Black and White Issues

 

Racism is all over the news at the moment 13 year old calling Indigenous Australians apes, Eddie McGure apes comments, police with inappropriate stubby holders, rants on trains and buses. So what is racism, what is ignorance and what’s and joke?

Good old Wikepidia defines racism as: Racism is usually defined as views, practices and actions reflecting the belief that humanity is divided into distinct biological groups called races and that members of a certain race share certain attributes which make that group as a whole less desirable, more desirable, inferior or superior

Racism can be insidious with deeply held beliefs that one race is better than another simply by their ethnic back ground. It can be narrow minded and uneducated. Hurtful jokes and ignorance.

I don’t think that racism is a black and white issue, no pun intended there is a whole lot a grey.

I believe before we start to cry racist we need to access a few facts, in what situation was it said to who by who and where? And what was the intent behind it? I am sure that no one will argue that the things that we are happy to be said in private between friends is different to those that we want said in public. I have friends who we will jokingly call each other moles, cows and bitch but if someone was to yell that at me whilst I was working, was to say it on the radio I would take offence. I have friends of Indian backgrounds who describe themselves as curries. Wog has become a reclaimed turn once having been highly offensive is now acceptable by a lot of people of Mediterranean back ground.

I think that it says a lot about our society that our young people are growing up with so few connections with Indigenous Australians that they have no understanding of why calling an Indigenous Australians an ape is so massively offensive.  (In case you were not aware, when the English settles Australia it was considered by the English that Indigenous Australians were more closely related to apes than humans therefore it was ok to threat then appallingly.)

There is a great You Tube clip of a song that’s currently doing the rounds everyone's a little bit racist. I think its true. But what is the intent behind the comment is it any ruder to say that Asian are bad drives to saying that people who wear hats while driving are bad drivers. Is it racist to refer to a style of wedding as a big fat Greek wedding, is it wrong to describe a wedding as a bogan wedding.?

Part of the Australian way is to have a dig at people, not to be cruel but to have a giggle at each other. It would be sad to see things so pc that we lost those jokes and comments. Last year I heard Kate Langbrook say ‘what’s so wrong with offence, why is it such a big problem if I say something that offends someone?’.  Without us being so painfully PC that it becomes crazy there will be times that we do indeed say things that offend. To me the issue them becomes how is that issues handled , is the offend party happy to explain why what was said was rude, is the person prepared to listen and take the comment on board?  In my mind there are comments I just wouldn’t make I would never make a joke about the holocaust, I’m not comfortable with saying niger  but I have a small understanding of why these are no go areas to me and many others.

Basically I think we as a community should never be setting out to hurt and upset others and ideally of a joke is made in poor taste or a comment goes awry we should be able to pick the person up and explain why it’s a rude and offensive term to be used. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately not everyone is aware of the back ground of racial slurs.  

Racism isn’t black and white…retreating people with respect is.