Racism an everyday occurrence

A manager wrote a note for staff, warning them that they’d had a shoplifting incident with “bloody abos”. The offensive word was used twice in the note, which went on to order staff that if any Aboriginal people enter the shop; the manager wanted them watched closely. Not only is this note highly offensive, but discrimination of this kind is illegal.

Another non-Indigenous friend I know said in his experience racism is “50-50” between Aborigines and Caucasians, meaning that they give as good as they get.

He tells the story of how he once was undeservedly called “a racist, white, James Cook c*nt” by an Aboriginal woman.

While I accept his point - this woman’s comment was not only ironic but racist - I can’t begin to agree with his conclusion. Did this woman’s comment really affect him? Does it remind him of his ancestors’ struggles against such prejudice by the dominant people, people who long ago invaded his people’s land?

Was this woman’s comment a reflection of discrimination and hateful beliefs common among her society, a discrimination that leads to less employment prospects, less respect, and also the reality of being treated as an inferior?

The answer, of course, is no.

While this woman’s racist comment towards a Caucasian person isn’t acceptable, it doesn’t simmer and continue to harm the white population. White people’s casual use of racist language to describe Aboriginal Australians reaffirms the, if not systemic then undercurrent of, discrimination they suffer at the hands of businesses, the legal system and the general population.

I’ve previously lived in Redfern; a suburb of Sydney with a large Aboriginal population. While the suburb is far from perfect, white faces know black faces and vice-versa. The festering wound of racism isn’t exposed. There, familiarity has bred acceptance.

In my experience, country NSW has a long way to go.