ttbn, I have never hidden the fact that my wife is Maori, others can testify to that. I did ask the wife what about that, she was not particularly concerned about the shop person. My wife tends to take a "oh well" attitude to those things, being matter of fact about such nonsense, and she did say the shop probably does have a lot of theft from stock displayed out the front. when she says ."No, I've put up with that all my life." she certainly has, from the first day of school when a white teacher pinned a European name on her dress and declared we will call you "XXXX", like all the school children the name had to be used in place of her native name, and it stuck, she is still known by her European name, but some years later she assumed her Maori name once more, and now has both. As a 5 year old, "T" was given the strap on the legs if she spoke to other children in te reo Maori, the edict was, English only was to be spoken in school, that was made quite clear to all. Fortunately the native language could not be killed off, and many including my wife still speak it fluently. Things have substantially changed since 1954.

I do not believe racism is rampant in Australia, what some people do is stereotype others based on race, or some characteristic they do not agree with. For example some stigmatise all Muslims as crazed radial jihadists, when the reality is somewhat different.

There was an isolated racially motivated attack in Sydney last Thursday.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/man-allegedly-targeted-asian-people-in-random-randwick-rampage-20180518-p4zg0m.html

BTW, sometimes my wife gets extremely good service in dress shops, too good in fact, and she then over spends.

I didn't accuse you of concealing the fact that your wife is Maori. I just didn't know, but having found out, I thought that that might have something to do with your sensitivity to racism.

I can think of no reason why you would conceal your wife's race, and while you might think I have a tendency towards racism, I assure you that race doesn't enter into affairs of the heart, in my opinion.

I don't know why you still insist that dislike of Muslims is connected to race. Muslims come from all races. It's the religion that is the problem, and I will never like like anyone who adheres to it, irrespective of race

ttbn, as language is dynamic and not static, the meaning of words changes over time. The meaning of racism has tended to be broadened to include more than simply race. True, Muslims are of many and varied race, so the correct word might be prejudiced, with a tendency towards bigoted.
Some of our politicians over play the race card. Not necessarily meaning to insight mass hatred of others based on some poor extrapolation of the facts, pandering to peoples fears, they do it for political advantage, it is a most effective, but a dangerous practice, in my view . I do not believe there is any place in our society for such politicians. Today Australia is not ready for a "Hitler", but tomorrow could be a different story.

You might like this on, believe it or not, I myself have been subjected to racism. Once in Fiji an Indian Fijian public bus ticket seller refused to sell me two tickets on the 'Suva Express', because I was white, probably believing he's got money, Europeans should catch taxi's and leave the buses for the locals, few Europeans use the public bus system in Fiji. Then a stranger, a big Fijian bloke intervened telling the Indian "sell him the tickets, you racists bastard!" etc etc etc. Turned out the big Fijian was the local police Sargent in civvies, on his way to Suva. The copper had no love for Indians, good to have friends in high places, he put the three of us at the head of the long queue of those waiting, and what's more got us seats on the crowded bus, by telling three young guys to "move". If no $5 bus ticket, it would be an $80 taxi ride to where we were headed.

Did you think that Fijians and other non-whites and other races were not just as racist some whites?

ttbn, racism is not simply a factor of skin colour, far from it, there are many reasons that make people raciest. For me, a person is racists if for no other reason, they unrealistically stigmatize an entire group based on preconceived prejudices which they apply to the entire group. Racism on a broad scale is applied by a dominant group in society over a weaker group who they easily identify by some unifying characteristic, which could be, but not necessarily limited to, race.

A person who hates all Muslims may not be a racists by the narrowest of definitions, but for all intention purposes such a bigot fits the description.

Paul1405,
The people I discuss with all aspects of what life throws at us, I am not aware of anyone hating all Muslims. It's the fanatics & the terrorists in particular who are the subject of extreme dislike, not hatred. Such extreme words are usually reserved for those who have nothing but the race card to play with.
I am offended for having to pay taxes that end up being squandered on vermin for want of a better description.
I have lived with indigenous people for many, many years & even most of my indigenous friends & acquaintants agree with my observations. They too are sick & tired of the incessant squealing about racism. It's high time the racists came up with a new sqeal.