Racism Archives - With Some Grace

Yet another incident of racism on public transport has been reported.

A woman on the NSW Central Coast train line started hurling racist abuse at an innocent Asian passenger. Another passenger captured it on video and what comes out of this lady’s profane mouth is beyond shocking.

We’re in disbelief that a country as “multi-cultural” as Australia still has such low levels of racial and cultural tolerance.

We’re in shock because we can’t believe that such bigoted pigs still exist in our country.

The thing is: this kind of behaviour happens all the time.

Once in a while, a similar incident might be reported, like the one that happened to the French students on a Melbourne tram or the abuse ABC presenter Jeremy Fernandez and his son experienced on a Sydney inner-west bus.

But it’s all due to coincidence these moments are captured and brought to the general public’s attention.

And in the true style of social media, a social conscious tsunami hits us. For a day or 3 we’re appalled, shaking our heads that things need fixing, people need to be educated.

But then, it all dies down again.

Only for it to rise when fate, timing and the ratio of decent people at that heinous moment exceeds the racist a-holes that cause it.

I don’t have the answers.

But during such abhorrent behaviour, I’m not sure it’s worth fighting these scumbags.

I’ve been in the middle of one of these. Because it’s a random stranger that tries to cut you down, make you feel worthless, you’re supposed to believe that it’s nothing personal. In fact, it’s ALL PERSONAL.

The anxiety levels almost send my lungs to paralysis. It takes me hours, days, even weeks to mentally and emotionally recover.

But, I don’t want hate breeding hate. Or even worse, violence.

Racism isn’t fleeting and by the looks of things, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

I do want more people – both the likes of those who have been effected and those who haven’t – talking about this more often, instead of when a random video starts going viral.

I want people to remember that while this offensive behaviour is unacceptable, let’s accept that not only does it happen, unfortunately, it’s prevalent.

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I try to be careful when talking about racism.

It’s a precarious balance in objectively pointing out the lack of cultural and racial tolerance that still exists in Australia and mistakenly sounding like another disgruntled “hard done by” Asian Australian.

Last Friday night I decided to take up what this fine city had to offer and bought myself a ticket to a Sydney Writers Festival production called, “Stories Then and Now”

A line up of 6 Asian Australian storytellers, all had their riveting stories of family and lineage as well as the hard journey each of them took to make Australia their home.

Despite an almost a full auditorium, the setting was still intimate.

30 years ago, migrant stories like these would never have been of anyone’s interest. Least of all in same height of popularity it was that night.

And it’s significant moments like these, as a nation, we’re heading in the right direction towards multi-culturalism.

We’re having the open discussions, reaching understanding and acceptance of different ethnic backgrounds.

There’s now a listening, attentive audience who want to learn about and appreciate the hardships and challenges that migrant Australians undertook to get here.

Whether it be candidly or formally, we’re talking. Educating each other.

There’s lots of mixed views about last Friday night’s AFL match between Collingwood and Sydney Swans.

(Image from Zoey Martin)

There are those who feel Adam Goodes has been deservedly commended in how he handled the racial slur. Others believe that the 13 year old girl who called him an “ape” was treated too harshly by authorities and security and that she became an scapegoat.

The fact is that the incident was exposed and dealt with accordingly.

20 years ago, this wouldn’t have happened.

Because, for someone who has been racially vilified on many an occasion, I cannot stand complacency.

When I tell someone about being subjected to racism, the last thing I want to see is a shrug of the shoulders and hear the line, “Well, it happens everywhere, not just in Australia.”

That’s just not good enough. Especially when it’s happening to me in my own country.

There is the argument that what happened shouldn’t even be a racist issue because the 13 year old girl didn’t think that calling someone an “ape” was being racist.

If that is the case, then all the more reason we need to talk openly; have those difficult conversations about what racism is to someone who has experienced it.

As Zoey Martin eloquently put it:

“Let’s allow victims of racism to define what is racist and what is not.”

The more we talk about it, educate our children and ourselves, the more we can nut out the sensitivities, the intricacies of social and racial tolerance.

We’re finally at a stage where, as a developing multi-cultural nation, this is actually happening.

Joining Essentially Jess for IBOT

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Racism on public transport

Racism: To expose, discuss and educate