Racism row in Australia

pretty sure this guy’s sentiment will be aired on talk radio and bars and no this isn’t the Daily Mash

“Adam Goodes calls Australia Day invasion day,” McMaster wrote in a since-deleted tweet.

“Deport him.

“If you don’t like it leave.”

here – hopefully not behind a paywall

http://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/news/metro/national/general/goodes-unaustralian-says-former-roar-goalkeeper/2739104.aspx

my 5cents worth is think of the (southern) US term “boy” and the “boy” was good enough to play, good enough to win 2 (not 1 but 2) Brownlow Medals – Australian of the Year but “the boy” spoke his mind and that isn’t acceptable

@spawnofyorkshire: I admire your patience. Don’t think I could be around a friend like that.

fin25 – Member
Adam Goodes is a high profile indigenous Australian who is not afraid to remind people what has been done in their country, and what continues to be done in their name. A lot of people struggle to understand or empathise with indigenous Australians’ experiences, so resort to good old fashioned racism.

Well put. The amount of “He’s a dick, so that makes racism acceptable” in response to him, and that’s it’s repeatedly presented as journalism, is mind-boggling.

@spawnofyorkshire: I admire your patience. Don’t think I could be around a friend like that.

It’s so rare for anything to crop up that I forget it’s underlying in his personality, could be a year between him saying something and when it does crop up I’m far from patient with him. He’s also one who’s got it from his dad, not an excuse for him as an adult, just you can see the root cause.
(Edited a bit for clarity)

Well put. The amount of “He’s a dick, so that makes racism acceptable” in response to him, and that’s it’s repeatedly presented as journalism, is mind-boggling.

See also American sports journalists calling NFL player Richard Sherman a ‘thug’ a year or so back.
I’m trying to find it, but there is a very good Deadspin article about US journalists using ‘Thug’ for black players rather than the N word

Seems like those in zippykona’s link are just concerned about the poor sportsmanship of booing (I didn’t read beyond the first twenty or so comments) which to be fair, is far more important than some uppity professionally offended AFL player complaining about racism in a way which is hard for white folk to handle.

Being called an ape = being uppity and professionally offended? Seriously?

And if white Australians can’t handle a few home truths then that’s their problem, not Goodes’.

Unfortunately I’m finding that too, and I have the gut-feeling that there’s some nasty policies on the way from the government. No evidence to suggest it yet, it just feels like something will be coming in the near future

Actually, I find the British have a rather strange sense of racism. On the one hand you will find Daily Mail articles about football racism where the most liked comments are the ones that display their disgust in regards to the allegations, on the other hand the same readership bemoans the “tide of immigrants” coming into the country.

I think Brits are less prejudiced towards the color of someones skin but prejudiced against certain cultural backgrounds. A slightly more esoteric racism than you get in France or Australia.

Well it’s also about the time to repeat one of the lines from the brit politics threads if I dare to engage (paraphrase) – **** off you don’t live here what do you know.

Seriously?

Seriously?

Well it’s also about the time to repeat one of the lines from the brit politics threads if I dare to engage (paraphrase) – **** off you don’t live here what do you know.

How very Aussie. 😆 Trying to blend in Mike? 😛

on the other hand the same readership bemoans the “tide of immigrants” coming into the country.

Those two are indoubtedly linked in some cases, but not necessarily all. They are not the same thing.

Some people probably don’t want foreigners because they are foreign. But quite a lot of people are worried about the economic impact not anything ethnic – which is a fair concern. It’s been shown that this is not in fact a problem, but it’s easy to see why they might think it is.

In other words being anti-immigration is not *necessarily* racist, although it might be.

not really Tom it’s what gets put to me if I dare to comment too hard in Brit politics threads. I accept there is racism here but it’s also inbuilt to UK culture and not an exclusive concept. People here are trying to deal with it.

> The irony of complaining about racism while simultaneously deriding an entire populace.

Yep, I was struck by that too. The thing is, it’s mportant, IMHO, to distinguish between a culture & the people. You can make general statements about Oz culture (I lived there 6 months so I think I know what I’m talking about, & yes, it’s a racist, parochial, insular place run with some of the most narrow minded & pig ignorant politicians & journalists in the world) but not about individual aussies (as friendly & tolerant as anyone on Earth, just like pretty well everywhere else I’ve ever been, really). To put that in context, Britain is sort of non-racist (no, really, stick with me) even tho we’re led by white upper class twits & you don’t have to wait long to hear any number of blatantly racist statements. The US on the other hand is deeply racist even tho their president is an intelligent, thoughtful black man & the only people who’d dream of using the ‘n’ word are hard-ass black dudes. Not my opinion, incidentally, but that of a Jamaican friend who came here in the early 60s (so he lived here all thru rivers of blood & all that) & has a sister in America, so sees both sides. & before anyone says he’s blind to what’s going on, no, he’s a pretty sophisticated guy who’s been a Labour councillor for many years.

I was talking to my Hungarian neighbour the other day and within five minutes of the conversation starting he was whinging about gypsies. Thing is, Hungarians are all fairly racist. Not as racist as Aussies though.

Yep my wife is Hungarian and I find myself challenging some of her views.

You could draw quite a few parallels between the treatment of the Roma in eastern Europe and Aboriginals in Australia.

I lived in Australia in the eighties and there was a lot of overt racism, I’m sorry to see it hasn’t changed

Well it’s also about the time to repeat one of the lines from the brit politics threads if I dare to engage (paraphrase) – **** off you don’t live here what do you know.

Ditto.

I accept there is racism here but it’s also inbuilt to UK culture and not an exclusive concept. People here are trying to deal with it.

And ditto.

If you can’t see where Mike and I (and a few others) are coming from, then I respectfully suggest you put down your copy of the Daily Mail and get some life experience.

Well it’s also about the time to repeat one of the lines from the brit politics threads if I dare to engage (paraphrase) – **** off you don’t live here what do you know.

I didn’t realise paraphrase now meant ‘totally misrepresent’.

I see none of the Australian racism-apologists/deniers could be arsed reading the John Pilger article.

Saying ‘well there’s racism in the UK too’ is pointless whataboutery and a straw man. No-one is claiming that there isn’t.

Grow up Grum

No one who lives here has denied that there is racism, we’re just calling out the ridiculous assertion that all Australians are racist, and that it’s any worse here than the UK.

If you can’t see where Mike and I (and a few others) are coming from, then I respectfully suggest you put down your copy of the Daily Mail and get some life experience.

Guffaw are you doing stand up now you feeble minded oaf. Lived in Australia for 2 years, what do you qualify as experience?

No-one has claimed that all Australians are racist so I’m not sure why that keeps coming up except as a fairly pathetic straw man. The vast majority of people I know who’ve lived, worked or holidayed in Australia say there is much more overt racism there than in the UK. A friend of mine moved back to the UK largely because of it despite most of her family being out there now.

If you can’t see it maybe you need to take a look at yourself and your own attitudes.

If you can’t see where Mike and I (and a few others) are coming from, then I respectfully suggest you put down your copy of the Daily Mail and get some life experience.

Daily Mail readers would likely agree with racist Aussies.

How does a bit of prejudice feel there Zokes? It’s not racism because you’re a privileged white boy. BTW….I luuurve how you’ve managed to turn a thread about an endemic issue in Australia into something about yourself.

grum, just repeating what happens if I get involved in a discussion on brit politics, people play the man when they can’t play the argument. It’s exactly what has been said in the past.

If you can’t see it maybe you need to take a look at yourself and your own attitudes.

I grew up in Bolton, and spent 10 years in North Wales. Trust me, if you can’t see rampant racism in the UK then I think it is you who needs to look at your attitudes. Yes, it’s here in Oz, but certainly no worse than either Bolton or Bangor, and definitely no worse than UKIP’s hot spots

Taking that into consideration, it renders the whole intent of this thread from pighead a bit hypocritical

No one who lives here has denied that there is racism, we’re just calling out the ridiculous assertion that all Australians are racist, and that it’s any worse here than the UK.

I’m sure grum asked for this to be pointed out ie where lots of people were making the ridiculous assertion that all Australians are racist? Has that happened?

I grew up in Bolton, and spent 10 years in North Wales. Trust me, if you can’t see rampant racism in the UK then I think it is you who needs to look at your attitudes. Yes, it’s here in Oz, but certainly no worse than either Bolton or Bangor, and definitely no worse than UKIP’s hot spots

Except Bolton and Bangor don’t represent the British media – which is a good indication of how institutionally racist a country is….the Australian media on the other hand given the hatred and publicity surrounding the player…

media – which is a good indication of how institutionally racist a country is.

Which goes to show just how astonishingly naïve you can be, Tom. I don’t know anyone who says Murdoch or the shock jocks speak for them.

And as I said, you have the joys of The Daily Heil if you want to be hung by your own petard.

australia as an institutional racist country

Former Vietnam refugee Hieu Van Le has been named as South Australia’s next governor.

Anthony John “Tony” Abbott MP (born 4 November 1957) is the 28th and current Prime Minister of Australia. He has held this position since 2013, and been Leader of the Liberal Party since 2009. Abbott is the Member of Parliament representing the Sydney-based Division of Warringah, having first been elected at a 1994 by-election.

Abbott was born in London, United Kingdom, to an Australian mother and a British father, and emigrated to Sydney with his parents in 1960.

Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is a former Australian politician who served as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia, and the Australian Labor Party leader from 2010 to 2013. She was the first woman to hold either position.

Gillard was born in Barry,[1] Wales, and migrated with her family to Adelaide, South Australia, in 1966

So two of the last 3 prime ministers were foreign, one even ginger and welsh!

all Australians are racist, and that it’s any worse here than the UK.

well my Australian friend that spent 10 years here in london and is now back in australia who is of indigenous (but mixed with Polynesian/asian) descent says racism is far worse in australia and the main reason he didn’t want to go back.

And if we’re using Abbott’s racism as evidence that the entire country is racist, it might be worthwhile to note that he’s a Brit.

I think there’s a proverb about stones and glass houses somewhere.

Which goes to show just how astonishingly naïve you can be, Tom. I don’t know anyone who says Murdoch or the shock jocks speak for them.

And as I said, you have the joys of The Daily Heil if you want to be hung by your own petard.

The 21st century Daily Mail would even disgust itself if it managed to print something like this.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/adam-goodes-lecture-lets-us-all-down/story-fni0ffxg-1226846319656

zokes – Still not a customer

And if we’re using Abbott’s racism as evidence that the entire country is racist, it might be worthwhile to note that he’s a Brit.

Or, not. The point isn’t his nationality; the point is that Australians have elected an openly racist gobshite as prime minister

So two of the last 3 prime ministers were foreign, one even ginger and welsh!

Because Obama becoming president managed to the make the USA such a non-institutionally racist country.

Oooh Zokes that really burns, oh how it hurts. The pain the pain make it stop 😆

Everyone migrated to Australia except for the fellah and his ancestors who is copping so much flack from fans etc. So is Abbott a Brit or an Australian, make your mind up

well my Australian friend that spent 10 years here in london and is now back in australia who is of indigenous (but mixed with Polynesian/asian) descent says racism is far worse in australia and the main reason he didn’t want to go back.

Zokes and Mike – your response to this please?

Same as the UK Northwind we elect a government not a prime minister. About the same as when the UK voted CMD in, Labour made themselves unelectable. It’s interesting how many people have a great understanding of Australian politics and the way the society works, there is racism but it’d also present in the UK. There are examples of good and bad.

the point is that Australians have elected an openly racist gobshite as prime minister

So, because Britain has elected a pompous toff with many closet racists in his party, does that make the UK a country of posh racists?

I just want to highlight just how disgusting that newspaper article is.

After all, you’ve benefited more than most from the society built, you claim, by “the people in whose name the oppression was done”.

Before British settlement, Aboriginal deaths in tribal warfare rivalled European losses, per capita, in World War I, says historian Geoffrey Blainey in Triumph of the Nomads.

Life for many Aborigines then was brutishly harsh and often included appalling rates of violence against women, as established by paleopathology expert Stephen Webb from the evidence of fractured skulls.

But Goodes now is rich and famous, despite the racism he suffered when young. He has freedom, the best healthcare and a life of luxury unimaginable to his distant ancestors.

So is Abbott a Brit or an Australian, make your mind up

He won’t say, which is a tad irritating as if he’s still a dual citizen then he’d be ineligible to sit as an MP.

So, because Britain has elected a pompous toff with many closet racists in his party, does that make the UK a country of posh racists?

Let me put it this way, even Farrage is a better – more educated and less racist option than Abbot.

Abbot is up there with Marine Le Pen, in fact…actually Abbots worse.

well my Australian friend that spent 10 years here in london and is now back in australia who is of indigenous (but mixed with Polynesian/asian) descent says racism is far worse in australia and the main reason he didn’t want to go back.

Zokes and Mike – your response to this please?[/quote]
Apart from I’m not sure what you mean… IS your friend back on Oz? What is their experience back here over their perception.

In my normal life I meet and work with people from a bigger range of descents than you would find in the UK. I accept that there is racism, same as the UK, same as france and the USA etc. there is political will to change things.

I just want to highlight just how disgusting that newspaper article is.

And again, you highlight how naïve you are with regard to Australian media and politics. It’s an opinion piece in a Murdoch tabloid by an individual bigot. To say that it represents the general views of Australians is as ludicrous as my saying that Farage represents the average Brit’s views. I’m sure you’ll find similar in The Sun, which, surprise surprise, is owned by the same odious cretin, Murdoch

I’m sure you’ll find similar in The Sun, which, surprise surprise, is owned by the same odious cretin, Murdoch

Except I doubt that piece would ever be published in the UK outside of a BNP party magazine – even in the British Murdoch press.

To say that it represents the general views of Australians is as ludicrous as my saying that Farage represents the average Brit’s views.

Nigel didn’t become PM did he, Abbot did – have you read some of his past indiscretions?

eg

‘Now, I know that there are some Aboriginal people who aren’t happy with Australia Day. For them it remains Invasion Day. I think a better view is the view of Noel Pearson, who has said that Aboriginal people have much to celebrate in this country’s British Heritage’