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Little white lies

7/7/2017

21 Comments

 
Picture
Most of us don’t abuse people of other races or commit hate crimes but nor do we speak up when we see racism, writes Mikhaela Barlow.

By Mikhaela Barlow
​

IN COWES, outside the Bendigo Bank, there is a mural. This mural is bright and colourful. It is pleasing to the eyes and charming to look at. Shades of blue and green cover most of the piece, although strokes of silver and understated brown peek out and make the mural eye-catching.

There is a poem on this mural written by Barney Noonan and Curl. It speaks of a well-beloved man called Pop Luke, who has passed on. The poem speaks of a friendship between the author and Pop Luke, and talks about how this man was a brilliant man who did some great things, and how he will be missed.

The mural is lovely. The poem is sweet. Until you get to the second last line.

“For a whiter man never trod the bush.”

Think about those words. There are other words the poet could have used … nobler, perhaps, finer or fairer. But no, the author chose the word “whiter”.

I have formally notified the council that a public artwork in Victoria’s premier tourist destination is racist and divisive. Their response is that it’s not a problem.

Many local residents don’t even see the problem. When racism rears its head, it isn’t challenged, and it isn’t seen as problematic when a racist public artwork is prominently displayed.

My own experience suggests there is a deep undercurrent of racism in Bass Coast.

Late last year in a Cowes supermarket I intervened to defend a woman and her daughters as they were verbally abused by a group of adult men, some of whom I recognised as locals. These local men, my parents’ generation, had no moral qualms about attacking, insulting and terrorising a woman and children, apparently because of “terrorism”.

Nothing more coherent or nuanced. They emphasised their argument with as many obscene misogynistic insults as they could collectively hurl and concluded with a triumphant “Fuck off back to where you came from!” (Which, from the sound of the terrified young woman, was Camberwell or possibly Hawthorn.)

To make matters worse, there were police there. I can’t say they were local and I don’t recall seeing them before or since, but they were uniformed and they just stood there, silently watching while getting their doughnuts or whatever. They did nothing and said nothing.

When asked why they didn’t intervene, their response was “People have the right to be upset”. Two other local teenagers intervened and the men finally stopped their attack and wandered off leaving three uncounted Australian victims of terror in aisle 3, two brave cops free to resume protecting and serving us, a dozen or more shoppers free to resume their shopping, and three Phillip Islanders teenagers, alone in our support for the victims, wondering what exactly we’re meant to celebrate on Australia Day.

I previously worked at a café on the Island, where frequent racist jokes and insulting comments about tourists passed as good-natured banter in the kitchen. There was palpable outrage over a neighbouring kebab shop’s decision to offer Halal food. I really needed that $10 an hour cash job so I felt that complaining about the boss to the boss probably wasn’t a good idea and said nothing about the casual, daily racism.

On one sunny Saturday afternoon, as families fed seagulls outside the fish and chip shop and kids on expensive mountain bikes monopolised the footpath, an elderly man in a turban paused to ask passers-by if they could direct him to the toilet. Two local men answered, yelling at him about … you guessed it … terrorism. They shouted obscenities and insults based on their deep and comprehensive knowledge of the practices of Islam. I tried to tell them he was a Sikh, not a Muslim. They explained, in misogynistic terms, how ignorant I was and that “Mussies, Sikhies” (Really? Is that even a thing?) and all the other “foreign” religions were bad, and I was a traitor for supporting “terrorists”.

I’m not intimidated by racists so their abuse didn’t bother me and the victim was able to leave safely, but it was an unpleasant experience being abused by two grown men while my employer and co-workers said nothing.

Now these are nothing more than a couple of experiences and anecdotal evidence alone is hardly persuasive. There is, however, a much larger picture here.

Somewhere around 2008 Bass Coast experienced the unannounced arrival of several scores of refugees from the Horn of Africa. The men got jobs out at the Tabro abattoirs and brought their families to Wonthaggi for the start of the school year. A number of these refugees became citizens and as I was in the habit of attending every citizenship ceremony held in Bass Coast I met many of them and got to know several families. Within a few years, most of these new residents were gone. There were many reasons they left but not least was the daily racism they experienced just trying to live their lives. The men copped it if they dropped in to the pub for a drink, the women copped it in the supermarket and picking up the kids, and the kids copped it at school.

This is not news nor is it a secret. The police, government agencies and NGOs and Bass Coast Council itself know this to be true and collectively workshopped the issue several councils ago. What has been done to address the problem? Oh sure, there are some signs up on council buildings welcoming refugees but where do you see a policy on combatting racism or supporting multiculturalism or diversity?

Let’s go back a bit further in history. This area, the little bit of south west Gippsland we call Home, our Bass Coast Shire, is in truth stolen. This place was already somebody’s home. The Bunurong and the Boonwurrung owned it and lived on it. Europeans drove out the original owners. Or killed them. Let’s not forget there was a fair bit of that going on.

After the Second World War an endless supply of “New Australians”, chief among them the Italians, were so keen to get ahead in their new country that they ignored and accepted the insults and abuse and the economic and social exploitation which enabled Victoria to grow. Remember those insults? Wogs. Dagos. Remember “It can’t be hard: Wogs can do it.” (I heard that recently.) Ask around, I’m sure those days are well remembered by the Italian Aussies throughout the shire.

When people think about racism, they usually think about loud offensive language and hate crimes or perhaps segregation. They rarely consider the smaller acts of racism – soft racism – that happen in our shire.

For example, when people on a crowded bus prefer to stand instead of sit next to a man of colour, even when he offers a seat. I saw that myself recently. Or when employees in local shops follow people of colour to safeguard against theft but leave the white people free to shop without suspicion. Or when a woman of colour falls over in the aisle and her groceries go flying but nobody stops to help her retrieve her shopping.

Or when the phrase “a whiter man” is used in a poem, painted on a wall in a public place and nobody says a thing.

If you see racism in words or action, speak up for the victims of it. Don’t keep quiet and wait for it to pass.
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. And if you are, then you are the enemy of humanity, the enemy of a better, more equitable and more peaceful world.

21 Comments
Alice Ansara
8/7/2017 12:25:58 pm

I am so heartened by this article I feel like shouting 'hooray!' - every day, casual racism is so insidious and perhaps more dangerous that the more obvious forms that this abuse appears in. I too have noticed the habitual and disheartening racism of many residents in the Bass Coast, often from the mouths of lovely and dear people. I always speak up about it whether I do so in a light hearted, jokey way or an angry, direct way. To be silent is to be complicit. I am saddened to hear that the small cohort of african refugees have mainly left the shire as my personal opinion is that refugees are desperately needed in this seemingly culturally homogeneous area. Anyhow, good on you Mikhaela, your article has heartened me no end.

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bob middleton
8/7/2017 01:30:48 pm

Brilliant writing Mikhaela. My hope is that it can be published elsewhere to reach a wider audience. I aml sure the readers of the Bass Coast Post are already with you on this issue.In view of your comments I wonder if Barney Noonan and Curl would consider heeding your advice as it seems to have fallen on some council ears not fully tuned in to the problem.

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Samiro Douglas
8/7/2017 04:00:27 pm

Great to see this piece. Subtle racism go unnoticed. You need to watch out for the phase "I'm not racist, but!!!!!"

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Michael Whelan
8/7/2017 04:51:51 pm

Well said and courageously spoken. We set our standards by what we are prepared to walk past and I will mention to the Bendigo bank next time I am in there that their mural is in bad taste. It is as you say the loud and ugly abuse that is offensive but the subtle everyday use of language that is insidious.

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Linda D
8/7/2017 09:41:07 pm

Excellent piece of writing. Let's all stop being so complacent and stand up and say something when we see racism. The person getting attacked will then know we all don't agree with the attacker's views and feel grateful for the support.

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Rosemary Paterson
9/7/2017 09:42:04 am

Great article. Congratulations on calling out racism in its many subtle and not so subtle ways. Thanks

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Nola Smith
9/7/2017 09:55:34 am

Beautifully written. Maybe someone with any mainstream media contacts could assist to have Mikhaela's article published elsewhere. Travelling on Metro trains a few weeks ago, after leaving the footy at the MCG, I thought I was fortunate to find a seat. It had been a big crowd game and seats on the line I travelled are always rare. It was in a section with 4 seats, 2 facing each other.. A Sikh family from India. Mother and father visiting their adult son who is currently living here. The parents had very minimal english but the son and I engaged in various conversations and I interacted with the parents via the son. I thought, what an enriching opportunity for me, but also could see in my peripheral vision stares and even glares from other passengers. So sad. The family were getting off the train 2 stops prior to me. The son commented that it had been an enjoyable meeting and I had been gererous to him and his parents...common courtesy was all it was...and a seat on a train instead of standing for me. After we had shaken hands (I must admit I am ignorant if this was appropraite to their religion, but I felt I wanted to offer my hand, also as a demonstartion to the other "observers" on the train), they left. My heart was warm from the meeting, but I also felt so very sad. As an aside, it wasn't just chance that caused the enpty seat. Seats are normally rushed at with trains leaving Richmond station after footy matches. There is still such a very long way to travel on the road to equality for all and acceptance of all races and religions, but as individuals we also have to lead lives of inclusion and standing up for other as Mikhaela demonstrated in the shop in Cowes.

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Phyllis Papps
9/7/2017 11:08:32 am

Mikhaela you are a wonderful, insightful and writer of truth. The topics you wrote with such passion, I term as the ISM'S and PHOBIAS of society in general. So here is the list: Racism, Sexism, Misogynism, Ageism, and of course Homophobia and many other phobias and Ism's .. the list is endless.
As one of the WOGS (of Greek origin) who came here to Australia in 1950 I can't see that very much has changed. There will always be fear of the unknown. When we came here, we were called "New Australians" so my parents worked hard, we got a good education and assimilated into society and made a contribution to society. We even changed our surname by Deed Poll because no one could cope with pronouncing our name.
After the 1950s influx of Italians and Greeks came the Asians in the 1970s as a result of getting rid of the White Australia Policy. Australia is not white, it is multicultural and has been greatly enriched and has benefited from all the migrants and refugees who have come here. But we must always remember who the real owners of Australia are.
Whenever we see, hear or feel that one of the Ism's or Phobias is in words, deeds or actions then we should fight it in every way we possibly can. Australia is NOT for the white, middle class, wealthy people BUT for everybody of any race, colour, religion, politics, sex, gender, age etc.
Just remember Mikhaela, the pen is mightier than the sword. So you have a great future ahead of you as a writer, deep thinker and catalyst for change.

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Mark Robertson
9/7/2017 12:15:13 pm

Good to see you still standing up for right Mikhaela, although,given the " caringattitude displayed by our political leaders towards those who have risked all to enter our country, the disgraceful behaviour of bigotted and moronic Australians is not surprising. We are supposed to be the land of the fair go- hopefully your powerful writing will wake them up to what being Australian really means.

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Tom Wolkenberg
10/7/2017 07:16:47 pm

Yes, I agree that Mikhaela's article is timely and 'on the money'. And, of course, racism is common right across the country, and in all sectors and levels, with bad examples given by too many of our leaders.
However I would like to slightly disagree with Mikhaela's comment that 'you can't be a little bit racist.' I think most of us occasionally have some racist thoughts, maybe subconsciously. But it is how we control our thoughts and actions.
Our society needs to confront fear of the other.

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Catherine Watson
11/7/2017 05:58:28 pm

I think you're right, Tom. It's probably human nature to be suspicious and fearful of "the other", and would have been an evolutionary advantage in the past. But we now face a different reality. I'm heartened whenever I go into multicultural city schools to see the easy camaraderie of children of all races and cultures. They probably don't realise it but they're so lucky! It's by getting to know "others" that we lose our fear.

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Kay Setches
10/7/2017 09:34:46 pm

Today, research undertaken between 2014 - 15 revealed that muslims had reportedly been subject to 243 cases of abuse including physical, mainly in NSW and Victoria. Of this number, 75% of attacks had been suffered by muslim women mainly because of their scarves. About half these women had their children with them at the time of the attacks and abuse. The attacks had been overwhelmingly by white males.

Horrifically, while most of these attacks occurred in public places like public transport or shopping malls, people stood by and watched including police officers and did not intervene to stop such abuse. Very few assisted the women.

I have developed a habit of speaking to muslim women in public places, welcoming them to Phillip Island or wherever I happen to see them. They have been surprised and then grateful for the positive encounter with an older anglo woman.
These yobbos, do not act or speak in my name, and never will. Good work Michaela for speaking up with the 2 other young people. If we all spoke kindly and and in a welcoming manner to muslims, we would all feel better and in help counter the hate speech and actions.
I feel that we Australian can be better than those in the research.

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Phil
2/10/2017 03:40:11 pm

Where is the balance in your comments Kay surely there are a heap of other statistics you fail to note to reflect some balance, I can think of many.

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Margaret Murray
2/9/2017 10:55:50 am

I totally agree with all that you say Mikhaela. But, I am standing up for the author of the poem here. Let's look at the origin of the words 'whiter man'. I grew up understanding this to mean something other than how you have portrayed those words. The author actually was showing great respect for the person he was writing about by using those words. The white man is a term used in parts of Britain meaning to be decent and trustworthy in one's actions. The similar American expression is "that's mighty white of you" with the meaning of "thank you for being fair".

The colour white has long been associated with purity and virtue in English culture.

So Mikhaela all may not be as it seems.

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Phil
10/10/2017 01:47:11 pm

The PC Marxists have been at work defacing the poem.

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Gaza
22/10/2017 12:47:47 pm

The poem has had the line in question painted over, true. But your guess as to the identity of the spray painter reveals simply another of your prejudicial assumptions. You don’t know who did it. Unless you yourself are a PC Marxist and defaced it yourself, which seems unlikely.

Gaza
22/10/2017 12:43:30 pm

Margaret your justification of the poet, and of the use of the adjectives “white” and “whiter” reveal a general ignorance of the nature of oppressive language. Certainly if the poem had been written long ago it would need to be assessed against the standards appropriate to the time. It is however a new poem and should be judged by contemporary standards, standards which clearly preclude the use of racist language.
If we do indeed consider the language of the past there are a plethora of examples of clearly racist language in common usage. There is the “N” word of course, and all the other epithets for dark skinned people; I won’t list them here but I’m certain you know them. My father is Welsh and spent his career being called “Taffy” by every English officer, the name they gave to every Welshman whose name they couldn’t bother to learn. A term of affection? A remnant of a bygone age? Nope. Just simple racism, usually best recognised by ascribing to an entire group the characteristics of an individual. Again, I’m sure you understand just how deep runs xenophobia in British culture. I well remember my schooling in Melbourne, when every racial group was referred to by an insult or epithet. That’s the “Australian Culture “ that Hanson, Abbott et al fear is dying out, a culture that has never been characterised by respect for others.
As for your reference to obsolete American racist expressions I remember them well from my time living in Alabama. I usually heard them from Clansmen and White Supremacists. Frequently the comment “That’s mighty white of you” was said by a white American to an African American. It was intended to insult and is NOT an acceptable comment in the US today, except by the aforementioned groups.
The language of racism Margaret has a long history. It is always defended by those who use it as culturally or historically worthwhile. But let’s not fool ourselves. Such language is cruel and intolerable. It causes offence and is intended to cause offenders. Indeed to ascribe every honourable attribute to the colour “white” and everything dishonourable to every colour BUT white is very clear racism. You simply cannot use a racist expression and claim that it isn’t because you’re not. That is precisely the kind of ludicrous defence of racism we hear from the White House. Remember that defending a racist makes you their moral equivalent.

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Margaret
22/10/2017 04:43:07 pm

I agree with a lot of what you say Gaza but is that what was in the mind of the poet. and if it was so bad, who allowed for it be displayed so publicly?

Phil
30/9/2017 09:12:07 pm


"Let’s go back a bit further in history. This area, the little bit of south west Gippsland we call Home, our Bass Coast Shire, is in truth stolen. This place was already somebody’s home. The Bunurong and the Boonwurrung owned it and lived on it. Europeans drove out the original owners. Or killed them. Let’s not forget there was a fair bit of that going on."
I would really like you to provide proof that Samuel Anderson , Hugh Anderson ,Thomas Anderson and Robert Massie the pioneers of Westernport displaced and murdered any local inhabitants if there were any at the time. I would also point out to you the actions of Hugh Anderson in treating Tasmanian aboriginal Truganini who suffered an injury after she and her accomplices went on a murderous rampage through the area. Further you should read the accounts of genocide and murder committed against aboriginals by aboriginals http://press.anu.edu.au/node/243/download

As I have said history is a wonderful thing but not when political activists try to change it. The past is the past and now we should all be Australians moving to the future to benefit all loyal Australians.

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Gaza
22/10/2017 06:21:17 pm

I’m amazed Phil that your understanding of history is so...shallow. It seems you have forgotten that the High Court has ruled that the Doctrine of Terra Nullius, upon which this nation was built, is false. In other words it wasn’t empty and wasn’t unowned. The lands of the Bunurong and the Boonwurrung were owned and occupied when white settlers first arrived. Do you think the first settlers bought the land? Do you think the original owners just quietly walked into Bass Strait so that Europeans could occupy their lands and villages? Did you even know that aborigines often lived in permanent villages?
Mikhaela never mentioned the names of those responsible for land theft, murder and genocide. You did, in an attempt to muddy the waters of the discussion. Your whole “Get over it!” attitude is the clearest indication that Mikhaela’s original premise is correct. Racism is rife here and racists still believe they have moral credibility.

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Margaret
31/3/2021 07:38:33 am

I agree with much of what has been said. I feel quite angry with one of Gippslands so called ‘Trail Blazers’ who has been given so much credit for his activities in the area and yet in today’s world would have been goaled many lifetimes for murdering our original owners. It is people like that who have created a lot of the racism that we see today. We have some incredible people from the original owners who have made brilliant lives for themselves and their families and deserve credit when it is due. Having said that I also feel for those that haven’t made it to white mans ways. How can we expect people who have lived here for 40,000 or more years to live white mans ways in 200 plus years. On a lighter note, I am a white woman, white in colour and White in name with not a racist bone in my body.

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