So these activist groups are about the equivalent, publicity and being-taken-seriously wise, as our own Catholic League?
(“Oh, look, it’s another press release from Bill Donohue. What’s he complaining about this time? Abercrombie and Fitch? Seriously? Whatever.”)
Do they deliver?
How to put this…delicately?
The Aboriginals in Australia are generally regarded by your average Australian as either tourist attractions for Japanese Tourists to take photos of, or nuisances who should all just go away.
So no, their activist groups generally aren’t taken seriously unless they’ve got an extremely valid point, which is virtually never as far as most people are concerned.
I wonder why they feel the need for activism.
i’d love to catch a blowback from feminists.
Really? I’m a bit shocked by this. If the current claptrap is representative of most of their activism, I can understand some annoyance, but Black people here have Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton; we don’t hold it against the entire race. The idea that ANY ethnic group of people would be largely thought of as “tourist attractions for Japanese Tourists to take photos of, or nuisances who should all just go away” is utter racism and simply inexcusable. Not to mention that Aboringines have been the victim of repeated atrocities right down to the 20th century starting with their country being stolen. Where exactly should they go? Anyone in the US expressing such a view of Native Americans, or even recent immigrant groups, would be villified and rightly so.
But the deal is, Alan, that apparently many AngloAustralians DO still feel that way. Which would go quite a ways indeed to explain why the activists may be hypersensitized…
…and you do not need to go TOO far into the past to find a time where a large number of the USA/Canadian population would have looked at Native American/First Nations cultural expression as nothing more than some “quaint tourist attraction”, if they even thought about it (no need to “go away”, though, just the expectation that either you assimilated, or resigned yourself to Reservation life).
As to the diggeridoo/girls issue, I as a publisher would issue an apology to any group that may be offended but would point out that the taboo is not even applicable to all Aborigine groups and the book stands as written.
I’m pretty sure I’d be a sight more vehement if someone assumed all the issues I was protesting about were nearly always ignored or overlooked. I don’t think this is a compelling issue, but if you’re facing so much bigotry, it’s kind of understandable why they’re getting super fired up all the time.
Well of course. Some people in the US still feel that way. But can you imagine someone today posting on the Straight Dope “How to put this…delicately? African Americans are generally regarded by your average American as either minstrel show fodder for Martin Lawrence movies, or nuisances who should all just go away. So no, their activist groups generally aren’t taken seriously unless they’ve got an extremely valid point, which is virtually never as far as most people are concerned.” How would people react to a post like that, even if they accepted it as true?
When I was in Australia they said it was supposed to make them pregnant, not infertile. That’s the opposite! Regional variation, I suppose.
Please, don’t try and compare the Aborigines here to the African-Americans in the US. They both have dark skin and were on the wrong end of some nasty and unpleasant unjustices in the past, and that’s where the similarities end. Totally different cultures, totally different worldviews, totally different situations in the modern world.
I had to really, really resist the urge to use the rolleyes smiley here. No-one disputes that the Aborigines have been the victims of all sorts of unpleasantness and atrocities, but the whole “They had their country stolen!” thing is tree-hugging lefty bullshit. If we’re going to play that card, then you stole your country from the British and the Native Americans. I don’t see many people there lining up to give it back. 
Depending on who you’re talking to, it’s usually “They should all stay in the Desert away from everyone else where they won’t bother anyone.”
I should probably mention that I don’t necessarily condone these views, but present them in the interests of Fighting Ignorance™, and illustrating that Australia’s race relations issues are far more complicated than the ones in the US.
Why shouldn’t we compare the aborigines and the African Americans, though? Their cultures maybe different, but the point is the same. You shouldn’t be able to talk that way about any group of people. “X group is either a joke for tourists or they should all just leave” is a horrible thing to say about any people, no matter who they are.
In my culture censorship makes you stupid, and leads to believing idiotic things like Didgeridoos making girls infertile.
The company should have ignored the Aboriginal complaints entirely.
The only noteworthy I’ve heard from feminists in years is the claim that if you don’t vote for Hillary Clinton you are a mysoginist. Feminists are toothless parodies of themselves these days.
That’s news?
Not really. Racists who feel another race should “go away” are asshats no matter where they are. Whether American or Australian.
Same for sexist what’s it called players.
I wasn’t comparing them because of the color of their skin. I was comparing them because they’re both minorities with a history of oppression. I could have used Native Americans, but I thought that would be a little to on the nose, and would suggest a focus on less important similarities (as the use of African Americans did). Maybe I should have compared them to Asian Americans or Hispanics.
[quote[I had to really, really resist the urge to use the rolleyes smiley here. No-one disputes that the Aborigines have been the victims of all sorts of unpleasantness and atrocities, but the whole “They had their country stolen!” thing is tree-hugging lefty bullshit. If we’re going to play that card, then you stole your country from the British and the Native Americans. I don’t see many people there lining up to give it back. ;)[/quote]
Give it back, no, but I would say that the vast majority of Americans recognize that the Native Americans were treated despicably and that they are entitled to certain privileges (at the very least, to have their culture respected and to be given a certain amount of autonomy) because of that. People who don’t recognize that and think they should go away are called racists and are universally held in contempt by decent people.
Again, anyone who said similar things about an American minority - ANY American minority - would be criticized and probably warned by the moderators, if not banned outright. Presenting racist views uncritically doesn’t get a pass because you you weasel out of saying that you hold those views yourself.
I suspect it’s not the *race *so much they want to go away but the culture, which is a whole different deal.
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
That is correct. It’s not about race, it’s about a subset of the population which is 11 times as likely to be in jail compared to the population as a whole (cite).
