missing the sunshine

this is all very intresting. when i posted my mixed race moving to Oz comment i didnt know what to expect. but "WOW". I hear what all of you have got to say and to be honest I do sense some amount resentment or fear of "coloured people" as one person described black people in a response above. It is true that black people have been through a lot and we are sensitive to comments and jokes which have negative connotations/steretypes. we have endured this for over 400 years (if your from the Americas) and we still have to tolerate a lot of disent and work twice as hard to be recognised.""" no matter what tyou think out there this is TRUE"""
I am of carribean heritage, in fact i was born in Jamaica. I never knew what racism was until i travelled to America and Britain. According to my research, Australian policies were based on what they interpreted as American and British mistakes. Hence the "white australian policy"which was eventually abolished.
It hurts me to read about the atrocities that the aboroginal people have to endure and i can feel thier pain.

Im coming to Oz for the sunshine that im use to and to meat the real Australians who embrace diversity and welcome change.

people shouldnt generalise and stereotype. because some small groups of people cause problems you cant stereotype everyone of the same ethnicity.

BeachBassist

Afro Americans have no more excuses now. America has a black president.

Lets look beyond the color thing. It's a shame people still see color. Like Bob Marley said "until the color of a mans skin is of no more significant than the color of his eyes there will be war."

we need to free our minds.

pompeyblonde

Yeah its that simple!

Absolutely, thats what racism is. Lazy thinking.

fudgeangel

I am soooo glad I found this thread! Have been searching ages for some info about the real deal on racism in Australia.

Me and OH are just preparing our visa application and my mom and a friend have been niggling about racism in Australia, and their jittery concern was starting to rub off on me.
Occasionally my kids have been mistaken for Brazilian/Portugese/Tunisian etc - but at the end of the day I just want them to be given a fair go when we get to Oz.

Missing the sunshine, how far along the visa process are you, if you don't mind me asking?
(Oh and good luck everyone on the expat journey)

missing the sunshine

HI

we got our visas about three weeks ago, bought tickets and are heading to OZ in April. I'm looking to start a new life for my family and jumping in head first. I'm sure I will come across a few arrogant, uninformed, and ignorant individuals but the benefits of moving to Oz for me far out way any anxiety I may have about a few silly people.

coolerkingcooler

With that attitude, you'll be fine where ever you are.

Good luck and have a great time.

Cooler

ACE

Hi MTS,
I am second gen Jamaican married to white Brit with two kids. I have to say in all honesty I have experienced far more racism (from both black and white people) in the London and Essex than I ever have here in OZ. I'm not talking about the odd joke here and there I am talking about being ignored in shops (i.e serving the white person behind me), having the door slammed in my face when I was campaigning to save the local aged care facility when I was at Uni and verbal and physical abuse.

I have many good Australian friends some are really close and I am sure will be friends for life. Amongst our closes friends are a middle class older couple both over sixty with grown up kids and they treat our kids like their grand children our kids even call them auntie and uncle. Another couple who we are very close to are a couple of property developers from Perth who built one of their homes next door to our rental. They invited us to their wedding supper and introduced us to their family and close friends. Having said that we have many friends from all over the UK, USA, Holland, all over Asia, Africa, Columbia and Eastern Europe. I find people over here willing to mix, very friendly and sociable regardless of their country of origin. The class divide does not appear to be much of an issue either.

I am a high school teacher and I come into contact with dozens of children from kindy age to 17 year olds (and their parents) everyday and I have never experienced anything other than respect , friendliness and, on occasion, a real interest in my genealogy. The little ones stare and will ask why I am black which of course is innocent childhood curiosity which is a beautiful thing.

The first time I went into an Australian department store I was surprised that I wasn't followed by the security staff which is something that happened on a regular basis in the UK. You may think that perhaps I looked shifty but on every occasion that this occurred I was well dressed in clean, tailored clothes and acting no differently than anyone else in the store.

People often comment on my beautiful kids, they love their skin colour. My youngest is fussed over because of his lovely curls and my eldest son is considered to be really cool at school because he tells everyone he is of Jamaican descent.

With your attitude you will have no problems. Come over, you will love it and find it very refreshing.

I should add that this is all based on my personal experience in the UK and WA nothing more.

Good Luck

fudgeangel

Missing the sunshine, very happy for you and your family - you have a great attitude. You can't let dodgy attitudes put you off, just gotta go for it. TBH I've grown up with racism in Britain, yet travelled abroad with virtually no problems!! And I also want to give my kids the better education/lifestyle Australia has to offer.
Very best of luck MTS, do let us know how you get on once you've settled in Oz!!

ACE very pleased that your Antipodean experience is a most positive one! I've had similar experiences to yours - followed in shops, black people calling me a bounty, racist abuse in the street etc.. We're really keen to make the move and your post is very encouraging. May I ask why you chose WA above other locations?

ACE

Hi Fudgeangel,

Yes I remember it well. I find that people are always surprised when I tell them that being in a mixed relationships you get abuse from black people as well as white.

I fell in Love with WA when I came here in the 1980's on a contract. I was very worried about coming as I knew very little about Australia and I thought I might be refused entry or something. Even back then my experience was very positive and I really took a liking to the people and the place.

Fast forward almost 20 years and my hubby (who had never visited Oz) came home one summer evening soaked to the skin having thrown his water logged kebab away on the way. He was rather drunk, rather wet and rather fed up and he said “I have had enough, there has got to be something better than this”. We were actually living a very good life in terms of wealth, social status and possessions but we felt that something was missing. The rain soaked kebab was not the only reason, it was simply the proverbial straw, we had long since bemoaned the hellish school run, the endless queues for everything, the waiting list for doctors, dentists, swimming lessons and as far as we could see the obvious strain on the fragile infrastructure was only going to get worse. To cut a long story short we eliminated lots of other places that just didn't tick all the boxes and then I suggested Perth. We dug a little deeper and what we discovered we really liked. A big plus was that there were a lot of employment opportunities for Mr ACE as he works in the oil business and by then I had decided that in order to qualify for a skilled visa one of us would need to study so I signed up at uni to do a BSc hons degree in Computing which was on the MODl so I figured that I would be able to find a job quite easily. Then there was the quiet, slower pace of life, the cheap houses and land (at that time), the climate (dry and hot with a winter season as opposed to humid), the beautiful beaches with the sun setting over the ocean and of course the people who had welcomed me so warmly all those years ago. We cancelled our return trip to Mexico and came on a trip incorporating SA and Queensland in our travels. We ended up in Perth, Mr ACE loved it and we put the wheels in motion. We came back another three times at different times of year, we always rented houses for part of our stay rather than hotel rooms, we came at different times of year and each time we stayed a little further south. We started in Scarborough and ended up in Mandurah which we absolutely love. We made the move 2006 and the rest, as they say, is history.

All the best with your move.