@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.