The dark side of the Aussies

The BBQ Pit
1

I was in Australia few days back and had a good time down at Cronulla beach. I was surprised to see the racial tensions in past few days fueling 5000 people to crack down on Middle Eastern people. Even though am not a Muslim or of Middle Eastern origin (South Asian, Buddhist), it was sickening to see the gang violence directed at any human being.

Although very majority of Aussies are very kind, gentle and funny people, I did notice a tinge of racism spreading through out the country while I was visiting there. Basically events in other parts of the world are affecting the so called multicultural society of Australia.

But what the fuck is wrong with these white supremacists? What’s the logic in “We grew here. You flew here “slogans? I thought Aboriginals were the original Australians. Funny thing there is huge population of immigrants from England and Sweden living down at Cronulla for the sake of being near sea and surf. Just because they have a white skin, do they get a birth right to be an Australian while any other would be treated like shit?

Lebanese gangs might be a problem in Sydney suburbs. Even I was told not to go near Auburn because of the gangs and other problems. But the way that these “True Fucking Idiotic Original Aussies” behaved was simply unbelievable. This has put a whole new light in to racial problems in Australian society, which its government is denying every two days.

Cronulla Riots

2

What I gathered from the news is that the problem is rather similar to the problems we, in the Netherlands, have with Maroccans.

Mainly 2nd/3rd generation muslim immigrants seem have lost the cultural ties with their parents’ culture but don’t seem to fit in (“yet”) with the western culture they live in. They seek a new identity, something to belong to. Organising in gangs fills this need.
Related is the way some seek a new identity in extreme islam, where they can feel purer than their parents, in their religion and superior to the western people, amongst whom they should live but are being discriminated by.

This problem has been simmering for some time but ignored in the same way our nation prided itself in its ‘multi-cultural society’. It was glossed over and hushed.

3

It’s pretty bad, from what I’ve seen (for those unfamiliar with Australia - I’m not actually near where this is happening). I’m surprised by the ferocity and violence of it all, but really, my faith in the notion of us Aussies being multicultural and tolerant has been rapidly slipping in recent years.

I’m currently hoping that this idiocy doesn’t inspire the cretins we no doubt have in Melbourne to come out of the woodwork. Either way, I’m getting a bit tired of being so embarrassed by my nationality.

As for the thing about “aren’t white Autralians also immigrants?” Yes, we are - the whole thing is exactly as stupid and irrational as it looks, as far as I can tell. sigh

~ Isaac

4

Australia has always been a racist country, our multiculturalism notwithstanding. But what I think has saved us from this kind of ugliness in the past has been a kind of amorphous belief in a “fair go”, and a sympathy for “battlers”, people who are willing to work hard, get their hands dirty, and make a go of things.

I also think that Australian racism tended to be kind of selective. You might find blokes down the pub sounding off about boat people, but equally willing to befriend the Vietnamese couple who live next door or the Greek family up the street who share a litre of home-made grappa with them on Christmas Eve. Somehow people you know were OK, even if there was a more general sense of “them” as some how a threat.

But over the last ten years I think things have changed. As Prime Minister John Howard has reflected our worst ideas and aspirations back at us, including xenophobia, and while espousing “Australianism”, I think he has broken the back of a the idea of a “fair go”. We have an apallling human rights record, which Howard’s Government has done much to worsen and little or nothing to improve.

We have been affected by events overseas. It’s worth noting that the violence at Cronulla took place at the site of the memorial to six local women who died in the Bali bombing. Certainly the Government’s public scare, oops, I mean education, campaign about terrorism and domestic security has fueled people’s fear of anyone who looks Middle Eastern.

And although Australia has never been free of the taint of white supremacist ideas, (I think it’s Lawrence’s Kangaroo that deals with this?) I think that along with a lot of the good stuff that American culture has exported to us, has hitched, like rats on a sailing ship, some less pleasant things.

There is apparently, a chapter of the Klan over here, as well as other garbage of the same ilk.

It’s a shameful thing whatever caused it.

5

A lot of it traces back a long way and has less to do with racism and more to do with Sydney beach territoriality. Since Cronulla is accessible by train it is the beach the “westies” go to. Their have been fights over beach “ownership” since the 1950s. The Bra Boys from Maroubra are commonly held to have been involved in far more violent crimes. They are probably into a third generation of lording it over “their” surf.

And in “The Shire” over the last few years drunken outbursts of civil disobedience are fairly common. Without this event I would have backed brawls on the Kingsway on New Years Eve. I am only guessing but I think they have a significantly higher than average teen drinking problem in the area.

6

There are a fair number of racist Australians, but for the most part it’s always been a low-key ‘all words’ sort of racism. I couldn’t actually imagine most of the people I’ve seen spout questionable opinions getting violent. However government policies regarding issues of race and immigration (such as the asylum seekers affair) probably haven’t helped cool any of these attitudes at all.

But basically, it just generally makes me feel like shit to see Australians acting like this. Fuck, guys, the world watches whenever anything like this happens nowadays.

7

In my experience that’s just racists in general. In the UK I’ve heard stuff like “I hate them Pakis, except my mate Ranjit… and Mr Malik in the corner shop…”

I was in Oz recently, and observed quite a bit of overt racism.

I spent some time talking to a human rights lawyer in Sydney, who was saying how, often in the media, crimes perpetrated by Middle Eastern immigrants were ascribed to their nationality/religion, whereas the overwhelming majority of crimes - committed by whites - were put down to their being criminals.

The most telling thing I heard, given the current circumstances, was when I was talking to a second-generation Italian Australian, and said how much I admired the Sydney lifestyle. He replied “you should emigrate here then. Better [white people like] you than those fucking Lebbos.” I was really shocked.

But because of my experiences there, I’m now not shocked about the riots.

8

By way of background, Local Councils in Sydney have allowed very few Mosques to be built. Generally this has been spurred by racial/foreigner-fearing motives. The consequence has been that the Islamic communities have been concentrated in Auburn and Lakemba, which are both dumps.

Those local populations have bred isolation from the community at large and a nasty feedback loop has started. As always a whole range of factors came into play and I can tell you the 'White-pride" marches in Cronulla quite freaked me out. Couldn’t believe my eyes.

9

The TV pictures were pretty scary, to be honest… lots of beer-bellied thugs saying “this is our land, that our grandfathers fought for… the rest of you can go back home”.

FFS! What’s that all about? Do the working class whites really think they have a historic claim to the land, over and above the Aboriginals and more recently immigrants?

Most of 'em got sent over on the prison ships anyway - can see why now…! :eek:

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The CNN article had this line in it:

Isn’t it true that up until the 1970’s, Australia did not allow non-white immigration? Or am I misrembering from my youth?

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Send in the British! :stuck_out_tongue:

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Australian Immigration Fact Sheet, courtesy of immi.gov.au:

13

I think that’s where the problems started :wink:

14

Eep! The was a reply to George Kaplin not lno

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Theoretically non-whites were allowed to immigrate, but immigration officials were allowed to impose a test in any European language. Britons and other Europeans wouldn’t be selected to take the test, Asians would be made to take a test in some obscure language not even spoken in Australia (Gaelic, Lapp, Icelandic, etc).

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The most notorious example of the dictation test was that of Egon Kisch, a Czech Communist to whom the Immigration authorities wanted to refuse entrance in 1934. He was fluent in several European languages. Thus the test was administered in Scots Gaelic.

17

Here’s a disturbing article about how Howard apologist and Sydney shock jock wanker Alan Jones has been winding up racial tension and literally called upon people to take to the streets to do Og knows what. I guess he’s happy now.

Locally, I look forward to reading Andrew Bolt’s pro-whitey account of the riots in his column tomorrow for the Herald Sun (which I’ll read online - I wouldn’t line the catbox with that paper). I’m guessing he’ll talk up crimes committed recently by any muslim or ME folks and imply (very subtly) that these wogs were asking for it.

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I hope you’re being sarcastic there. Bolt is usually about as subtle as, say, driving a car through someone’s house.

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I was watching Sunrise* this morning, and they kept going on about how bad it was and how everyone should be fair and get along, and how Christmas is the way to do that. That’s really promoting multi-culturalism there. :rolleyes:

I was quite disturbed by what has happened. I’m not sure about the timeline of events as they unfolded since I don’t normally watch TV, but it seems that there is some extreme animosity on both sides.
Can someone fill me in on an exact timeline of what happened?

I always thought everyone liked lebanese people. They brought us “Pizza” and kebabs!
*I don’t watch it normally, honest!

20

The whole situation is very disturbing. I was shocked to see the level of violence - overt racism has been on the rise in Australia for a while, but this was just appalling.

I’m with the Crikey gang on this one. The Howard government has been pushing a racist line for years (most of Pauline Hanson’s supporters were Liberal voters who felt Howard didn’t go far enough), and the kids/young adults involved in this incident have grown up in that environment, losing that whole “fair go” attitude that Aussies used to be so proud of. Now they’re being egged on by the likes of the despicable Alan Jones, Andrew Bolt, et al, and the implication is that although they went too far, they were right to react as they did. It makes me sick.

The Crikey article I was thinking of was in today’s edition, but yesterday’s articles are up online:

Anti-terror for Cronulla’s ringleaders? and Cronulla and sedition: both of these suggest that this kind of situation nicely fits those hastily-made anti-terror laws, but they probably won’t get applied here because no-one thought that those inciting violence would be some of Howard’s favourite “little Aussie battlers”, middle-class white kids.

Go You Big Red Fire-engine, I’m not absolutely certain, but I believe that some young guys who were Lebanese and probably in a gang viciously attacked a lifeguard at the beach. The riots started because SMSs were sent around by other young guys telling everyone to get together at a place and time for “revenge”. Would love more info on this, though…