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Racism in Australia
I work with the disabled about once or twice a week. A couple of days ago I was helping a disabled man with his morning routine. Over the course of the past couple of weeks we have become pretty good buds. By this I mean, we speak to each other on a very personal ‘man to man’ basis as opposed to a professional or superficial level of conversation.
It was at this level of familiarity and kinship that I got an insight into the Australian Caucasian that I never would have got otherwise.
First of all, he began by telling me the reaction of all his other carers (they are all white Australian women who are above 40) when they heard that his newest carer was a young African male.
“It’s amazing! As soon as they heard that my carer was a black man, all four of them asked me the same thing. Is it true that they are h**g like donkeys?”
More on this in my post on Jungle Fever and below.
I Didn’t Even Know they Used the Word Nigger in Australia
The second insight took my breath away. He told me that apparently there is a very common Australian expression:
“That man is as dark as a nigger’s a**hole!”
Apparently, white Australians use that expression all the time, not only to describe black people but anything that is pitch dark or pitch black. As I left his home, thoroughly enlightened, I thought to myself:
“I must write a post where I try to break down what I have observed in Australia as far as racism is concerned!”
Whereas, the society is obviously way more complex than what I will put down on this post, I hope this post will help you navigate the murky waters of Australian society a little better.
1) Racism Isn’t that Big a Deal!
The first point is that compared to what you see and hear from American television and even in comparison to American and English society, race is not that big a problem here in Australia.
I spent six months in a country town on my own and never heard racist slogans screamed at me. I have lived in Melbourne and in Sydney and have never been lynched or threatened by a gang of white supremacists. In the city of Melbourne however I have had a few racist taunts screamed at me here and there but on average you will get it less than ten times in a whole year, and even that is really inflating the figures. In my opinion this occurs because:
1) We are Getting so Many Now and they are Getting More and More Used to Us
2) They Don’t Want to Be Classified as Racist Even When They Are
3) We Don’t Affect their World That Much, After All We Are One of the Smallest Minorities in Terms of Numbers
4) We Don’t Threaten Australians Economically - Jobs, fighting for land rights as Aboriginals are-in any major tangible way.
2) Be Careful of the Type of People You Hang Around
Your perception of racism in a place like this will be heavily clouded by the people you hang around. There are some people out here who constantly see themselves as ,” victims of racism,” and after a while their thinking starts to rub off on you.
- Racist Folk Do Exist So Be Mindful But It Pales In Comparison to Years Past
To elaborate a bit on point number one, yes racists do exist in this society. There are events such as the Cronulla riots and articles and people such as these that remind us of that (The Abandon Skip guy isn’t half bad, he is actually a pretty reasonable guy. We don’t agree at all on certain things, but he is reasonable and respectful:I gotta respect that). However this society has definitely calmed down a lot in terms of racial hate. I remember talks I had with a Sri Lankan man who came here as a child in the 70s. He suffered the humiliation of being chased home from school everyday by white kids who’d beat him to a pulp for being different. Until the middle of the 20th Century, Australia BY LAW was a White’s only society. They started to allow Greeks and Italians in the mid 20th century to work as manual laborers. In spite of being European they still had a helluva rough time.So though this may be one the most multicultural places on Earth, it only has less than a century of experience dealing with other cultures. I must say, considering that, this society has done pretty well. I don’t exist in fear of racist discrimination as I would were I in the States.
- The Police Here Are Not Racist….But they Sure Do Meet Some Groups of People A lot
Yet again backing up to point number 2, police here rarely discriminate from what I have observed merely on the basis of skin colour, but there are certain groups of people who they keep meeting time and time again. There are certain groups of youth who just love them some criminal activity: Maoris, Turkish, Somalis, Sudanese, Lebanese etc etc. These groups from what I have seen are definitely targeted by the police. I remember talking to someone who used to hang around Somalis all the time when he went clubbing. One night outside of the club he was actually man-handled to the ground and cuffed by the police like a really bad episode of Cops. I have been clubbing left, right and centre in Melbourne and though I have some bad experiences involving bouncers, nothing as bad as my brother there. Apparently while he was sprawled on the floor, the line of questioning and conversation kept coming back to his Somali pals. All the groups I have mentioned above are really beautiful people, I have hung out with them all, if you hang around them, expect to have a different quality of relationship with the police.
- The Mandingo Fantasy Thing
In an article I wrote in the past, I made fun of the Mandingo fantasy issue – where white women look at African men as nothing but well hung pieces of meat there to fulfill their sexual desire. Whereas I see a lot that’s funny about the whole thing, as the expression goes, behind every great comedy there is a tragedy.
The tragedy is that a lot of the interracial relationships you form here, for a variety of reasons, will be nothing but superficial, on the surface relationships where either you will be thrown away or you will throw other people away as soon as they stop fulfilling your desires.
Sidenote: For some reason, no African men have complained about the Jungle Fever article.All the complaints have come from White women. It’s like the promiscuity article where a lot of the flack came from males:People endlessly surprise and fascinate me. I love it!
- The N Word
Fortunately, here I am speaking to a very small minority. My personal opinion: Please don’t use this word. I know all about the taking-back-our-power-by-redefining-what-was-once-a-negative-term but I don’t think we will make this world a better place by engaging in debates such as:
Is it really a word that should be used in the first place?
Why can black people say it and not white people?
Instead, let’s do away with the word all together. After all, it isn’t even our word. It was a word that was used by white opressors that then transferred over to the African American community, not our community. In addition to that, winning the N word debate won’t matter all that much when you are on your death bed. I don’t think you will be sitting on your death bed telling your son:
Because of me, African people all over the world could call each other nigga but white people couldn’t say the word nigger. But you have to say nigga not nigger, you understand boy.
There are far too many ways we can speak to each other in a respectful manner without having to open up the Pandora’s Box that is the N word.
Instead let’s focus our attention on building an egalitarian society where it won’t matter whether or not someone wants to call the other nigger, because we are equals in every way and it’s nothing but an empty word.
If you are older than 30 and still using this word, aren’t you supposed to be over this by now?
- Aim Higher When You Get Here
I don’t know whether its as a result of racism, lack of ambition or both. However, almost the entire ruling class of Australia consists of White Anglo-Saxons with a so-small-you-almost-miss-it sprinkling of foreigners. I am surprised to no end by the fact that there aren’t more Indians and Asian people (I know Indians are Asian people but…you know what I mean, aah the ignorance of my language) in the ruling class, considering their HUGE numbers. I also think it would be a helluva-lot-of-cool if we had more African people who decide to make Australia home that take control of key institutions of power in Australia. After all, we are probably the best educated, if not definitely one of them, minority on Earth. We have work ethic. If you can read this blog, you have better English than 99% of people who try to speak English. Ascend to higher heights and be a hero for all to see.
Some random meandering thoughts on the State of race in Australia. I will probably end up expounding on this issue a lot more in future. For the time being, pleae feel free to give me a yell, or leave a response and let me know what you think of the article. Till then:
Be blessed and go out and bless people from other races, cultures and ethnicities,
Mwangi
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March 19th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I have been around white women all my life (being one myself) and the size of an African male’s penis has NEVER come up in conversation. The only people I ever hear talking about it is African men, specifically comedians. Now, granted, me nor none of my friends are over 40 and perhaps that has something to do with it? Seriously though, I meant to say this in your other thread about “Jungle fever,” I find it offensive that white women are viewed as wanton sluts waiting at airports ready to hop on the next penis that comes along. The whole scenario is disparaging to the African man and White woman. And of course terms like “jungle fever” detract from an interracial relationship where both parties are serious about each other not just together for the sake of some sexual fantasy.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
@ caustic: As I have said in the past, the post pretty much came as a result of starting out ignorant, having my carnal hopes raised and then watching them slowly get disproved. I think if this article is hard on anyone, it is the African male because it hits at African men at two levels: one it kinda makes it hard to take seriously the bravado claims that a lot of us have of the sexual escapades we have had with multiple gorgeous white women because, an article such as this exposes the fact that most of these women are pretty messed up. It also reflects the fact that we do not perceive as high on the totem pole of the West and we are also not viewed as such.
If you stop, look around at the African males -not African Americans, they are a different can of worms-and the type of interracial relationships they have and you happen to find any who defies the stereotype I am talking about, please ask them if I can interview them: this blog is about moving beyond those Jungle Fever stereotypes to having healthier, more fulfilling relationships and lives. Kul?
March 20th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Nice article Mwangi. Ms Caustic Blond should realize that Africans are relatively homogenous in their origin countries, to mean, the only thing separating them is ethnicity/language and culture. Most, before travelling outside to interract, get their minds jammed with stereotypes that the media vomits, explains why the preconceptions come about.
I think you got Mwangi totally out of context, and in fact, if anything, the African male here is equally offended, if we go by your terms.
March 20th, 2008 at 2:28 am
@Dennis: thanks for the kind words and defending me. Thank you for including the words about the media because I think the media, especially African American comedy has a lot to do with the stereotypes, especially the Mandingo stereotype. I am still surprised that no African males have written in offended that I wrote the Jungle Fever post. Any that I have shown it to or discussed it with say, “It’s cold hearted but true!” Though I think we should definitely move beyond the stereotypes of the Jungle Fever post to more fulfilling relationships.Don’t hate on Caustic though, she is a regular and welcome guest. Thanks again brother.
March 21st, 2008 at 2:24 am
I have to sit and chew on this post, there is a lot to comment on. For now, I will speak only to the Mandingo claim. Both Mwangi and Caustic Blonde have legit claims. It is true that African men like to talk about how “well hung” they are, however, this is not exclusive to African men… all men do, after all men, especially in the younger years, consider the sexual prowess an achievement. In cases of “jungle fever”, a term I do not like to use either, perception of the interracial couple is dependent on the part of the world and the race of the male. For example, a black woman in Kenya, in a legit relationship with a white man, is considered a slut and such, while little prejudice is made about a black Kenyan man with a white woman. IN the US, the opposite is true, depending on the time in history and social status of either couple. Bottom line, there is more in relationships than meets the eye.
March 21st, 2008 at 3:13 am
Hey majonzi,
All I ask is please show me any absolutely fantastic, deep and meaningful relationships between black men and white women, who don’t fulfill the criteria in the Jungle Fever article and I will gladly write about them and feature them. One of the couples that I thought was the exception, I recently learned have divorced and formed under very dubious circumstances.
Interestingly enough, I tend to see more depth and tenderness in the reverse, white males with African women. There I have observed what seem like great relationships based on a solid underlying friendship, though I would be lying if I said that I don’t feel a-very-odd-it-takes-me-by-surprise jealousy and sadness when I do see such relationships.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:06 am
A couple of months ago I searched online about interracial relationships. It is so disgusting the stereotypes that are being spewed and it comes from all directions. If a black man is dating a white woman it is for one of two reasons:
a. She is fat, hopeless and lacks any and all self esteem and that is the only type of white woman he could possibly get.
or
b. If she is attractive, intelligent and full of confidence, well he (the black man) has betrayed his race. And wow, I wish I would have bookmarked some of the forums so I could post links here.
I read an interesting article where an African American male claims that all interracial relationships are started out of some sort of sick fetish that has to do with slavery.
What comments like these do is invalidate an interrracial couple’s relationship that is probably just as good if not better than relationships of the same race.
Going out in public with a black man (in the States, I don’t know about anywhere else) is a sure fire way to receive glares and snide remarks. You don’t even have to be dating the person for this to happen, the simple fact that you are with a person of another race will warrant this treatment.
This sort of hate and stereotyping makes me sick. One would hope that we as humans would move beyond the hate, beyond the stereotyping and start living our lives and let others do the same.
I have to get going, but there is a lot more I wish to say about this in the future (DV). Please excuse any typos as I don’t have time to double check.
@majonzi - I agree, all men seem to be obsessed with talking about their d*&ks.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:13 am
@caustic: The African American - white women relationships are an entirely different can of worms mixed with 400 years of living together side by side. However, caustic, I can assure you my views did not come out of some hate filled agenda that I want to preach. They are observations and experiences all compounded into one article with the most aggrieved party in all this, African men, agreeing with me that this is indeed their experience.
Plus, as I have said, in Australia, I have seen quite a few white men-African women relationships, especially among older people, that are very mutually loving and nurturing.
As much as I’d hate to admit it, sometimes a stereotype is a stereotype because it’s true. Please give me the exception to the rule and I will gladly post it.
I think that until men stop being competitive or have religious experiences there will be competition over penis size for many years to come.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Mwangi,
My best friend growing up was a girl whose parents are from Africa. She is a black woman married to a white man. He is a doctor and she is an executive for a marketing firm. Two highly successful people who love each other very much, what more could society ask? Not only has she received a lot of flak from society in general, but also from her parents. His parents have always been very supportive/accepting of their relationship. As a couple they have had to endure snide comments, glares and everyone seems to think they are owed some sort of explanation as to why they are together. My friend has told me that she feels like she is on trial when she is asked why she married a white man. She feels like her relationship with her husband is viewed as a side show at a carnival instead of a marriage.
I have another good friend, a white woman, who married a black man. She does not fit into your stereotypes about interracial relationships. She has never done drugs, she has never been overweight and she most assuredly does not have self esteem issues. Her husband is an attorney and she is a stay at home wife. Her family has given her nothing but grief and after ten years of marriage, they still will not accept her husband. His family has been very accepting/supportive. I often wonder if parents take more concern in whom their daughters marry than their sons? In any event she and her husband experience the same treatment as my other friend. She has told me that she stopped explaining why she married a black man because to her it is a non-issue. She did not marry him because he was black, she married him because she loved him and if other people cannot accept it, then you can’t change them so no need in trying.
Both of my friends that I mention above I have known since the second grade. Both of these women have been married for ten years plus. I think they are owed the same repsect given to couples who marry within their race and they shouldn’t have their marriages downgraded with terms like: “jungle fever” or have to defend their relationships as though they were some sort of freak show.
March 21st, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Those are the type of people I want to meet and understand. That’s what this blog is all about.
Something interesting though that I did not bring up before, my apologies,is the role that culture plays in all this. I have known quite a few people African who have been here ever since they were young children, or were born here, and for a lot of them the type of interracial relationships they develop are also quite different to those of people Fresh of the Boat. They relate to each other differently because of their shared culture and growing up in the same country.
So to narrow the focus of the Jungle Fever article even further, it is an observation I have made almost entirely out of watching people who came here in the mid to late teens or adulthood from Africa.
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:47 am
Hi Mwangi, I have always viewed Australia as a deeply racist society because of the way they treated and continue to treat indigenous Australians. It is interesting to read their views about other minority groups.
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:51 am
The treatment of indigenous Australians is an entirely different can of worms all together. The way those people are treated, and the way they treat themselves, is honestly one of the greatest tragedies I have ever seen. I don’t know if I have linked to this in other blog posts but listen to this interview with aboriginal woman Tania Major, especially for the part where she talks about her experiences in high school. From what I have seen that is the rule as opposed to the exception:
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s2016257.htm
April 14th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
“In the city of Melbourne however I have had a few racist taunts screamed at me here and there but on average you will get it less than ten times in a whole year, and even that is really inflating the figures.”
To clarify: African Americans do not walk around all day with the fear of being called “nigger” or otherwise discriminated against. Yes, discrimination still exists in our society but not nearly to the extent that it once did. True, blacks in America have always had to fight — even for our basic human rights — but I can also say that we have seen and are still seeing the fruits of that struggle. I’m sorry to split hairs here, but it almost seems as if outsiders believe that we we American Blacks cower in our homes in fear of the Klan riders or something when that couldn’t be further from the truth. (Today, the KKK is so irrelevant that some even question wether they still exist — they do, but their numbers are diminished and they do not hold the power and influence they once did). Granted, the picture isn’t all rosy all the time but I can tell you that even one racist taunt per lifetime is shocking in that it just doesn’t happen that often.
Re interracial dating: Perhaps my examples don’t mean much b/c I am from the States but I know so many people in interracial relationships. I have several biracial friends (i.e. the fruit of mixed marriages), I myself have dated many white and Hispanic men (though my preference is Black men) and I just don’t see the big deal. But I do agree with Majonzi in that Black woman-white man is generally more accepted here than Black man-White woman.
Re the Mandingo issue: That’s not such a bad stereotype to me!
But I do understand the implications of that. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t buy into that myth myself. And yes, I do blame those damn comedians.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Something occurred to me right after posting the above comment. I am a Black woman residing in a diverse, big city in the United States so my experiences are different from that of say, a Black man in the United States. So although I myself may not have been the victim of direct discrimination, that is just my story.
I had to clarify because there are some “hillbilly” (a word we use to describe backward thinking) towns left in my country where a Black person would be the target of racial taunting and discrimination (a recent, more high profile example: the Jena 6. Let me know if you’ve never heard of this case before and I will post a link to the story if you wish).
April 15th, 2008 at 7:19 am
@KP: Thank you for leaving so many lovely comments on so many posts. I know a little bit about the Jena 6 and I pretty much have seen two sides to the story:
a) African Americans who say that even though they were in the wrong….you can’t have such harsh consequences for people so young and see it as a reflection of the prison system’s love for the black male.
b) Other people, mainly White, who think the kids should suffer if they assaulted that white boy and don’t seem to see the punishment as extreme. Would this be accurate?
Interestingly, the white man-black woman thing in our society is so heavily looked down on by older African women and African men, it’s basically seen as an old man with his prostitute, but when you talk to a lot of young women they are looking for white men because of the money they can give them and because they are much more romantic and compromising than the typical African man.
It’s amazing, I am still yet to hear a complaint over the Jungle Fever article from anyone of color…male or female. The way the human mind works is absolutely amazing!