This country shall remain forever the home of the descendants of those people who came here in peace in order to establish in the South Seas an outpost of the British race.
Australian Prime Minister John Curtin in 1945. (via indefensible)
Indefensible recently had an Internet mock-fight with a few other people on Tumblr about racism in his native Australia. In his thoughtful piece here, he makes the case that whilst Australia certainly has plenty to be ashamed of in the race relations field over the last century, it’s no worse than pretty much every other first world nation (cf: British colonialism, German Nazism, American slave traders, etc etc).
Speaking from my own experience, however, I found Australian racism far more shocking than any of those for a simple reason: it was utterly unexpected. From a very early age, I was taught about European history, about World War II, about the American civil rights movement. Until late in life, however, the few Australians I had met did nothing to dispel the common stereotype of the county: that it’s full of genuine, funny, laid back, liberal people. Possessors of a national sense of humour that allowed them to name a swimming pool after a prime minister who drowned himself. Generally groovy.
And then one day a friend told me of the multiple times, when he was visiting relatives in Oz, he overheard some shockingly casual racist remarks directed at the Aboriginal people. Shortly after I read Down Under by Bill Bryson, which has some detailed historical writeups of some of Australia’s racism scandals. I was deeply surprised and affected by this because it simply seemed so at odds with what I thought I knew.
I think that’s why Austrailia’s blemished record of race relations hits people so hard. It’s no worse than most other devloped nations, sure, but like me they just don’t see it coming.
11 Notes