aries

Racism isn't so bad in Australia that an Aussie with an Indian wife needs to be fearful. Perhaps it depends on who you mix with, where you go, and when.

Indian taxi drivers can be targeted at night, but a woman during the day by herself?

I used to have a Greek taxi driver in Adelaide who sent Indian taxi drivers the wrong way because he didn't like them!

sonlymewalter

I have an Australian racist story to tell ......

Six months before we were due to move to Aus (which was many moons ago) I was emailing an Aussie friend of mine.

During the discussion my Aussie mate made reference to "wogs" - I was absolutely astounded and really upset that she had used this word - this wasn't the friend I knew Once I'd calmed down and gathered my thoughts I decided to tackle it head on, at the expense of losing a good friend, after all any *friend* who talks this way is actually no friend of mine....

I duly contacted her and a conversation ensued back and forth where she explained the term "wog" was often used by the very people who it referred to in Aus - it wasn't used in reference to black people but to the Italian community, of which my friend was one of them. Her "wog" reference was about her very own people. I still expressed my dislike of the term despite her claims it was not a racist term used in Aus and for that reason she agreed not to use it. I was satisfied she really didn't mean it in a derogatory manner and it seems it was a term used by the Italian community in Australia - my friend is 3rd generation Australian / Italian.

Roll on 8 months later - I met my Italian friend in a restaurant in Sydney. She brought with her a mixture of friends some of which were also Italian and some from other cultural denominations. During the evening one of the group made reference to 'wog" food and I was visibly shocked. I was asked why I was so offended by this term as the Italian community used this a lot and one of the Italian's in the group stated "I am proud of being a wog - who are you to tell me what I can or can't call myself? It is YOU (meaning me) who is prejudice as YOU have decided this term is racist and YOU (me) have decided it has racist connotations based on YOUR (mine) experience in the UK. In Australia we use this term to describe our Italian heritage and we're proud of it, so get used to it".

That told me

Since then and having lived in Aus for many years I have spoken to many Italian's who indeed are very proud to call themselves "wogs". Whilst I will NEVER use that term (can't bring myself to use it as it has deep seated horrible connotations) - the Italian community here use it all the time and are proud to use it and woe anyone who tries to abuse the term in any way shape or form. I have never heard of the Italian community using it as a *get out* racist card excuse either.

The moral of the story: I learned that I was using my PC standards of the UK to judge how Australians behave. What I have in fact seen is that Australians (on the whole) want to live in harmony with the various races / cultures, in deed Australia is MADE UP of many races / cultures.

However what I have also found is that Australians (on the whole) like to take the piss and are not afraid of taking the piss out of themselves and others, and they (on the whole) have no time for prissy, trouble making, PC attention seekers who use the racist card at every opportunity. On the whole Australians are happy to live side by side, live and let live. If anyone tries on the racist card just because they can't get their own way, the tolerance here is ZERO. On the other hand if genuine racism occurs, this is also stamped out.

Yes, racism does exist in Australia. Of course it does. As with any country in the world Australia has it's fair share of racist, judgmental bigots - however Australia is made up of millions of people the largest majority of whom are decent people who treat everyone with respect regardless of race, colour or religious preference.

Australia is far less PC and antagonistic than some of the other countries I've lived in where people wear their PC awareness like a badge of honour. This is in turn causes nothing but constant moral outrage and creates disharmony within the very communities it is trying to represent.

I know because I was that person

However my moral compass has been restored to a more realistic and honest stance whilst at the same time having zero tolerance for racism.

Racism is vulgar - but then so is being so politically correct that we lose the true meaning of the word and allow "racism" to be abused by the very people it is trying to protect, from all races and cultures within the community.

TheCreature

My house was described as a "Wog palace"... by the Italians fitting my kitchen.

Hino

One mans "Mediterranean Mansion "....

TheCreature

sonlymewalter

You know ......even though the Italians used this term to describe themselves I still hate that word

I used to work for an Italian family who were well known in Brisbane. They were very wealthy with family members who had their fingers in all sorts of pies. The guy who was my boss was married in to the family and he was a lawyer. It was strange to hear a lawyer refer to himself and his family as wogs

He used to see me do this and laugh his head off at me

TheCreature

It does still 'grate on the ears' that's for sure.

BadgeIsBack

I have wog tastes...it is not unknown for any item in my home to mismatch, or clash with another item. It's a sort of nonchalence....But this is because my home has evolved...I don't subscribe to a non-Wog Harvey Norman view of the world....where my house looks just like another non-wog home.

paddyo

My reading of it was that the defendant was saying that as he is in an interracial relationship and his wife is of Indian descent. He then stated that if he was deported to Australia that his wife would not go with him for fear of racial repercussions in Australia due to the media reported spate of Indian hate crimes a while back. So his defence was really that it was his WIFES view that Australia was racist and because of that if the judge agreed with the deportation then their marriage would break up.
It is a simple defence strategy that any school boy lawyer could have made up and the idiot judge fell for it. If his wife loves him and he loves her then he could of advised his wife that there have indeed been sporadic crimes against Indians, plus Chinese, plus Irish, plus any god damn other race/creed you wish to mention. He could then have said "darling I would never take you back to my home country if it would put you in danger, but its safe believe me."
Crocodile tears, using the wife's fear as an excuse, a cowards way out and a foolish judge using subjectivity not objectivity to make a ruling.

ozzieeagle

Took a while, but after a few decades of living amongst "Wogs" in the Meditteranean heartland of Melbourne, I've adapated.

paulry

I bet his family and Aussie friends aren't impressed.

Ballys

I just googled Harlow racist(my birth place). These from a town of barely 80,000 people, all recent

http://www.harlowstar.co.uk/News/Har...l-08022013.htm

http://www.harlowstar.co.uk/News/Har...1102122713.htm

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...attack-2226006

http://www.anti-fascists-online.com/...-driver-abuse/

And this shameful event in the same estate that the Wife lived for 15 years.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...rested-1907324

Don't tell me about racism in Australia

Gordon Barlow

Growing up in Australia in the '50s, I always understood that an Italian was a wop (from guapo, Italian for "handsome"), and that wog was a peculiarly English word for any foreigner, from a famous judgment by an English politician, that "wogs begin at Calais".

Other dismissive names that are regarded as racist today, were dago (Latinos of all sorts), Balt (Poles and others from the Baltic shores), and boong (non-whites in general, from the Indonesian word for "brother"). Mind you, abo was an acceptable abbreviation, back then, and was not considered racist. How times change.

Nigger was also acceptable, though almost never used in a racial context, in my experience. In May this year I posted a piece on my blog titled "The Story of 'Nigger' Brown", and the fuss made in later times about the Rugby League ground named for him in Toowoomba. It's too long a tale to repeat here: anybody interested can find it on my blogsite. And can Google "Nigger Brown Toowoomba" for authentication.

BadgeIsBack

It is a tiresome subject.
I only know that we like people who share our values and our interests.

Once we discover people that share our tastes and not our race it is very liberating.

OzTennis

But of course it is acceptable to have a major company register the name French Connection United Kingdom and then have the throngs walking around in their registered trade mark garments plastered with:

****

And Mrs Slocum was free ('I'm free') to mention her p*ssy every episode and one of the most popular comedy programs was about a bigoted racist in a West Ham scarf?

Wouldn't happen in the UK would it?

edited: interesting to note that I actually typed the letters f c u k but it was moderated automatically to * * * * that's how unsubtle it is