If Australias a racist country against Asians then why does it allow 70% of all immigrants to come from Asia.In 50 years half the population of Australia will probably be Asian and in 100 years majority Asian. Australia is'nt a racist country but l guess most people overseas are ignorant of what Australia is really like and think its racist.

And of course Western Civilisation is the only way to go! Do you practice the goosestep often or have you always walked like that?

I'm outta here - seems as usual an issue cant ever be debated on this forum without someone getting downright offensive, personal and nasty.

Another one bites the dust,dont slam the door

Jews are a distinct ethnic group. You can be Jewish without being religious. There are plenty of secular Jews in the world. Hitler didn't persecute the Jews on the basis of their religion; he persecuted them on the basis of their ethnicity.

Well... no. It didn't. Australia accepted large numbers of Malaysian, Indonesian and Filipino immigrants during WWII. There was never a blanket prohibition against non-white immigrants and no single, official "white Australia policy." The closest we ever came to this was the Immigration Restriction Act 1901, which allowed immigration officials absurd scope for rejecting legitimate immigrants of any kind, regardless of their skin colour. Many Europeans were knocked back under this legislation, as were some white British. IRA 1901 was abolished in 1958.

Obviously you are entitled to your opinion, but under Australian, UK, American, and the vast majority of developed European Countries' law - racism includes nationality. So under Australian law racism is about country as well.

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/racial_discr...rda/index.html

At least Australia has anti-discrimination legislation - unlike African and Asian countries where discrimination is overt.

With apologies for partial quoting, but it was a long post - did you really mean that to sound so bad?

In the 1950s we Brits recruited West Indians to do all the crap jobs we didn't want to do, too.

Yeah, noticed that in previous discussions on this forum. I think it is just legislative expediency...it also covers descent and immigration status...it would be a mouthful to give it a totally accurate title. That expediency doesn't change the real meaning of the word. I doubt very much the act is meant to cover this sort of banter between people of the same race as opposed to malicious discrimination. If so we better go and arrest the whole barmy army.

I agree with you totally, and having lectured on racism at postgraduate level in America, the UK, and now Australia, Australia, in my view, is more accepting of light hearted banter based on nationality, whereas in the UK it is more prone to litigation - and that is the fault of the culture of political correctness and lawyers more than anything else.

Non-native english speaking colleagues have asked me about this a few times, especially those with dark skin. I do see and hear it sometimes in the street from a minority of assholes, and there are assholes everywhere.

What I say to people is that it's not your fault and it's their problem and not yours. I understand that it's easy to let it get to you, but you have to understand that those people are ignorant and limited individuals. For that you have to pity them.

The best form of revenge is living well. Keep your chin up.

Haha, yes I realised that sounded bad some time after I posted it. What I meant to communicate is that people from other countries and other races are firmly entrenched into our society here.

They are prominent in day to day life. The examples I used were meant to convey this. If you walk into a random shop in inner Melbourne, chances are the person serving you will be of ethnic origin and not 'white Australian'. If someone is making an announcement over a PA at the railway station, it is likely to be a foreign accent and sometimes broken English.

Australians have learned to associate with, communicate and live with people of many races. Quite a few of these people have no experience with western culture and can find it very hard to fit in with Australians of Anglo-Celtic origin who have known nothing but western culture. In this environment, racial issues are bound to pop up, but in all honesty I believe Australia has handled it remarkably well, certainly compared to many other countries where the very thought of multiculturalism is violently opposed, i.e. most Asian, African and Middle East countries. (Imagine a large number of Australians, British and other Europeans seeking immigration to one of these countries).

Of course, other than the menial jobs (and I admit that sounded really bad what I posted), there are many people of ethnic origin in the medical field, academic fields and politics to name but a few who are very high achievers and have been acknowledged as such by the Australian community.

In fact the Governor of Victoria, the most prestigious position in the state and amongst the most prestigious in Australia, is of Sri Lankan Heritage and an immigrant.

Not to mention the former Lord Mayor of Melbourne, who was Chinese and could barely string a sentence together in English but was still highly respected by many, many local councillors in the cities who have been elected by the people who are of ethnic origin, many people in the media, Australian sportsmen and women, etc. etc.

The Governor of NSW is of Lebanese descent,The Governor: Professor Marie Bashir AC, the first woman to be appointed Governor of NSW.

But the post war immigration minister Arthur Calwell sought to have those WWII Asians deported and was partially successful. I would argue that it was a highly racist policy in practise and one Australian polite society wish never existed. Every nation has something shameful in its past and the "Europeans Only" intention of the times is something that has shaped this nation. I can also see the nation has changed dramatically since then but the attitudes of the generation who supported the legislation is often still unashamedly outspoken in its support of the policies.

The end result of the policies until 1973 was effectively Europeans only. Whilst the rules resulted in partial arbitrary denial of entry to some Brits it lead to total denial for others, mainly non whites. IMO it is one of the most blatantly racist policies this country has had rivalling the denial of citizenship to Aborigines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Australia_policy

I believe it effectively ended in the late 60's.

[QUOTE=ponyrama;9034335]Australia does not discriminate - it is racist towards everyone. Including its own indigenous people and also its english/european cousins (dont get me started!!!). The thing that annoys me about it is that most Australians wont accept that they are racist - which is also known as ignorance.

Australia is racist towards everyone? I thing you will find that a migrant who comes to Australia and embraces the culture and accepts that things here are different and gets on with it is much more accepted than one that arrives and whinges that such and such is not the same etc. The latter are only going to get more grieve from the aussies which some may interpret as racist.

A friend of mine was called a white sl#t by the owner of a shop in WA yesterday. She's Aussie, but you know what, she didn't even mention what race he was when she told me about it, it didn't enter her head.

He's now been reported for racial discrimination