chmaiden

being white Welsh with a black english wife, we havent experienced any racism whatsoever. we were pretty apprehensive before coming over, but we have had people in the shops tell us what beautiful kids we have etc and the only abuse i get is from being incorrectly identified as a pommie - which winds me up of course being welsh...so they get the kiwi jibe back!

fish.01

I can't speak for everyone but if you forced me to choose I would find the Sudanese "more acceptable" because of the circumstances they find themselves in. Most English people are only moving in the hope of improving their lifestyle rather than saving their families lives. That said, the English families are very welcome too - just that you made me choose

Petals

I am white too and do not know what it would be like to live here if I was not.

I do have some personal experience though. A friend of mine is Thai and runs a takeway in a suburb of the gold coast and she is regularly abused by customers.

My daughter worked part time in a Chinese Restaurant for seven years and is friends with the owners and their families and she said they were regularly abused by customers.

An indian lady who worked in the office next to mine and who I used to talk to a lot told me that she believes that racial discrimination goes both ways and she did not want her children to marry Australians unless of indian heritage.

I do not believe there is individual racism here but I do believe there is collective racism i e a group of people together may face it more.

The Sudanese in Melbourne unfortunately are seen as a threat and its due to a minority of them and their behaviour. When innocent people are stopped in their cars and bashed by gangs its going into the papers.

pompeyblonde

It is pretty white, depends what you are comparing it to I guess, but certainly doesn't feel very multi cultural to me!

coogeebay

Australia is one of the most multicultural society on the planet. Today, most immigrants to Australia come for Asia and the Middle East. Yes, I'm sure there are racists here as there are in all societies, but Australia is the most liberal tolerant society on the planet. There are large African communities from many African countries such as Sudanese refugees and many people escaping Mugabe. Australia may not be perfect, but if only the rest of the world was as peaceful and as stable. Come on down, you will love it.

MTPockets

Rubbish.

To the OP: I don't know about Queensland but Sydney is certainly more racist than the UK – at least more openly racist than small town Essex/Hertfordshire and London - and my Australian friends who've lived in the UK have made that point to me too. Whether that's naivety/bigotism is a matter of opinion.

Your children are unlikely to experience any racism though, unless they look remotely aboriginal or pacific-islander, towards whom too many hold ignorant bigoted views (esp the older generation and a few younger idiots). I've heard and witnessed racism towards orientals, indians and arabs – but seldom to their faces.

I'm mixed-race (north african/dutch) and have felt uncomfortable a couple of times, but would agree with an earlier post that most ignorance tends to be directed behind the scenes or in a group sense rather than towards individuals.

Ultimately I think your perspective will depend on how sensitive you are to a minority yet more vocal view than in england. In terms of kids – well I’m sure diversity of culture and skin colour can only be increasing so in the same way skin tone is largely irrelevant for most of my generation x, hopefully the next generation will only embrace it further.

pompeyblonde

I concur and also with the fact that a lot of comments are ignorant rather than downright malicious..... Australia has come a long way since the white Aus policy but still has a fair way to go!

PJLondonSydney

Australia is about as "tolerant" as the UK. One of the best ways to judge the tolerance issue of a city anywhere is by listening to the cabbies. I've recently had a white driver in Brisbane who did not like the Indian ("Asian") drivers and then listed the types of people he would not pick up - it's a wonder he makes a living given his list. I've had Greek and Turkish cab drivers in Sydney who expressed their views about south east Asians in the country, but all this pales into insignificance with the number of cabbies I've had the "pleasure" to ride with in London who expressed open hatred toward blacks, arabs, Germans, the French...............

Kim67

Most big cities in Australia are pretty multicultural and people don't bat an eyelid at mixed marriages. One of my daughter's best mates in Brisbane is half Nigerian, half Australian Aborigine. I'm actually in the minority of friends actually born in Australia, even smaller minority of having Australian Ancestors going back six or seven generations.

Bay the way, you're not from Shropshire are you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DHazewbXoM

Princess Leia

I guess it depends on your personal experience. I'm mixed race and live in Sydney too and have been here for 13 years and I would say it's about the same as the UK. I would tend to agree though that Australians tend to be more open in expressing themselves as with any other subject, but I would not confuse British polite silence as meaning they don't have racist beliefs. I've found that when you really get to know a British person and they really open up, they are no different to Australians really in that area. It's just that British people are a bit more careful about what they say (except cabbies).

BadgeIsBack

Seems it is a 2 horse race. Many will tell you Australia, even SE QLD is very tolerant - others will tell you this nation is a basketcase of KKK sympathisers.

I think jayr's comment is true and that a lot of views are quite quaint - and a lot of Australians are quite fascinated by people they have not met before.

coolerkingcooler

A friend in Brisbane is part Dutch, part (Torres Strait) Islander and many people assume she is Maori which she is happy to let them think for the reason you mention.

Cooler

jayr

If "lifestyle" is equated with "economic migrant" then I think someone from the UK whether black or white is considered OK. Anyone who is an economic migrant from a poor or violent company, or indeed a refugee from such places, will not be held in such "high regard".

The local "current affairs" shows seem to love running stories on Sudanese and similar and how they thieve and are dangerous, however.

There was recently a case of a doctor (German I think, and white) here on a 457 visa with a kid with down's syndrome. He was unable to get PR due to risk of ongoing medical costs for his child (this seems normal by the way, happend to a "professional" friend of mine). The press were generally in uproar that a nice white middle class doctor could not stay. Not that long ago, following the Jayant Patel case of an Indian (?) doctor who was grossly negligent, and the Haneef case of a Gold Coast doctor wrongly implicated in the glasgow airport bomb, there were calls for much stricter criteria on "foreign" (presumably non-white, non-English as first language) doctors to be applied.

It seem in Australia (as in many other countries) that whiteness and English speaking still count for a lot.

Petals

It may be perceived as racism but personally if I go to a doctor and feel uncomfortable with him/her or cannot understand him then I will change to one I can and this is happening in medicine. Older Australians with hearing difficulties find it difficult to understand people with accents and therefore they want to go to an Aussi doctor. What is wrong with that. After all if they get it wrong who knows what can happen. Because of our health system we have choice of doctor.

Our family have had a Australian doctor or Sri Lankan heritage for over twenty years but recently I have changed to a white aussie female doctor as I am a woman does that mean I am anti men.

English language skills are the most important think that is expected of migrants to Australia wherever they come from and not just the written word, being able to communicate here especially in the medical field.

Racism exists everywhere and the Jewish people know all about it they have always had to have security guards at their schools here in Melbourne.

If you think you are better than a chav or bogun same difference.

asprilla

I believe this is very true. Compare the two following incidents:

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/200...71_ntnews.html

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...6-1702,00.html


The first incident did not make national news, and the name of the deceased was not mentioned.

The second incident was covered numerous times in the press, being on every news bulletin for 2 or 3 days, and the victim's name was mentioned.