in all nationalities taking in different people, willingly or unwillingly.

Many of the newcomers to Australia have show their own racism towards the host culture, and it is often forgotten that Australian lack of so-called racism is the reason we have a non-discriminatory immmigration policy that has seen people from every part of the world settle here in safety.

Much of the accusatlon of racism derives from another misunderstanding - the real meaning of multiculturalism and the difference between multiculturalism and multiracialism.

The worst cases of racism in Australia have nothing to do with Australians, but with disparate groups of immigrants who have brought their own racism to Australia - the latest example being the brawl at the tennis in which two ethnic groups clearly demonstrated racism and hatred.

Amel,
Australians are not racists I believe, the thing here is that we are having multiculti BS forced upon us. If they had a referendum tommorow the overwhelming majority would say no more thanks weve had enough. And there should be a referendum on such huge things as trying to engineer our society into some sought of feel good approach to world poverty. Remember Anglo societies are built on the notion of guilt most others are built on shame particularly those from the middele east and Africa. Thus moonbats white guilt compels them to want to save things be it people ,whales or ice caps.

Self preservation is not racism it is what it is, the Balkanisation of a country well then I think we are going to see real racism emerging. For this the blame will land fairly and squarely at the feet of academics, Keating, Hawke and now Howard as well as the moonbats like yourself. You guys are the real racists, your racist against your own.

I have to agree with those posters who have outlined that discriminatory views are more held against a culture than a race. This is demonstrated clearly by the anti-muslims. In no way can this view be said to be racist. We'll have to come up with a new term.

Heck, its basic human nature that no of us likes to be outside our comfort zones. Can we become bigger and better people by being outside of comfort zones - yes. Do we like it - no! So people tend to stick with their own race/religion/culture and view "others" with suspicion. Perfect non-racist example - my grandfather HATED the Irish, and HATED catholics. Given that he was white and christian, that certainly doesnt make him racist. Dont know what you'd call it really, other than just a personal view. He'd be rolling over in his grave now, as two of his grandchildren have married spouses of irish catholic descent! Just goes to show that these kinds of discrimination dont really that that much long term effect.

Seriously though, we have the right to be suspicious about the people that we let into this country, when they come from backgrounds of violence and hatred (I'll not call it racism). The hoons at the tennis need to take a lesson from the rivalry of the Aussies and Kiwi's, serious but not serious enough to HURT someone over.

I think that Australia is no more a racist than anybody else. It's a survival instinct to be a racist.

As a result we need to be careful that we don't become more violent towards each other, as has been clearly seen in other countries and our own, as we do not want antisocial and criminal behaviour to rule our streets.

We need to be taught to get on and be more understanding and considerate to our differences. No amount of pretending that we are the same is going to ever make a difference.

There is nothing wrong with being a racist, if we have freedom of choice we should be able to choose who we like - so long as we are respectful.

"you're racist against your own"

The mere suggestion of 'your own' is a strong indicator, I think, of underlying racism, or xenophobia under the guise of patriotism.

There was only one human race last time I checked. The world was round, too. We don't live in a multicultural country. We live in a multicultural world. If you aren't happy with that simple reality, there's always Mars.

Having said that, a lot of people appear to be suggesting an end to all immigration to this bit of land we happen to live on....maybe they're on to something. Insulating a continent from the rest of the world...yeah...can't see any problems there. North Korea do it, they seem to be doing alright.

Country Gal: I'm sorry, if hating the Irish (or people from any other country of origin) isn't racism, can you please explain what is? Do you really think it's not racism because their skin colour is the same?

@Jolanda

If you feel that its ok to be racist then thats your right. Just like the others. I wouldn't like to see any country opening up its door to just anyone.But the immigrants who live in Australia who are trying to become good citizen should be allowed to.

Then again you shouldn't feel insulted when people see some in Australia as racist and treat them that way.

spendocrat, go back to the definition posted by Leigh (2nd post I think). Hating the irish, english, greeks, kiwis, chinese, whatever, isnt racist if your dislike is one based on culture instead of skin colour. Is culturalist a word?? It would be a better fit.

This isnt to say it is any more beneign than racism, in fact it can be a lot worse. A true racist at least has the potential to feel benevolent towards the "inferior race" ("that poor fellow cant help it, he was BORN that way"). Culturalism is more likely to be based on hatreds, and thus has the potential to be more damaging. you may think that I am splitting hairs, but it is the different between superiority/inferiority and right/wrong. The difference is subtle but important.

As for me, my main gripe is telephone operators who have strong accents. Sorry, I am from the country, and thus am rarely exposed to strong foreign accents, and thus have a lot of trouble understanding them, especially when the person is speaking quickly. I have been accused of being racist simply for asking to speak to the supervisor of one operator, because I had extraordinary trouble understanding what was being said. I didnt care where they came from or what they looked like, I just wanted to speak to someone I could understand! Whatever happened to the customer being right? (yes you guessed it, it was Telstra!!).

Looks like one, smells like one....talks like one..

"Is culturalist a word?? It would be a better fit."

I think the word you're looking for is 'prejudiced'. But hating the Irish still fits most appropriately into 'racist', because it is hating the country of origin, not culture. You said he would have a problem with people of Irish descent - this would include people who may not exhibit any distinct cultural differences.

Your issue with struggling to understand strong accents is perfectly reasonable (I find it frustrating too), so long as you understand that its part of life - we live in a world that speaks more than one language. Not much that can be done to change it.

ANOTHER POINT TO MULTI-CULTURALISM... (not) Serb/Croat riots at the tennis.

Makes you ask "I thought they were 'Australians'"?

Hearing the back and forth of "They said.. He did, but they did" as each seeks to find moral justification for their own racist hatred of the others is sad.

This morning while on the tram going to spend some time with government officers in Melbourne, I was chatting to an Indian, who said "I've never experienced any racist Australians" then..at the Tram stop, I was chatting with a New Zealand Journalist on his way to cover 'round 2' of the Croat/Serb racist mini war, said "There are few countries as racist as Australia"

So, there you go. Pauline Hanson is much less of a 'racist' than people say in my opinion. I'll guarantee she has friends of many ethnicities and Indigenous also. Andrew Fraser is slightly different, as he 'seems' to have views which suggest he believes some races are inherrently superior. Pauline is not on about 'superiority' she is on about 'equality' and treating all the same. Which means.. ALL would be migrants are screened for disease rather than the 63% or so who WERE NOT within 12 months of arriving here.

Emphasizing difference= Serb/Croat Lebanese/Aussie Asian/Aussie Greek/Macedonian Bosnian/Serb Irish/English TROUBLE.

GOVERNMENT POLICY SHOULD REWARD INTER-RACIAL MARRAIGE. No, not because I'm married to a girl from another race. But breaking down racist barriers between Serbs and Croats would be achieved by intermarriage and so on with each group.

ONE NATION, ONE RACE, ONE CULTURE, as we reject racist barriers and embrace constructive Nationalism in its place, and regard people by the content of their hearts rather than the color of their skin or shape of their eyes or their ethnic history.

CJ. the only jackboots will be on the racists like you who seek to maintain division :)

Griffith in New South Wales has been long held up as an example of successful integration of cultures and multiculturalism. From recent news reports it has become a pretty ugly place with cultural clashes and racially based gangs who trash and bash anything and everyone. The entry of Lebanese Muslims to Australia in the 1970’s has been a disaster that we will be paying for forever. Their manipulation of social welfare is legendary and their entry into insurance fraud, drugs and car rebirthing has taken these activities to new heights at our cost. When they walk our streets under black sheets and promote their in your face religion they incite racism.

In answer to the original question, 'Is Australia really a racist country'...if the kind of people who comment on this forum are indicative of the population as a whole (I hold much faith that we aren't), then I think the answer is a resounding yes.

It's amazing. People don't even know they're doing it.

Person A: Is Australia racist?
Person B: Dunno but lebs and muslims blah blah on the streets blah blah fighting and stuff...
Person A: Uhm, thats kind of a racist response.
Person B: You cant call me racist because you disagree with me! Look around and you'll see lebs and serbs and muslims rah rah...
Person A: Doing it again...
Person B: But they ARE fighting and harrassing and blah blah

Incredible. As if Australians are somehow incapable of the behaviour you criticise. Incapable of being that offensive, yet minorities are constantly attacked. Incapable of racist comments, while making sweeping racist generalisations accusing minority groups of that very thing. Incapable of brawls, incapable of murder, warmongering, on and on.

One race. Humans. Some humans are bad. Some humans are good. Some because of the environment in which they were raised. Some just because.

I urge those who are determined to be suspicious of Islam to take a look into human history. See if you can find one event in the history of mankind in which total suspicion and fear of another group yielded a positive result.

Perhaps we can seek to examine why racism (or whatever you want to call it) exists. Is it because people characterise a group based on the behaviour of a few? Apart from what the media brings us (which we can all agree is a bucket of junk), we have only our own experiences to form our opinions. If the only interaction that we have with a "race" of people is bad, then we'll tend to form the opinion that they are all bad. If the interaction is good, then we'll be more generous with our opinions of the whole. Spendocrat, I am by no means trying to justify my grandfathers opinions (he died many years before I was born, so I've no particular emotional attachment other than the fact that he was an ancestor), but I'll come back to his example. In his day, the Irish he lived near WERE very Irish (he was born in the 1880's), so it WAS more of a cultural thing than a descendant thing. The irish settlers in his area had a reputation of drinking too much and working too little. Hence, the last of the irish families that owned any business in the area sold up in the 1960's (and most long before then). He saw this as a weakness, and attributed it to the group as a whole.

Likewise, we see idiots like that mad sheik, and unless we have other experiences to suggest otherwise, we'll see the group as such. This coupled with the fact that we have the human tendency to cling to the familiar, leads to discriminatory attitudes.

I'll propose though, that simply labelling groups by names and nicknames, is not racism as some suggest, unless it is particularly derogatory. Australians have a penchant for labelling - Aussies, kiwis, poms, micks, frogs, huns, yanks, fuzzy-wuzzies, croats, lebs.... none of these names are intended to insult, apart from push a little fun. There are names that ARE intended to insult, but I'm sure that we all have a fair idea of what these are, so no need to repeat here.

While many would agree with Country Girl that names such as pom, kiwi, aussie, leb, abo etc don't offend the majority it seems their are a minority who take offense. A bit like calling aussie women sheilas. Most women just accept, smile and generally don't take offense. It depends largely on the tone of the comments. Some women (dare say a minority) are probably not even offended by being called meat. Everyday you see men portrayed on movies as meatheads! The difficulty is where to draw the line.

Not to many people wake up in the morning and just decide to have negative racist attitudes. These attitudes develop over time and often due to exposure and experience.

People/groups get reputations for a reason, sometimes the reasoning is unfair but other times it isn't.

When people dont like each other it usually isn't because of the colour of thier skin or their place of birth it is usually because of perceived actions and or reactions.

There is nothing wrong with thinking that you are superior so long as you treat others and the law with respect.

I think the problem with Australia is the lack of differentation in the language. People are always lumped together and that is wrong and unfair. We are individuals. We might be of the same race but we are of different breeds and that is blatenly obvious as is the fact that we dont really all get on.

Somwhere between just a little bit and not too much.

All sorts of different racial and ethnic origins make up this country. People are only human. Says a lot about this place that people dont riot along ethnic lines every other month.

When are people like Amel going to stop using the racist tag and their own victim status to gain unfair leverage?

Amel ,if you want to know about real racism,go to Japan or China;but they are not easy targets like the self flagellating,guilt ridden Anglo Saxions who continually apologise for their success.

Jolanda ,
I find it very hard to believe you have said "there is nothing wrong with thinking you are superior", respect or no respect .
And of course you pass this kernel of Truth on to your Children.
This gives them some real good old Aussie values and prepares them for a productive life in a fair and just democratic society of one vote one value .[Remember]
Boaz david,
Your argument for true race intermarriage breaks down when the lovers are often faced with having to decide what religion their children are to be .How have you got around this problem?

kartiya jim. I didn't say that there was nothing wrong with thinking you are superior - respect or no respect.

I said that there was nothing wrong with thinking your superior so long as you treat others and the Law with respect.

When other people wan't to control your thoughts then your thoughts are no longer your own.

Arjay

Quote:

""When are people like Amel going to stop using the racist tag and their own victim status to gain unfair leverage?

Amel ,if you want to know about real racism,go to Japan or China;but they are not easy targets like the self flagellating,guilt ridden Anglo Saxions who continually apologise for their success"".

I never asked for anything or to be treated differently from anybody.

Actually a friend of mind is studying Journalism in Japan, and don't have to go to China because the Chinese are coming to Africa and other countries aswell.

In the last five years China's activity in Africa has swept the continent.

http://www.channel4.com/news/special-reports/special-reports-storypage.jsp?id=310

Nearly 700 Chinese companies operate in 49 countries
Trade has gone up three fold - to 30 billion dollars a year making China Africa's third largest rading partner - ahead of Britain.
Oil is the major interest - A quarter of Angola's oil goes to China.
And their stake's growing in Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, and Gabon

SPENDO...*ouch*.... were you giving me a mild verbal 'slap with a stinky trout' ?

Mate.. the point I mentioned about Serbs and Croats was current..

-it happened on the day. I didn't pluck it out of years back to support an argument.
-It has a history, and is widely known in the community.
-Same with other groups.

To mention OUTRIGHT racist violence among miniorities does not in the slightest manner reduce the validity and reality of it.

The topic is 'racism' and I point to the most blatant examples if it in living color. Are minorities who are 'habitualy and violently racist' out of all proportion to their representative numbers immune to legitimate criticism ?

Ok.. now its my turn *SLAP* with a large trout back at ya. You cannot defend the indefensible.

Far better is to identify the causes (multiculturalism) and look for solutions (Reward the fading of ethnic identity and encourage a stronger sense of being 'Australian')

Now there you go :) thats your daily dose of BOAZ wisdom. (batteries sold separately)

Amel

Where are you from? How long have you been here? I have been here over twenty years and I dont find Aussies that way at all. Are you sure your not just using a word for attention. What I have seen are ay happy people that Australia took them in. I guess if I were born here I would be concerned about too many arriving and wanting to keep it pro Aussie. There is nothing wrong with that.
Another thing Pauline is not racist. She simply [pointed out a few homes thruths. In Australia you are allowed to do that. Africans do spread aids but everybodys on their high horse again.
It seems to me that Aussies cant open their mouths to express any concerns at all without people like you calling them unfair names.
Antje Struthmann- loving! Aussies

Actually I'm here to voice my Opinion and learn a few things,if you don't feel Pauline Hanson is racist or believe in racism then you can always be quiet and/or go to another theard.

I never experienced racism when I was young, I am from Spain and quite fair but my husband is from Lebanon and my children look lebanese and I truly got the shock of my life. At first I didn't believe my husband that there was so much resentment and even hostility towards his colour and type as he is a very nice Australian guy. It has been an eye-opener, it even goes so far as people not accepting that he is Australian when he tells them he is an Aussie. They always insist on knowing the truth!

This problem is however not something that is limited to Australia - it is a well known fact and it is shown through History that different cultures do not always accept each other or get on and even actively harm each other. Why we keep turning a blind eye to to the truth is beyond me.

However my husband fully understands why this is happening as too many people from his background and colour cause too many problems and he doesn't blame fellow Australians for being worried, being irritable and/or even getting mad and even though he pays the price for it, he understands.

Neither my husband nor I think that Pauline Hanson is racist. She just says it as it is. Yes there are issues happening in Australia, as there are in every other country pretending they are not happening doesn't make them go away.

One of the biggest problems in Australia is the fact that Aussies like to put sh...t on people. They say it is for fun and it is only a joke but the problem is that the people that they are aiming it at have often had enough and have had difficult lives and they don't think that it is funny and they see it as a total lack of respect. If we could deal with that first, then I think it would help.

What an interesting array of comments, most of which are tending to try to define racism or take a personal experience/context line on it. I think it's unfortunate we don't look to history more often for the answers. Causes and effects: this is where some real answers can be found. Would you say the Nazi regime in Germany was racist or culturalist? Are the Jews a religious/cultural group or a race? The Mad Mufti's comments reminded me of the Nazis so, theoretically, if we could just weed out all the true Aryan Anglo Saxons and send them back to Mother England of Empire, which was responsible for the first waves of immigration, then all Australia's problems would be solved. Anyone who hasn't researched their family tree to disprove such heritage could be exterminated. Why not just create a final solution for a problem that in essence is perhaps far too complex now to ever be solved? Or are we too blind to see that Australia in its own way is just another version of the promised land?

@Jolanda

Interesting story, but we have to also realise that everyone is not the same.And even though your husband might not feel violated by prejudice attitudes because of what others did, some people will. Although I have certain views of some Australians I don't believe all Australians are the sameway.

Would you change your mind if one of your children were attack for their looks?

I still think Pauline Hanson and Andrew Fraser are racist, but they know exactly which issues will gain support. It doesn't matter to them and their supporters if its the truth or not.

Will be interesting to see how it all develops in the next 30 or 40 years.

My grandmother is terribly racist, and literally cannot bear the company of Germans or the mention of things German. She spent the war years throwing bottles of water and loaves of bread into train cattle-carts full of Jews, and not knowing how my grandfather was doing in the labour camp. Then there was the time he was bayonetted and left for dead beside the road.

My dad was born shortly after the war and shortly before they migrated here, so although he had no experience of it, he inherited their distaste for the "Kraut". He also adopted the longstanding tradition of criticising the next wave of migrants - bloody wogs! They also tended to move around flocking together with other birds of their feather. It actually means very little. He runs a business, and has contact with all manner of Germans, Greeks and Italians.

Now here I am, having grown up with the rhetorical xenophobia of my dear old dad, and I cant wait to visit Germany and Italy.

Plenty of our current migrants are hailing from countries where their conflicts are fresher and longer standing. It is inevitable that they will continue to carry that grudge for a generation or two. Give it 30 years and some good healthy mixing and tolerance and lets see who we are worried about then.

Amel. My children may not have been physically attacked because of thier looks but they have been discriminated against and often they feel the prejudice and resentment towards them by the adults. It is the adults that lead the way when it comes to active prejudice and discrimination.

Whilst I dont agree with what is happening, I understand how it happens and that those doing it (on all sides) believe that they have justifiable good reason to do what they do and feel what they feel. At the end of the day everybody has a point.

We live near Cronulla and my youngest son is scared stiff to go to Cronulla or even for any of us to go to Cronulla as he worries for our safety. No matter how many times we tell him that there is nothing to worry about he feels scared.

My eldest children's closest friends are pretty much anglo Aussies so it is a difficult situation to be in as they are like meat in a sandwich - wondering who is going to bash them the Lebs or the Aussies if they are Australian who look of middle eastern appearance because of thier parents background and who are mixed and they live in the Shire where do you stand?

I think the ones that find it the most difficult are those that are of mixed cultures as they dont really belong anywhere as when they marry out they go against their own and many Australians do not accept those from middle eastern background as true Aussies. Maybe that is why people are not wanting to mix and want to stay with their own?

here is an example of Australian racism..

White privilege explores its own scrotum again and again and again...and the recurring verdict is that it still smells like roses. Just ask em!
Posted by Rainier, Tuesday, 16 January 2007 4:54:51 PM

yes it is shocking.

My husband was working in Arncliffe today. When he came home he told me that a man of middle eastern Muslim background came up to him (my husband is of Lebanese background and Catholic) and said to him that he was glad that there were people like my husband still working because otherwise people like him wouldn’t get paid and be able to put food on the table. The guy looked like a body builder and looked very healthy and well.

My husband was shocked at what he so openly said to him and thought he may have misunderstood so he asked the person who was working with him who confirmed what he had heard. .

A little later the same man was running past my husband and my husband enquired as to why he was running and he said that he had to move his car because last week he was almost booked for not having his disabled sticker on the car and he had forgotten to put it on that day and cars were being booked.

My husband said it felt like two knives in his back. Unfortunately from our experience this entitlement attitude is not something that is rare.

Well Jolonda you certainly have your way of dealing with things and you brought up some important points.

I just hope people wanting to stay in segregated communities doesn't cause more problems in the future, when certain groups come in contact with each other. In some countries Muslims live with Christians and different races live side by side with out any real trouble. But I think arrogant people from any race or religion will cause friction anywhere you put them. Theres gonna be some kind of clash when you have people who feel that any type of patriotism is good.

People were fighting before the clash at the tennis match or Cronulla. I always see news clips of people fighting in Brazil,England and other places over football matches etc.But its just that some place are worst than others.

Australians are not racist. Immigrants from the end of WWII through to the 1970s came here with gratitude, love, family values from a predominantly Catholic Western and Central Europe and Orthodox further East. They and their descendants then and now have a family/work culture,more religious practice compared to locals swamped with post Vat I modernism.
Together the above and Aussies of 4/5/more generations get on very well; most are sensible and won't be brainwashed by pagan so-called political correctness ( which is just an excuse for social engineering and hatred of the Church and the beliefs of many under the thin veil of false intellectualism from the 1960s university set onwards which engenders failed sociology and defiant life without God thinking and living).

Different story for the self justifiers since the 70s/middle east. Ungratefuls from the Middle East who themselves made a Hell on earth for the Christiansthere, making it here too. Now they wish to bring this garbage way of living here too. Talk about NOT learning a trick !
Australia has little to worry about as far as apologies go. We just have to realise that we should maintain our own identity( an identiy that if you have forgotten or are confused about can be re-gained by going to traditional Catholic Mass and formation to re build our nation). Without traditonal Catholic Faith you will be subject to Judas versions of the Faith undeer the guise of 'conservatism' ( which is not traditionalism by the way OR modernist/liberal/socialist thinking since Vatican II and generally the Lionel Murphy brigade from the mid 70s who have brought down this country.
The 'pat me on the back smiling she'll be apples' Aussie 'man' who has fun but no children but is happy to pay for his 'partner' to go have abortions. 100,000 per annum in this self congratulatory saccarine nation.

Amel and MichaelSouthern Cross:
Moslems have large families and do not abort, they rarely contract HIV, and they do not have alcohol problems and the train of social problems that goes with alcohol abuse. They have their own set of problems such as an archaic religion with no application in today’s world. Their education level and communication skills are usually a long way below any acceptable standard, which leaves them as targets for their crazy teachers and muftis and basically unemployable. There must be scope here for some sort of cross adoption of cultures for the betterment of us all.

Alot of the problems are caused by oppression in Education.

Aboriginal people and those of middle eastern background are often under-represented in educational achievement as they are often provided with disadvantaged schools and environments.

Then people wonder why these people don't progress in a forward fashion and why they are angry and aggressive?

Discrimination and oppression takes many forms. Some teachers and/or beurocrats are prejudiced and with a cross of a pen or a lash of the tongue they can make or break children.