Lexi,

Quite so. All these attitudes are what we are taught by society and also by our parents.

I am actually the offspring of European post-war immigrants although I was born here, and know how it feels to be treated as an outsider first-hand.

In those days we were called wogs or New Australians and I remember being taught the story of Little Black Sambo in Infants School and that Aborigines were a dying race.

Harold Holt was said to have been surprised at the result of the famous Referendum that counted Aborigines as citizens. He also admitted to Nugget Coombs that he had never actually met an Aborigine in his life.

As for Howard, he was also the product of his times. He admitted feeling "uncomfortable" about seeing Asians in Sydney streets and some of his fellow ex-Fraser Ministers have stated that he often made intemperate remarks about certain ethnic groups during Cabinet meetings.

He was also know to refer to Aborigines as "boongs" in private conversations - like many of his generation.

It's probably not surprising that he had no problem using race as a political weapon when it suited him.

The ALP was quite fond of the White Australia Policy too.

Many things have changed since those days but many have not.

Dear Country Girl,

I've got family who are stud-farmers in Quirindi, NSW. I've got relatives living in Kempsey and Tamworth. Talking about accents though - you're not the only one who's had problems in that area. I still have problems with some as well. Especially very broad Scottish and some English cockney - takes a while to get used to. And of course people have had problems with mine. I remember working in Los Angeles a few years ago and answering the telephone at work when an American voice told me, " Another Damn Limey! God Almighty, are there no Americans working in your institution?" I had to laugh and explain that I wasn't a "Limey," but from Australia, and how could I help him?

Dear Shockadelic,

Nobody is suggesting that only "white people have to be tolerant."
On the contrary. If you re-read my earlier posts as well as those of
Pelican - you'd see that we both said that in order for anything to change we all have to work side-by-side together to make things changes happen.

Dear Wobbles,

I'm also an offspring of European post-war refugees and I was born here and know how it feels to be treated as an outsider first-hand.
My surname made me stand out for starters - I was called "unpronounceable," at school as well as the usual "wog," "New Australian," "dago," etc. However, I think that today those "outmoded" terms are no longer acceptable to most people.

In 1999, Australians taking part in the people's Choice Awards, a kind of pop culture popularity contest, had a choice to make. The four finalists for Australian of the Century were Dawn Fraser, a beloved swimmer from the 1950s and 1960s. Donald Bradman, the greatest cricketeer ever to pick up a bat, Fred Hollows, an eye doctor whose techniques had helped a million or so people to see again, and Victor Chang, a Chinese born Australian heart surgeon. It might suprise many used to seeing the country as a bastion of old fashioned white values that the nation's television viewers opted for
Victor Chang.

Pelican,
You say "In 100 years time people will be saying what was all the fuss about when generations of Muslims will have integrated and live and work side by side with others in a secular environment"

Your optimismis to be admired, but I have reservations.

The Croats and Serbs have been here 3 generations and there is still serious conflict between them. The Lebs have been here 3 generations and have not integrated. Now we are seeing conflict between more recent ethnic groups such as Sri Lankans and Tamils and then some of African origin. There are groups that still practice FGM, after 2 generations. Some mothers that were 'done' here are now having their own daughters mutilated. Education here has failed!

You are right that to be tolerant all people need to give and take, and therin lies the problem, the Muslims are not prepared to compromise in any way.

How many generations will it take for these groups to forget the old cultural ways and integrate? Or should we just continue to accept these hatreds and alien practices?

Lexi,
Notice that many of the persons you gave as examples have western first names which is common in Asian people here. This indicates an effort to integrate into our society and I also note they do not call for special schools or suggest our laws be changed for them and they dress according to our culture. The Asians have changed somewhat to suit our society. We have adopted some of the Asian food culture but I would not like to see some Asian culinary aspects allowed in our society. Nor some other aspects of Asian culture.

We must be careful not to overwhelm our society with any particular group that has vast cultural differences..

Dear Banjo,

You can't fight the movement of people, races, religions, cultures. What we experience in Australia on a minute scale - has occurred throughout Europe and Asia for two thousand years and in the Americas for the last three centuries. We are simply the last continent on earth to experience it - (whether some of us like it or not). England is a prime example of a mixture of people - started in pre-Roman times and continues to this day. All we can do is enforce the laws of this country that everyone has to abide by.

Australia continues to grapple with its cultural identity. I cited Professor Jakubowicz in an earlier post, Australia is "caught between geography and history, and it continues to be uncomfortable. We are no longer a forlorn outpost of empire, but we're not either an Asian Pacific nation." Only time will tell what our unique identity will be in the future. Possibly a combination of the best of all worlds that will make us uniquely - Australian.

When will the deceit of calling Muslims a race be stopped. I suppose those with blindfolds will not cease this nonsense. Yes Asians are among our best citizens while Muslims who have been here for generations are among our worse. This includes Asian, Egyptian, Lebanese and now white Autralian Muslims.

Interesting enough many of the Asians that come here are Christians. Churches are full of Asians which might give a little clue as to why they fit into society so well. Generally they are hard working, have better morals than most Aussies and cook really well.

Lexi,
A former Nigerian President said words along these lines. (I have lost the exact quote). "one day a million Arabs will go to europe and they will not go as friends, they will go to conquer. the wombs of our women will give us victory" We are now seeing that in Europe and UK.

You say "You can't fight the movement of people, races, religions, cultures" Do you think we should accept all and sundry and their cultures, whatever it is. Some people have some weird cultural practices that are alien to us. I don't accept your comment. We are in a position to determine just who comes here and if we value our culture and way of life we should preserve that for future generations. We should stop importing those who cannot or will not integrate. When those that are here now show they are integrating then we can allow more.

and also "All we can do is enforce the laws of this country that everyone has to abide by".

What happens, with continued high immigration, when those with vastly different cultures reach such proportions that our laws are changed to suit them. This is now happening in Europe and the UK. There are calls for Sharia laws and at least one Muslim former government minister gave a speech about them having a muslim Prime Minister.

We in Aus need to act now to stop the idealistic non-discrimatory immigration policy and import only those that have shown they are prepared to be part of our society.

The situation with the illegal boat arrivals is a classic example of what happens when idealism is put before practicallity. There is a surge in numbers and some (about 200 so far) drown enroute.