wesley

This is not an easy topic to bring up. I have noticed that a few people on this message board have used words which might be viewed as being offensive. Words such as wog, raghead and various derogatory comments about oriental people. I am not accusing any of you of being racist. My query is CAN I EXPECT TO RECIEVE RACIST BEHAVIOUR WHEN I LIVE IN AUSTRALIA?. I expect to live there for 1-2 years. Many of you many be caucasians and may say that you don't know and have never experienced racism, for this very reason. You may however have overheard racist comments or even witnessed events. I am trying to open a dialogue where we can all be open and honest. If you are openly racist then please give me your views on the subject. All points of view are valuable.

r.bartlett

well wes,

i must admit my heart sinks when people use 'raghead' for example...yes you!!

it kinda debases their arguement somewhat ...

anyway

i guess you will experience a simular amount of racism anywhere in the world 'you' are outnumbered

whatever colour you happen to be...

cheers

richard

paulf

Wesley, I don't think people are much different anywhere, and in OZ there will be racisim, the biggest is probably against Brits,
so if your Black and british well..you know the score.
In fact it might be an eye opener for a lot of whites to be on the recieving end, from some of the posts i,ve read about british kids attending schools and being taunted,

pommie bastard

You are dreaming if you think theres none here in the land of the of Muti -Culture theres no one a white born Australian does not have a go at .
Just be thankful that you are not an Abo they are the lowest on the food chain.

Slippers

Hi Wesley

I am in NZ, so you might consider what I say irrelevant. However, one of my stories is about watching an Ozzie TV prog, so perhaps it is not all that irrelevant.

Watching "the footy show" from oz tv last week someone said "wog". I was pretty amazed cos it was very casually said. I thought I must be hearing things and said to mrs slippers what did he say. She confirmed it and we have since found this to be a term used all the time in Oz. The last time this sort of thing was going on in London media in such a casual way was in the bad old days. Oz is still living in those days it seems.

On National Radio here in NZ, there was a guy on a little while ago who was an invited guest and he made a "joke" about "chinks" eating dogs (there was a national debate about dog attacks going on at the time) which was pretty staggering to hear too on NZ's equivalent of BBC Radio 2 or Radio 4. Again, it passed without comment by the host. I nearly phoned in to complain but thought they wouldn't even know what I had a problem with. This sort of thing is doubly offensive when you find out that Asian immigrant unemployment is extremely high and that they are experiencing problems because of their accents even if they have excellent English and good qualifications. In fact, it was also reported recently that about 25% of employers considered a NZ accent essential for senior posts so no poms or americans please.

However, I have never overheard racist remarks from people in the street in NZ and find NZers generally a bit unwordly rather than racist. They are no more or less racist than people in the UK outside London. You may not agree, but I find London more comfortable with races other than white anglo-saxon than other parts of England.

There IS however, a general anti-Asian atmosphere here and this may be cos there has been a rapid increase in the numbers of Asian people here over a very short time period and I think people are feeling threatened.

Slippers

jah4reds

Of the people I have spoken to who are non-white (sri lankan, expat west-indian/brit, kenyan, indian), none have claimed to receive any direct racism.

Laurence Fishburne even spoke diplomatically about it...

http://news.com.au/common/story_page...E13780,00.html

"...There were some experiences that I had and more so than experiences there's a vibe, there's a vibration, there's a feeling," Fishburne told a press conference to promote The Matrix: Reloaded..."

Certain districts in Sydney and Melbourne have been singled out in the media as having 'racial' problems which seem to be closely tied to ethnic clashes, but in most city suburbs I don't think it's a major problem.

Of course there are 'redneck' types here in Australia as in almost every western countries who are more intolerant of different colours and cultures.

So it seems that you might receive some racist reaction - but in general that it usually will be very subtle.

Personally I wouldn't let this stop you from coming.

AndyH

jah4reds

Wog - refers to Italians/Greeks and has been adopted enthusiastically by a couple of Greek comedians. It's derogatory meaning has been 'watered-down'.

Also

Coon - this is a type of cheese. Company setup by a Mr. Coon many years ago in Aus. - it is not an offensive term.

AndyH

Sandra

Wog as a term here in Aus is not used in the same way I grew up to understand - it is used about Greek and Maltese and Italian extraction families. My collegaue in work use it about themselves to explain their backgrounds, eg "I come from a wog family'. Must admit it rocked me a bit when I first heard it!

Cheers Sandra

Slippers

yeah I knew the use of "wog" was difft in Oz to UK but I think the point is much the same. Why can't they just say "Italian" or "Greek"? Is this too complex for the people who say "wog"?

I remember when black Brit comics like Charlie Williams and Lenny Henry used to make jokes about themselves and use some words to decsribe themselves that would now be considered offensive in the UK. They had grown up in a racist environment and had had to "take it" and even adopt it to get on. I still don't think that that makes it right though.

In time, Oz will not use the terms wog or chink, etc, so casually and will start to join the 21st century.

Slippers

dotty

Sorry. Australia is not the most politically correct place. People openly slag other races often with knowing nothing about them.
I know everybody here thinks Oz is all beaches, sun, happiness, but take one look at how its native people live and you will be shocked. Totally shocked it is Third World.

jah4reds

My flippant answer would be that most Aussies seem to have touble saying words with more than 2 syllables and if they can get away with it they'll shorten most words to 1 syllable. Explains why they didn't like I-tal-ian but Greek I just don't understand either.

You're right - these terms will die out eventually, hopefully sooner than later.

AndyH

Slippers

Yes, there is a strange mixture of first and third world. There ought to be a new term to describe countries like Oz and NZ cos to say that they are first world nations is misleading. As, for example, NZ tumbles down the OECD rankings, to maintain that it is first world will end up denying it the chance of winning international aid.

But what term would be a good choice? "second world" is taken, so is "developing nation". Any suggestions?

Slippers

Sandra

Why do you think they will die out? - being called a paddy or spud picker or bog arab or it being alluded to that I must be thick because I am Irish has not died down in the nearly 40 years I have been around and travelled all over the world. Are those terms any less offensive? Well to me I decided not to take them as offensive. Racisim is alive and well and always will be - think about the sheep shagger jokes for NZ and Wales and the tight Scotman stereotyping (humour or racism?) Wog has been used in my hearing as a joking term. Look out for the film Wog Boy, very funny!

The terms themselves are not necessarily offensive it is the way they are used and peoples attitudes.

Sandra

Slippers

As usual, Sandra, you make some good points but ...

I belive that there has been a lot of progress in the last 20 years, let alone 40 years, towards reducing open, casual racism in the UK in general. To give one small example, there are now NO signs in landladies' windows advertising rooms to let but with a sign saying "No dogs, no blacks, no irish". You are right, perhaps, that people will continue to think racist thoughts, but I do believe that there has been a lot of change in what is openly said or written and that is good. If you personally are happy with being called "a spud picker" that is your right, but I think others might not like it and is it not better if society at least tries to move on? I would like to say that I find it especially something that I hope to see disappear when such prejudice is used to deny people the chance to make a living.

Cheers

Ceri

I think there is no more racism here than any other country in the world including Asian countries, some Chinese are racist to Indians, Malays and whites - being a "gwilo"(spelling) myself according to some Chinese ( I used to live in Asia) . Only difference is the "language' they use on the National TV here , such as Paki's , wogs, pommes.(P>S I found the Wog term funny when I first came here - a wog in Britain is referring to a person from a Negroid race and not an Italian person - that's "Wop" in Britain, as for coon cheese - lol, now that did make me laugh when I first saw it)

There is racism in all countries, with all races - but I do find some of the "terms" offensive - such as "rag head" (one of my best mates is married to a so-call rag head, lovely woman, his kids must be rag heads too!. He himself is also a "rag head" - which is funny he's a white Caucasian Brit - he had to convert to marry his wife , wife's family would not allow the marriage otherwise because the child takes the fathers religion (he's not practising -- he drinks like a fish and eats pork!) .
"Spud pickers" (PB!) . "Abo" is considered offensive as well - I never use the term, but god knows why it's offensive - they shorten Pakistani to Paki here on national TV-, but not Aborigine to Abo though, which I find funny because Paki is considered racist in Britain.

How far do you want to take racism - there have been cases in Britain where welsh have sued - one which springs to mind is a man who was in England working for an English boss who called the Welshman "Taffy" - the man sued his boss for racism - getting totally mad this PC thing.
My grandmother actually threatened a black person in work one day (years ago) - the lady said my gran was racist to her because she was black and would take her to the racist board ( she wasn't racist my gran- she just didn't like the woman, white or black had nothing to do with it) - my gran turned around and threatened the woman with the same action "you are racist to me because I'm Irish and I will take you to the board" - that shut her up..

You're going to have to toughen up a little bit if you want to move to a "white" majority country - by the way it does work both ways, Asians being racist to whites in Asia , as I know only too well - so called white people are not the only racists in this world, all races there are racists. A lot of Humans whether they are Caucasian, Asian or Negroid - are racist to a minority in their land

From a person who is a sheep shagger, gwilo, with a spud picker mum, and rag head and rice eyes friends.
Sorry you'll have to toughen up - it's not easy being in a minority race in a foreign country. You grow thick skin and learn to take it with a pinch of salt - real racists are not even worth the upset, words are words - it depends how they are used. .
cheers

P. S I use none of these terms myself