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EDITORIAL: Reflecting on our country's racism
Issue 193 - 22 Jan 2010
ISSUE 193, January 21, 2010: Racism.
Australia is grounded on it. We were the country of the White Australia Policy, of terra nullius, of the Cronulla Riots.
We are the country that constantly treats our First Peoples, our most disadvantaged, as second-class citizens who need to be watched over.
We are the country that currently has a federal Opposition leader who had previously called for a "new paternalism", a re-imagining of the racist doctrines of the past, to deal with Aboriginal people.
We are the country that locks up Aboriginal people at an extraordinary rate, a country that refuses to compensate for past wrongs, that still argues over whether an apology was appropriate.
We are a country that last year defended five performers in blackface on national TV. And we are a country that refuses to listen and learn when we are caught out.
Earlier this month, international scrutiny turned to our country again, over a KFC ad intended for the cricket season.
The character, a white Australian named "Mick" is sitting in the midst of a crowd of loud West Indian cricketing fans.
"Need a tip when you're stuck in an awkward situation?" Mick asked.
He then took out a bucket of KFC chicken, and passed it around, quieting the West Indian fans.
Taken in context, this ad really doesn't seem so bad.
You are sitting in the stands surrounded by fans of our opposing team. You are obviously out of place. You want to make the peace.
If KFC had chosen another country's supporters, it would not raise an eyebrow.
But when placed in an international light, it has raised more than one.
In fact, in the age of Obama, it probably raised the eyebrows of most of the Americans who saw it.
African Americans loving fried chicken is considered an unsavoury stereotype in the United States.
Throughout history, fried chicken was used to stigmatise African Africans, although the origin of the stereotype is murky.
It may have originated from the fact it was cheap everyday food, and thus it was deemed suitable for African Americans.
Regardless, black folk loving fried chicken is a sore point for US audiences.
When reactions first began flooding in from across the Pacific, the common viewpoint in our own nation seemed to be that outsiders should stop passing their moral judgement on us.
But the fact of the matter is, we could have learned from this.
We could have taken the comments on board and realised that racism is not okay in any way, shape or form.
It is not okay in Australia, in America or England.
We should have understood the cultural sensitivities behind the ads.
And while I understand it was perhaps just a mistake, and not grounded in intentional discrimination, any sort of racism should not be tolerated.
The reaction to the KFC ad is similar to the reactions by some elements of the Australian community to the recent murder of Indian student Nitin Garg in Melbourne.
The consensus seemed to be that the Indians are overreacting, that we are really not a racist country.
But I couldn't help agreeing with outgoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Tom Calma, who said:
"There is an indirect racism, if not direct racism, and it affects those people who are the Indigenous people or the ethnic minorities."
We have to start taking this international criticism over our indirect and direct racism to heart. We must reflect on it, not excuse it.
Maybe then we will have a good 2010.
- Amy McQuire, acting editor
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