Your article almost makes me weep at the rise of the fascist racist ultra right. One matter I would counter is your phrase “distorted nostalgia for a country that never was”. Remember the ‘White Australia’ policy was mainstream from the formation of the Commonwealth until the 1960s. And the final remnants of the White Australia were not removed until 1973.
Remember Arthur Caldwell’s infamous ‘two Wongs don’t make a White’ (yes he said this was misinterpreted as it was meant to be a jacose (very witty, not) and ‘If we let in any U.S. citizen we will have to admit U.S. negroes. I don't think any mothers and fathers want to see that.’
Also, I remember people from the Mediterranean who came in the 1950s were referred to as ‘dagoes’ and ‘wogs’. I can Romberg being asked in primary school if I was a ‘wog’ because of my dark skin and being told my dad got into a fight in the pub in the 1950s when someone made a joke saying I was a ‘pickaninny’. Oh, and the hostility towards south East Asian refugees during the 1970s and 1980s.
Yeah, Australians put on a nice face. But underneath there remains a fear and hostility towards First Nations and immigrants.
White Christian (or White Judaist) supremacy is lazy thinking, lazy morality, and compassion deficit. White supremacy is in every meaning spurious, as are other ethnicity's supremacy ideologies, and all are well deserving of our social ridicule. Ethnic ('racial' is stupidese for 'clines') supremacy is also a serious, methodical attempt (like the Nazis in the 1920s) of normalizing their current racist and almost always also authoritarian compulsions into a desired miserable social culture. If these crazy ideologues ever succeed in doing that, history says their disorganized violence and hate will become systemic, and truly dangerous. Rather like Israel in 2025. To avoid that Alt-Right (Pewdie) Pipeline of stochastic violence, we may discourage the systemic violence they publicly support, in proportion to the harm it is normalizing. Neither exceeding nor undervaluing that harm is challenging when you're in the middle of a nice day or evening out, but reacting proportionately is very important. If a reader is wondering how: I'd start with patient compassion (as some are just there for some heartless fun), communicating that you feel their behavior is racist (or sexist, or whatever), and attempting a calm de-escalation. Be ready to call the authorities or allies, and escalate to the changed tone and language of a serious warning, if the anti-social person acts threateningly. If they initiate attempted violence, your best combat de-escalation is usually to walk or run away.
Your article almost makes me weep at the rise of the fascist racist ultra right. One matter I would counter is your phrase “distorted nostalgia for a country that never was”. Remember the ‘White Australia’ policy was mainstream from the formation of the Commonwealth until the 1960s. And the final remnants of the White Australia were not removed until 1973.
Remember Arthur Caldwell’s infamous ‘two Wongs don’t make a White’ (yes he said this was misinterpreted as it was meant to be a jacose (very witty, not) and ‘If we let in any U.S. citizen we will have to admit U.S. negroes. I don't think any mothers and fathers want to see that.’
Also, I remember people from the Mediterranean who came in the 1950s were referred to as ‘dagoes’ and ‘wogs’. I can Romberg being asked in primary school if I was a ‘wog’ because of my dark skin and being told my dad got into a fight in the pub in the 1950s when someone made a joke saying I was a ‘pickaninny’. Oh, and the hostility towards south East Asian refugees during the 1970s and 1980s.
Yeah, Australians put on a nice face. But underneath there remains a fear and hostility towards First Nations and immigrants.
Jillian Segal is the Special Envoy for Zionist Israel and Ongoing Genocide.
Risks? With Sewell let off this morning, we have absolutely normalised it
White Christian (or White Judaist) supremacy is lazy thinking, lazy morality, and compassion deficit. White supremacy is in every meaning spurious, as are other ethnicity's supremacy ideologies, and all are well deserving of our social ridicule. Ethnic ('racial' is stupidese for 'clines') supremacy is also a serious, methodical attempt (like the Nazis in the 1920s) of normalizing their current racist and almost always also authoritarian compulsions into a desired miserable social culture. If these crazy ideologues ever succeed in doing that, history says their disorganized violence and hate will become systemic, and truly dangerous. Rather like Israel in 2025. To avoid that Alt-Right (Pewdie) Pipeline of stochastic violence, we may discourage the systemic violence they publicly support, in proportion to the harm it is normalizing. Neither exceeding nor undervaluing that harm is challenging when you're in the middle of a nice day or evening out, but reacting proportionately is very important. If a reader is wondering how: I'd start with patient compassion (as some are just there for some heartless fun), communicating that you feel their behavior is racist (or sexist, or whatever), and attempting a calm de-escalation. Be ready to call the authorities or allies, and escalate to the changed tone and language of a serious warning, if the anti-social person acts threateningly. If they initiate attempted violence, your best combat de-escalation is usually to walk or run away.