By Blue Barlow
IN 2017, I wrote a piece for the Bass Coast Post titled Little White Lies in which I highlighted some concerning patterns I had noticed in our community. I ended with the thought: “From ‘a whiter man’ to White Australia to Nazism is a straight path. One leads to the other. You can’t be a little bit racist. You are or you aren’t.”
The comments on the article either agreed and shared their own observations, or minimised the damage, focusing on intent over impact.
IN 2017, I wrote a piece for the Bass Coast Post titled Little White Lies in which I highlighted some concerning patterns I had noticed in our community. I ended with the thought: “From ‘a whiter man’ to White Australia to Nazism is a straight path. One leads to the other. You can’t be a little bit racist. You are or you aren’t.”
The comments on the article either agreed and shared their own observations, or minimised the damage, focusing on intent over impact.
Fast forward nine years.
For longer than I can remember, Wing Ho Chinese Restaurant in Cowes has been beloved by both locals and tourists. The owners and workers are well respected and liked in the community, and the place has a stellar reputation.
On February 2, they posted a statement to their Facebook page: “We believe respect has no place for racism … Recently, we experienced behaviour that did not align with these values. We remain committed to serving our community with professionalism and kindness, and we thank our customers and neighbours for their ongoing support.”
In the comments section “sad” and “heartbroken” people expressed their solidarity and support. Many were shocked that this had occurred on Phillip Island.
Three days later an AI image was posted on the Phillip Island Noticeboard on Facebook depicting a group of Arab men in keffiyehs, somewhere on a coastline. The image was posted with the question: “Does anyone know what is happening down at the foreshore this morning?!”
The post received so much outrage that it appeared in the Sentinel Times. It was heartening to see some comments calling the post out for what it was. A dog whistle. Coded language pretending to be neutral while quietly inviting bigotry into the conversation.
Some of the racist comments were easy to spot. References to tea towels, terrorism, coming off the boat, blah blah blah. There were quite a few of those.
Then came the cognitive dissonance. The “I’m not racist, but …”. Some of my favourites included: “Just disagreement, opposition, disgust, but not racism.” And “Ugly behaviour isn’t racism. No shame in sticking up for my beautiful island and against litter producing filth …”
These comments would be bad enough. But it got worse. Ramping up into anger; “Fuck right off. Everyone should tell them to piss off.” Suspicion; “Nip it in the bud now before it gets out of hand.” All the way to implied threats of violence; “Look like sitting ducks to me.”
To be fair, the original poster (or whistler would be the more technical term) did attempt to explain his post.
“It’s an AI generated image, that has more than proven my point. At no point did I post anything hateful, I merely posted a photo and asked a question ... You chose to look at this fake image, be offended by it and call me racist with no facts to back your position ... I can’t control what other people write?!”
When people pointed out the obvious racism that exploded all over our community’s social media, the common response was “Can we stop making everything about politics? I don’t care about politics.”
This is something you can only say when politics hasn’t affected you yet. Those who suffer racism don’t have the option of not caring about politics.
So, what is racism? Looking down on, denigrating, oppressing or otherising another person based on their race, nationality, melanin, culture, language or religion. This can be conscious or unconscious, bold or subtle.
Racist acts include racially motivated murders, lynchings, genocides, the White Australia Policy, the Stolen Generation, classifying Indigenous Australians as “fauna”. Things that are impossible to miss.
But racism also comes across in dog whistling, as with the Facebook example, as well as microaggressions (such as “So, where are you really from?”), low expectations, stereotyping, punching down and derogatory generalising. Systemic issues in housing, immigration, health and justice. Cultural expectations, reacting with fear or suspicion without reason.
In school, I was taught that Nazis were bad racist people who put people in gas chambers and concentration camps for no reason. The focus was not on how ordinary people enable harm, how propaganda flatters its audience, how fear dresses itself up as reason, how good people can do bad things without realising. Because most harm in the world isn’t done by people who think they’re villains. It’s done by people who think they’re reasonable.
Recent local events have made me consider: if we accept that Nazism was wrong, why are we so afraid to confront its quieter descendants?
In 2017, when I wrote Little White Lies, I was essentially saying “Hey, everyone, there’s a grass fire over there! We should do something about that.” And quite a few people said something to the effect of “No, that’s just smoke. Nothing to worry about.”
In 2020, Wing Ho, the restaurant that put out that heartbreaking statement just this month, installed electric shutters on their doors and windows due to the abuse that was unleashed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The grassfire had officially claimed a building.
Now, almost a decade later, with the advent and weaponisation of AI, we have to do something about the grassfire before it gets out of control.
Being passively not racist isn’t enough. We must be actively anti-racist. We must call it out, loudly and boldly, whenever we see it. Support our neighbours, no matter their colour, creed or language. Stand up for them when they experience even subtle racism. Call out dog whistles online and never let our comfort outweigh our responsibility.
This glorious comment was left on the dog-whistling post. “Why post this shit? You’re clearly trying to stir up the old sulphur farts that still think racism is okay. Can smell y’all through my phone. Like wet coins and old rubbish. Nasty humans.”
Exactly. Perfectly said. I have no notes.
For longer than I can remember, Wing Ho Chinese Restaurant in Cowes has been beloved by both locals and tourists. The owners and workers are well respected and liked in the community, and the place has a stellar reputation.
On February 2, they posted a statement to their Facebook page: “We believe respect has no place for racism … Recently, we experienced behaviour that did not align with these values. We remain committed to serving our community with professionalism and kindness, and we thank our customers and neighbours for their ongoing support.”
In the comments section “sad” and “heartbroken” people expressed their solidarity and support. Many were shocked that this had occurred on Phillip Island.
Three days later an AI image was posted on the Phillip Island Noticeboard on Facebook depicting a group of Arab men in keffiyehs, somewhere on a coastline. The image was posted with the question: “Does anyone know what is happening down at the foreshore this morning?!”
The post received so much outrage that it appeared in the Sentinel Times. It was heartening to see some comments calling the post out for what it was. A dog whistle. Coded language pretending to be neutral while quietly inviting bigotry into the conversation.
Some of the racist comments were easy to spot. References to tea towels, terrorism, coming off the boat, blah blah blah. There were quite a few of those.
Then came the cognitive dissonance. The “I’m not racist, but …”. Some of my favourites included: “Just disagreement, opposition, disgust, but not racism.” And “Ugly behaviour isn’t racism. No shame in sticking up for my beautiful island and against litter producing filth …”
These comments would be bad enough. But it got worse. Ramping up into anger; “Fuck right off. Everyone should tell them to piss off.” Suspicion; “Nip it in the bud now before it gets out of hand.” All the way to implied threats of violence; “Look like sitting ducks to me.”
To be fair, the original poster (or whistler would be the more technical term) did attempt to explain his post.
“It’s an AI generated image, that has more than proven my point. At no point did I post anything hateful, I merely posted a photo and asked a question ... You chose to look at this fake image, be offended by it and call me racist with no facts to back your position ... I can’t control what other people write?!”
When people pointed out the obvious racism that exploded all over our community’s social media, the common response was “Can we stop making everything about politics? I don’t care about politics.”
This is something you can only say when politics hasn’t affected you yet. Those who suffer racism don’t have the option of not caring about politics.
So, what is racism? Looking down on, denigrating, oppressing or otherising another person based on their race, nationality, melanin, culture, language or religion. This can be conscious or unconscious, bold or subtle.
Racist acts include racially motivated murders, lynchings, genocides, the White Australia Policy, the Stolen Generation, classifying Indigenous Australians as “fauna”. Things that are impossible to miss.
But racism also comes across in dog whistling, as with the Facebook example, as well as microaggressions (such as “So, where are you really from?”), low expectations, stereotyping, punching down and derogatory generalising. Systemic issues in housing, immigration, health and justice. Cultural expectations, reacting with fear or suspicion without reason.
In school, I was taught that Nazis were bad racist people who put people in gas chambers and concentration camps for no reason. The focus was not on how ordinary people enable harm, how propaganda flatters its audience, how fear dresses itself up as reason, how good people can do bad things without realising. Because most harm in the world isn’t done by people who think they’re villains. It’s done by people who think they’re reasonable.
Recent local events have made me consider: if we accept that Nazism was wrong, why are we so afraid to confront its quieter descendants?
In 2017, when I wrote Little White Lies, I was essentially saying “Hey, everyone, there’s a grass fire over there! We should do something about that.” And quite a few people said something to the effect of “No, that’s just smoke. Nothing to worry about.”
In 2020, Wing Ho, the restaurant that put out that heartbreaking statement just this month, installed electric shutters on their doors and windows due to the abuse that was unleashed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The grassfire had officially claimed a building.
Now, almost a decade later, with the advent and weaponisation of AI, we have to do something about the grassfire before it gets out of control.
Being passively not racist isn’t enough. We must be actively anti-racist. We must call it out, loudly and boldly, whenever we see it. Support our neighbours, no matter their colour, creed or language. Stand up for them when they experience even subtle racism. Call out dog whistles online and never let our comfort outweigh our responsibility.
This glorious comment was left on the dog-whistling post. “Why post this shit? You’re clearly trying to stir up the old sulphur farts that still think racism is okay. Can smell y’all through my phone. Like wet coins and old rubbish. Nasty humans.”
Exactly. Perfectly said. I have no notes.