Racism Row In Australia

[The Simpleton 2]

In the past one month, 12 students from India were attacked in Australia, allegedly due to racism. There have been many protests on this issue, with the Australian government promising to take action, and yet almost every other day, a fresh case involving an attack on an Indian student is showing up.I don't know about the situation in Australia and other countries, but here in India, the media is devotedly covering the issue, giving details about the victim(s) and exactly how the incident took place. There have been protests here as well, with students in many metro cities demanding the Indian government to settle this issue.Being an Indian, I feel bad about this issue, but I really must ask this - of the 12 cases, in how many was racism really involved? The attacks took place, yes, there is no denying that, but somehow, I feel that this issue has been really taken out of bounds by the media. The Australian police have admitted that the latest case really did involve racism, but all the previous cases before that could have just been "attacks without racism". For example, in one case, the victim was attacked when he tried to stop the attacker from stealing some beer. Even if an Australian was in his place, the attacker would have done the same, wouldn't he?And some people over here are mumbling that some of the students who were attacked provoked the attackers. And after being provoked, some people cannot control themselves....You may ask, why I am speaking against my compatriots? Well I'm not speaking against them. I'm not denying that some of the attacks did involve racism. I am merely pointing out that no matter what the country be, if people learn to treat the others as their equals and do not bother them, then these incidents can actually be eliminated.As of now I simply hope that the 200, 000 Indian students living in Australia try to live peacefully with the natives and be on the right side of the law.

[serverph 0]

Our local news have no mention of these, not that it's not newsworthy... just that our media do tend to cover our migrant compatriots as tightly as yours in india. and if that same thing happened to a filipino out there, outside of our beloved motherland, we surely will have a field day following up such incidents till a resolution has been arrived at. several issues of recent months easily come to mind, the latest something involving a baldwin taking potshots at our women. a lot of filipinos are abroad too, much like the citizens of india, so we can empathize with you all. it could be true that media may hype it up a bit, but racist incidents do tend up to be flashpoint issues which need to be widely reported, addressed, resolved, and if a crime accompanies it, then justice must be served and properly meted out to the offending parties.there's a need of course to understand the culture and psychology of the australian parties, in this case. but then again, culture and psychology cannot be, and should not be, an excuse to perpetrate racism. truthfully, all of humanity is guilty one time or another of this. but humanity will be better off if this human defect in our psychology is stumped out completely. i hope your compatriots who have been subjected to such incidents and figure in your news there be properly accorded an apology (and justice).let me just say that this post does not intend to generalize an action of some to include the whole of australia. we can sympathize with you as well if you feel shamed by the actions of some, much as i feel ashamed too if bad news of bad acts of our bad compatriots figure in international media too.

[myviny 0]

Australia is a racist country. Their political history shows that. As everything passes, I know this bad phase will also pass but My concern is that do we always have to live in Australia with some sort of fear , or some sort of phobia inculcated in our mind.We have heard from our childhood that humanity, although diverse, is one family and one people. Sadly our common experience also shows that racism, hatred or dislike of others simply because of their origin or culture is a common human failing.

[rob86 2]

Is there a lot of racism is the UK? I haven't been there, but I have family and friends living in the UK and everyone seems to hate each other there. For example, I like indian food. When I say something casual to a normally polite and kind white friend from the UK, for example, "I had some good Indian food the other day" they get all worked up about the immigrant situation in England and start ranting and raving and foaming at the mouth throwing insults and stereotypes everywhere and I'm like, whoa, what's with all the hatred? Then they whip out the good old "I don't HATE them, in fact, one of my best friends is a ______!" defense. You know what I mean!

[The Simpleton 2]

You got to admit it - there's at least a little bit of racism in every country. Call it involuntary patriotism or something else, but most of us always feel that a person from another country should not be superior to us. This kind of feeling exists almost everywhere in the world.

 

Before blaming the world, let me look at my own country first - there are 28 states in India and 90% of them have their own language, which means each state has it's own culture and traditions and so on. Whenever a person from one state goes to another, he is looked upon like a foreigner by the people in that state! Forget states - till today, South Indians are ridiculed by the rest of the country for their culture and traditions. Isn't this called racism?

 

Now imagine what it's like in all the other countries of the world! Australia and UK are no exceptions. It's just a bit unfortunate that people use extreme ways to display this attitude.

[Atomic0 0]

This is my view of the so-called 'racism' in Australia.I've lived in Australia for 12+ years, gaining citizenship around 4-5 years after birth. I have noticed, yes, racism does occur in day to day life. It is bound to occur anywhere in the world, whenever their are different racial groups living togetther.On the issue of Indian students being attacked, I personally do not think it is racially motivated. The real reason that they, or anyone would have been, attacked is because they are 'soft' targets, for example, people carry visible valuables (e.g. iPods, laptops). These 'soft' targets are usually targetted by thieves simply because it is obvious to them that they are carrying valuables and that thieves won't end up 'empty-handed'.For me, everyday during the morning and afternoon, I walk to and from the train station to catch a bus to school. Have I been robbed before? No. Why? Because I don't carry visible valuables i.e. never carry an iPod and wear earphones. Have been racially abused? Possibly, by people sticking heir heads car windows and swearing or pressing the car horn without reason.It is really unfortunate that only a proportion of what happens is picked out by the media and turned into a fiasco. Yes, Indian students have been attacked, but what about the other 99% of attacks that happen to the rest of community? Where's that in the media's report? I personally believe that this issue has been really taken out of proportion and manipulated.

Edited July 26, 2009 by Atomic0 (see edit history)

[Indou 0]

UK has a lot of racism. The government can claim that the majority of people aren't, but I work in a shop/super market. And, it's not difficult to miss the very often comment. I'm 1/4 pakistani, and even I insult them on occasion. Though, most of the time it's due to a joke of some sort. Doesn't make it right though. But, people insult other people. And it's not hard to find a reason. It's just that it's easier to insult the obvious then to dig for it. Human Race, look at our history. We are violent. It's our nature. There are just different levels.

[mahesh2k 0]

Some bad fishes are there in every pond. But because of that if we start to label country as "racist". then i think it is not at all fair. if people care such for racism, then why they failed to rule out casticism in their religion. how selective for the sake of religion. If religion is personal choice then so is discrimination based on race/color/language. Reality is one can rationalize everything. it's upto us to filter what is trully rational. So with such label like "racist" country is overstatement IMO. Atleast countries which have casticism in them don't deserve to codemn or label other countries as "Racist" countries.