I’m so tired of people of British heritage thinking that they are superior to everyone else. It’s because they think since they are descended from the colonial settlers/convicts of 200 years ago, they are more important.
I’ve been bullied by Australians of British heritage for quite a while. It’s not all of them, mind you, but over half of the ones I’ve met were either jerks or at least resented me. I am sick of being called “a wog” and “a Leb”.
Plus a good number of Anglo-Australians expect people of continental European or non-European heritage to be nothing more than ethnics. I may be of Lebanese heritage, but I don’t only associate with other Lebanese, and I speak English very well. And I am more likely to go to the mall than any cultural center. And Anglo-Austalians love talking about how immigrants don’t belong in their country and that they all leech off of welfare. News flash: not everyone can be a middle-class businessman!
I also hate their disrespect for religion in general. People are allowed to have religion - it doesn’t mean you’re stupid if you do. I don’t give a rat’s behind about Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens and never will.
A lot of British people have an obsession with blond hair and blue eyes. They enjoy blond, blue-eyed people so much to the point where dark hair is considered ugly. My best friend is blond, but he’s Turkish, not British. Ever notice that blond men in Australian movies are always good (in contrast to American movies where blond men are always evil)? We always lose our dark-haired actors of Italian heritage to the American cinema, such as Anthony LaPaglia. Meanwhile, blond actors such as David Wenham never set foot in the US.
This is what prevents me from going on Australian-owned forums. I feel that they will treat me differently because I’m of Lebanese heritage. It’s like I can’t belong with my country’s own people, so I have to resort to foreign websites.
It’s really nothing new in this world to be despised by people who can claim to be “whiter” than you.
From The Good Shepherd:
Joseph Palmi (Joe Pesci): “Let me ask you something… we Italians, we got our families, and we got the church; the Irish, they have the homeland, Jews their tradition; even the niggers, they got their music. What about you people, Mr. Wilson, what do you have?”
Edward Wilson (Matt Damon): “The United States of America. It’s ours. The rest of you are just visiting.”
In the U.S., our Founding Fathers were not merely white supremacists, they were Saxon supremacists, they believed English blood superior to all other. Swedes were too “swarthy” for Ben Franklin.
Oh, you English are so superior, aren’t you? Well, would you like to know what you’d be without us, the good ol’ U.S. of A. to protect you? I’ll tell you. The smallest fucking province in the Russian Empire, that’s what! If it wasn’t for us, you’d all be speaking German! Singing “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles…”
Okay, his post described being subjected to racism, up to and including clear racial slurs. And he’s upset by that. That makes him a “whiny little pussy”?
That evaluation is particularly interesting given that you are apparently an Australian. I’m guessing you’re motivated in part by having engaged in behavior that would be considered pretty shameful (outside the SDMB, obviously).
On the internet, no one knows you’re a dog. Or Australian. Or of Lebanese extraction. Until this OP, I had no idea of either of those things. And I will probably forget by tomorrow. Don’t mention it on Australian sites, and no one will know. Or care.
You think you got it bad? Come here to the US. We use Brits to wipe our ass. How do you think we’d treat the people they feel superior to? And you’re Lebanonian? You must be one of them Mooslim Terrists just like that Obama guy.
There’s something like this everywhere. I was talking to an Australian today and he told me about Melbourne and Sydney. Melbourne was founded by free Englsh immigrants, and they feel superior to the Sydney, founded by convicts. Anyway, that’s the way they see it in Sydney. But in Melbourne they’ll deny it and tell you some of their best friends are from Sydney.
Sure, I accept that the Lebanese people have encountered some pretty virulent shit (particularly in the western suburbs of Sydney), but to go blaming it on so-called British supremicism is a fucking broad brush.
Australia is a nation of migrants: originally mostly from the British Isles, but we have now one of the most multicultural countries in the world with each new wave of migrants oftentimes experiencing prejudice and bigotry. However, by the next generation, this is for the most part diminished greatly. Unless someone is a complete shithead, then their ethnic ancestry doesn’t matter doodlysquat.
When I was in secondary school, my school (of 1200 kids) comprised 27 nationalities of which those of British heritage were in the minority. Calling someone a wog (back then) was likely to see you beaten up. Nowadays it’s a term of endearment and the Wogs have reclaimed it as their own. Oh, and wogs call Lebs lebs too, as do the Vietnamese, the Islanders and even the Aborigines…not just us supreme white-folk!!
One of the smartest guy I’ve ever met was Lebanese. We worked together for many years and he was a soft spoken gentle helpful guy
The mechanic who looks after our cars is also Lebanese and thanks to him our old cars still run faultlessly. He is a good guy and a good mechanic.
I have learnt to judge individuals not races. There are good people in every race and there are bad people in every race. No race has an edge on any other race.
Cultural , social and religious influences have an effect on the values we hold and our behaviour but these are not the result of race.
Australia was blessed with a good British system of government and social structures which has been proven by absorbing people from all over the world an integrating them in our society. The system has proven to be resilient and flexible and at the same time vigorous in preserving and upholding the values of freedom of expression and religion and fair treatment to all under the law.
So, it’s plausible that he’s experienced racism, but to blame racism on the people who are subjecting him to it is a “fucking broad brush”. Yeah, that’s a great defense.
Isn’t Australia the land of “two Wongs don’t make a Wright”? I mean, it seems like the entire history of your country involves a whole lot of racism. I’m not trying to fault all Australians for it – I’m an American, so I hardly have room to cast the first stone here – but goddamn if it isn’t shitty to try to pretend that non-white Australians don’t have room to complain about being subject to racism when there’s such a rich, rich history of it.
. . . that’s great.
Yes, imagine what kind of “pussy” would ever have the temerity to complain about the legacy of racism and bigotry that you yourself described.
. . . “absorbing people from all over the world”? Seriously? I guess maybe they don’t teach this stuff in schools, but, um, British colonists are more known for committing genocide than integrating the societies who owned the land that the Empire had decided to colonize.
I’ve been bullied by Australians of Southern European heritage for quite a while. It’s not all of them, mind you, but over half of the ones I’ve met were either jerks or at least resented me. I am sick of being called “a skippy” and “a convict”.
Mate get over it, even Lebs/Wogs call each other Lebs/Wogs.
No, I’m saying that the racism he claims to have experienced is likely to have come from many ethnic groups, not just from those of WASP backgrounds. I’m not defending the history of racism in this country, rather questioning why our Lebanese friend here is singleing out the British for his whingey rant. In my experience, there’s a whole lot of bigotry from people of all sorts of backgrounds (Lebanese included of course).
The rest of his OP is sheer and unadulterated bullshit.
