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Topic: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia (Read 5054 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #30
That highlights how laudable the helping hand extended by the Jewish community was. There is tension between the Jewish community and the black community, especially black Muslims. The lesson should be that we should be allies of those experiencing discrimination even if they are in some ways our enemies. If minorities only support those who share common interests with them, they might find they have little support when it’s their turn in the barrel.

Niemöller’s words are inscribed in the Holocaust Museum:

Plenty of people/groups need “speaking for” in this world of turmoil. Do we speak for all of them or are some more deserving, urgent or important than others. Politics, religion, economics, etc etc will always be involved.
Reality always wins in the end.

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #31
But insisting that effort/comment should be spread equally among all groups/people experiencing discrimination or hatred throughout the world is a pretty good way of killing off any effort or comment. Rather than waiting for the big war against hatred that will never come, fight the smaller battles as they arise. I'm sure that over time, many, many different groups will be highlighted.

To me, the idea that one particular group's concerns can't be highlighted without devoting equal time to every instance of injustice is just an attempt to silence people. It's like when Black Lives Matter was trying to draw attention to the tendency of US police to kill blacks as a reflex action. Soon enough, All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter banners were being flown. Ironically, right-wingers loved the Blue Lives Matter slogan until the Jan 6 Insurrection, and then the Trumpists started beating them with anything at hand.

The big tell is that there's no attempt to progress the debate after the "all injustice/bigotry is bad" point is made. That's just the end of the effort. It's not as though those who rely upon that argument follow it up with "We should do X, Y & Z" to address bigotry. GTC starts the thread with a call to action but the response is "Meh, there's a lot of things out there that aren't great, so I'm not going to bother with this".

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #32
I despise injustice and discrimination and would normally call it out as and when it crosses my path. However, I am very wary of groups organising to push a specific cause and of some of the individuals who may jump on board. I have some experience in this and of a well meaning group being hijacked by less than honest people surreptitiously pushing an extreme political view. It was a hard and distressing lesson so please forgive my occasional cynicism.

BTW, I am right behind Eddie in what he is doing but I would advise him to beware of fellow-travellers.
Reality always wins in the end.

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #33
GTC starts the thread with a call to action but the response is "Meh, there's a lot of things out there that aren't great, so I'm not going to bother with this".
Beat me to it, lots of intellectual verbiage and nothing about vile taunts on social media and in the public towards Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders and the effect its having on one of our own. I'm disappointed, but I'm not giving up on Eddie, I will continue to try and make contact with him and offer my help and support (with our without anyone here).
2017-16th
2018-Wooden Spoon
2019-16th
2020-dare to dream? 11th is better than last I suppose
2021-Pi$$ or get off the pot
2022- Real Deal or more of the same? 0.6%
2023- "Raise the Standard" - M. Voss Another year wasted Bar Set
2024-Back to the drawing boardNo excuses, its time

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #34
GTC starts the thread with a call to action but the response is "Meh, there's a lot of things out there that aren't great, so I'm not going to bother with this".
You read what you want to read, and ignore what doesn't suit you.

I don't think people are not interested, people are offering up alternative thinking on the subject. 2 different things.

Someone gets their arm pulled off.
Someone offers them a bandaid.
Someone else offers to drive them to hospital.
Someone else offers to do the surgery.

All trying to help, some are more helpful than others.

Why offer a bandaid, where its clear that much more action is required?

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #35
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #36
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
Sure, it helps if you know which direction your destination is though.

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #37
I’m certainly not advocating discriminating against any group but if the reaction to attempts to fight discrimination against 1 group is met with “What about X?”, there’ll never be progress on any front.
Problem is without " X, Y or Z" buying in you wont get anywhere because those sections of the community already feel left out and will stick in their enclaves. Fighting bullying which essentially is what racism is requires a community effort with people sticking together and changing the laws so bullies/racists are accountable by law and when they are brought to justice you have laws made and administered by the community which has to include representatives from every sector not just one minority group.

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #38
Sure, it helps if you know which direction your destination is though.
Just see where Pauline Hanson is heading and go in the opposite direction.

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #39
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
It can't be a divisive step, there are far too many scatterbrain solutions being touted that effectively divide rather than unify.

The only safe first step that I can see is that if you want to stop racism then do not be racist, you can't be half-pregnant, and you can't be selectively racist.  Anybody can be racist, it's not the purview of the wealthy, the white or the Christians.

I heard a great speech about this, I think it was from Dr Tom Calma, he basically called for Indigenous groups and youth to stop the labelling as a first step to a resolution, and they basically disowned him. Instead they aligned with someone like Anthony Mundine to create and apply bunch of chest beating emotive "us versus them" labels, it can't succeed because it is basically a rock throwing war. Of course on the flipside Calma was also shouted down for calling for the change to Australia Day, but you can see that the problems here arise from both sides of the debate.
The Force Awakens!

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #40
I've been working with the Culture Group at Uni SA (for the past 5+ years now), presenting lectures, creating content, etc for undergraduate engineers.

Last week continued our annual 'culturally appropriate behaviour in project management' where we highlight working with project stakeholders, including traditional custodians, providing examples of biases (which we all have), etc. Powerful stuff and we believe it's certainly adding to the conversation and making a small difference.

Each of us can contribute in the way we live our daily lives at home, work, play.

Hopefully not too much off-topic, thought it was relevant to this thread. Cheers!

 

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #41
I've been working with the Culture Group at Uni SA (for the past 5+ years now), presenting lectures, creating content, etc for undergraduate engineers.

Last week continued our annual 'culturally appropriate behaviour in project management' where we highlight working with project stakeholders, including traditional custodians, providing examples of biases (which we all have), etc. Powerful stuff and we believe it's certainly adding to the conversation and making a small difference.

Each of us can contribute in the way we live our daily lives at home, work, play.

Hopefully not too much off-topic, thought it was relevant to this thread. Cheers!

That's encouraging to read. It should all start with trying to establish mutual  respect between groups  and cultures. Not always that easy.
Reality always wins in the end.

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #42
Good stuff raven. Keep it up matey.

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #43
Is that what I am advocating?  Or are you dismissing my point regarding bigotry and eliminating, because its too broad a brush?  Only one stating that we should do nothing about it is you.

"You fat smelly, greasy wog.  Go back to where you came from."

What Box Hill?  I remember this conversation quite vividly.  Thats the brand of non racism I experienced.  This is largely a zero sum game, if you practise any form of racism, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. 

I just wanted to add, I have heard comments in this vein of thinking as recently as 2018, and 2007.  This wasnt in the school yard, once was down near the Greek consulate where I attended a protest against actions the Greek government were taking to do with national security and EU politics, and the other was going to pick up some noodles, and getting into an argument over a car parking spot down on the Mornington Peninsula because the lady who stole my car parking spot whilst I was waiting to pull in was female (#equality) and how dare I give her a piece of my mind (the guy who said it wasn't involved, but was your typical guy I seemed not to get much from aside from the aforementioned Greasy wog commentary over the years).

The attitudes and biases of many are alive and well.  If any of you have ever been made to feel ashamed of your heritage simply because the person in front of you was a bigot, please share your experiences, and I would just like to thank the many voices of support for my view on this topic, because minimising my life experience doesn't get us anywhere on this front.

To highlight the juxtaposition, the people standing up for the BLM folk, usually consider me to be white and privlidged, and those who are actually white and privlidged, see me as part of an ethnic migrant minority who isnt like the BLM folk (irony).

Imagine feeling quite alone, because you are different from the other Greek kids (who's parents came in the secondary and tertiary waves of migration rather than the primary), and yet, not really accepted by those around you either.  Its one of the reasons I joined this forum, because it gave me a place to belong. 

Some of the stuff I grew up with was quite vitriolic.  My Father was beaten up as a 19 year old driving a taxi whilst putting himself through school.  I hear the stories of the recent migrants, and I find myself identifying more with their and their families experiences, than those of other kids who grew up in Australia.  We didn't have a lot growing up like the other truly privlidged kids and my Grandparents, and parents worked really hard to get what they have.  I remember going over to the neighbours to play video games, because I didnt have any in the 80's.  I did have my family, and they did their best to provide for me, and I do my best to do them and society proud, so you wont really find me on the opposite side of a debate with someone experiencing true injustice.  I got teased a bit for having holes in my pants that mum would sew up.  I didnt go to the private schools like some of the other kids either.  I did claim clothing from lost property to try and have a nicer uniform given my parents weren't necessarily providing me with new stuff all the time going to school (this stuff was perfectly fine and had hung around for a while).  I had gotten some hand me downs from my older siblings which was normal for the time, but had seen some better days as I was a fair bit younger than my brother and my sister.

Im proud of who I am, the place I call home, and my heritage.  My brother has renounced Australia.  Wished our family never came here.  I can understand why he thinks like this, but that's more about his life experience than mine and I think he fails to consider how much harder it would have been for us over in Greece where our family were literally working fields in small villages (that might have been a more simple life which may have been nice, but I cant know that).  Odds are he experienced significantly worse than I did in the late 70's and early 80's when he was going to school as opposed to me who was born 8 years younger, but I share this tidbit to highlight, that I am not the only one in my family who experienced hatred and bigotry from people here growing up.
"everything you know is wrong"

Paul Hewson

Re: Eddie's Fight Against Racism in Australia

Reply #44
@ Thry
Firstly please don't take this wrong way, I do not in any want to lesson anything you have experienced.
I grew up in the Thornbury-Northcote area that had (and still has) a huge Greek and Italian population. The Greek population was bigger by a fair way I'd guess so needless to say, I grew up with a lot of Greek friends. One common theme amongst my Greek friends was that their parents wanted to go back to Greece, many of them did with many only to return again. I can only vouch for me associations but this was vary rare amongst my Italian friends and relatives. In fact I cant recall one Italian mate or relative whos family returned to Italy. I never understood it that, perhaps the Greek community took the vilification more to heart??? I can tell you I was racially vilified as much as the next "wog" growing up but it didn't bother me, I never once got into a fight over it, I just ignored it. I was and still am extremely proud of my Italian heritage, but I in the back of mind, I knew those calling me names were actually just as my of an "import" as my parents were. Today, the "yuppies/hipsters" pay a small fortune for the Italian style panini and focaccia I used to eat, and still do, every day. So I guess eventually, the locals  have learnt to accept European stuff. Having said all that, I personally cannot even begin to compare what I went through to what the indigenous people in this country have gone through and continue to experience.
2017-16th
2018-Wooden Spoon
2019-16th
2020-dare to dream? 11th is better than last I suppose
2021-Pi$$ or get off the pot
2022- Real Deal or more of the same? 0.6%
2023- "Raise the Standard" - M. Voss Another year wasted Bar Set
2024-Back to the drawing boardNo excuses, its time