In the English speaking world, there are troubles. The US is a nightmare. Canada and the UK both have their far right issues, and we in Australia cannot take a holier than thou attitude. We have our own issues.
Sunday past in Melbourne, anti immigration protesters gathered in our city streets, joined by white supremacists, anti vaxxers, sovereign citizens and nazi sympathisers, all fervently waving Australian flags and crying out the most original chant they could think of, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi.They need advice from English football teams about chants.
They clashed with anti right wing protestors, whose number was soon bolstered by the usual pro Palestinian marchers. Now there is a coalition to do any Jewish person's head in.
I was travelling to Prahran by tram last week when someone with a mental illness boarded and started ranting about Asian immigration. Of course there were Asian people on the tram, and two very close by to the mouse of a man. I just wished I was younger and fitter and said something to him, and be able to defend myself if he attacked me. He left the tram.
I left the tram at the next stop as did the two young Asian females. I smiled at them, pulled a face and gesticulated towards my head, indicating crazy, and then offered them my upturned hand. That might sound weird, but it worked. They smiled at me and nodded with understanding.
Sunday after returning from the west end of town, I dared not go to the centre or east where the fracas was happening, at South Yarra Station I walked towards the door to the front of me to be closer to station ramp, as did a young couple. There were two older white women with Australian flags draped across their knees, clearly having left the protest to go home for a Bex and a lie down after their exertions. The man said to the woman, 'Something smells really bad in this carriage', and their heads spun around to the women with the flags. I didn't initially understand, and turned to see what they were looking at. I just said 'Yeah'.
The numbers of immigrants and where they come from should be an open debate in Australia but these pro white Australia supporters add no value to any kind of debate and cause hurt to people.
Later: It became a whole lot worse the next day when it came to light that neo Nazis had attacked the original inhabitants at a culturally significant meeting place in the Kings Domain.
Is there anything funny in this? Maybe. As the 'pro white Australians' broke up, they headed off for banh mi, a curry, or a kebab or maybe even an HSP, a Halal Snack Pack. They may have then caught a train, bus or tram home, driven by a 'brown' immigrant, or caught an Uber, also driven by a 'brown immigrant'. Maybe they waited until they reached home, too exhausted to cook after their anti immigration protests, so ordered in food, cooked and delivered by two different 'brown' people.
There is much good to be said about Australia, but I am not feeling it after the weekend past.
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It is so hard, isn't it, where you feel that you have to be silent for your own protection but the stupids make their hullabaloo with no regards to others impacted - and they are ALL descended from migration
ReplyDeleteJeanie, in past I have made a noise on a tram about awful racist words coming from people's mouths. I have a vague memory of standing up to someone, forcing them to back down. But I am now less physically fit (read older), and I can't do that now.
DeleteUgh... there are ugly people everywhere, and I'm not talking about facial appearance.
ReplyDeleteIndeed JayCee. Some very ugly, who on the face of it, but be perfectly nice people who might meet.
DeleteThere is a spectrum of the "right" group
ReplyDeleteAnd not a very nice spectrum, Roentare.
DeleteI am very much left wing and have a complete disregard for those right wing protesters. But living in a suburb with a high number of recent migrants I can VERY slightly understand some of their legitimate concerns. I don't blame the migrants, and I wish we had a decent policy on immigration, and future planning. Most Australians live in the 3 cities, which are overcrowded with overpriced housing. My middle aged children with good savings and good jobs are struggling to buy something
ReplyDelete3 cities? Which three? We have Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin.
DeleteJ, one of my nieces lives in Cranbourne North. My Ex Sis in Law, lived for about 10 months in the same area. I know about it. The numbers of Indian immigrants is high, but there are no issues. Indians are quite a good fit to Australia. Middle Eastern and African, maybe not so good, leading to me thinking their numbers need to be more restricted.
DeleteRiver, of course it would Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, just by population
Delete"...had attacked the original inhabitants..."
ReplyDeleteDistressingly ironic that they should be attacked by people who consider themselves "anti-immigrant".
The irony is not lost on me, Kirk.
DeleteJust this morning I heard some guy telling our (brown) receptionist why we had the march.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to strangle him.
And this is a problem, they all embolden each other.
Heaven forbid any of them end up in aged care cos no white person will be wiping their bums
Kylie, my mother suddenly became immigrant friendly after her hospital care staff were foreign born. "They are just so lovely and kind."
DeleteSometimes irony is the only way to face such nonsense.
ReplyDeleteI agree totally, Asep.
DeleteI had 120 students in my year in high school, all with parents or grandparents born outside of Australia. The parents worked their fingers to be bone, in factories or markets, renting flats/small houses for their children. My contemporaries were sent to universities in Melbourne, to establish good careers and to buy houses for their families.
ReplyDeleteExcept for Indigenous Australians, every other family was originally migrant. Australia was built by migrants.
Yep Hels, some of us came here earlier, some later, but we are all immigrants.
DeleteEveryone has a right to protest. The problem is that some people from all these protest groups want to take their protest too far and are incendiary in their comments and actions.
ReplyDeleteOther than Indigenous people, the rest of us come from somewhere else
Arguments can legitimately made about the levels of immigration, and even protests. But if used as white racism, slightly disguised, that is not right.
DeleteI smiled at your last paragraph - so true Andrew, same here on a lesser scale.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame people have to fight in these protests, one side against the other.
Like Hels said, we are all immigrants, even way back.
Margaret, indeed we are all immigrants. It is always the most recent that are the problem, it seems.
DeleteI don't agree with the Pro-white movement at all and laughed at your words of them eating "different" foods etc. I do think the more violent group, the haters and fighters need to be weeded out and sent back to where they came from, yes even the non-white ones. The ones that come from violent countries (to get away from it all?), but bring their violence with them. If they can't assimilate and live by our laws then they need to go home. I'm not talking about religious beliefs, unless they are being violent about "my way or else".
ReplyDeleteI saw your mob on the TV news and also saw our Adelaide mob peacefully protesting then going home.
River, apparently immigrants are not required to assimilate but to maintain their own cultures. Assimilate is a bad word. That's a load of shit. They can do both, as they mostly do.
Delete"They can do both", isn't that what assimilate means? Keep your own culture but live peacefully within the laws of your chosen country! That's how we get diversity (aka variety)
DeleteApparently not. Assimilation is an avoided word. I took a sample citizenship test, and in a multi option question, assimilation was not the right answer.
DeleteIt is so tribal, yet of course it isn't because most of these people are immigrants themselves. We have to live with the fact that the human race can be stupid. Good and bad people arrive in our countries, we have to sort the wheat from the chaff and find responsible solutions, that is where it becomes difficult, answering the questions.
ReplyDeleteThelma, it is back in 1770 I think when Australia was invaded by foreign immigrants, who under the auspices from England, took over the land from its indigenous inhabitants. Ever since, migration to Australia has happened, generally controlled to ensure there is sufficient factory fodder. And so it goes on.
DeleteSome people are foolish but well-meaning, others are foolish and dangerous, yet more are sheep and follow the crowd.
ReplyDeleteTwo members of my family have been victims at different times - my daughter-in-law, who is Parsi, and my son-in-law, who is Jewish.
Interesting JB. You have almost first hand experience. I don't think your family would be uncommon.
DeleteIf you are in Australia or North America and you are white, you are an immigrant or the descendant of immigrants. The most recent immigrant in my family history, was a grandmother, about 110 years ago.
ReplyDeleteTP, no doubt about your statement of fact. I do still believe that countries need to control their immigration, and that clearly didn't happen in the US past, when businesses were happy with the cheap labour.
DeleteThe irony is that those protesters are all descendants of immigrants. What they really mean, but leave out, is they don't want immigrants that don't look and sound like them. They pretend they are racist, but they are.
ReplyDeleteExactly Pixie, and I know you meant 'aren't'.
DeleteI'm sorry its hitting AU too now. How bland our world would be, if everyone looked, talked, acted, dressed, believed the same. No discourse to brighten up a dead brain, a dreary world in black and white. How depressing. Trump is having a very rough week in court rulings. He doesn't want to follow law or our consitution. The checks and balances of what used to be America are confining to him, as is our constitution, but his loyal lapdogs, who have no brains for themselves, follow blindly.
ReplyDeleteStrayer, the blatant lies he tells are extraordinary. Even conservative organisations are saying he is lying about how well the country is doing.
DeleteI'm trying my best to stay away from all of it but I'm not succeeding. A friend yesterday called the regime in the US a "Reign of Terror". Apt. All those leaders meeting in China is not good. More support for Russia in the planned takeover of Ukraine? And that clown in the WH - a puppet for the monsters behind the scenes. Awful to see what's creeping into Oz too. We have our homgrowns here too. Inequality has a price.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
All so true, WWW. No, the meeting is not good. I wonder if Russia was only invited because it would cause concern in the west.
DeleteI am surprised that you did not join the protest against the right wing bigots. This MAGA-like disease will grow if fair-minded people like you do not stand up and say, "NO!"
ReplyDeleteYP, I did my fair share when I was younger. I am too old now, especially if there is going to be a fracas.
DeleteI think 🤔 peaceful ✌️ protests are fine, but if they become violent it just defeats the purpose of the whole situation.
ReplyDeleteLiinda, there has been worse than Sunday's but it wasn't pretty. The majority of 'pro Australia' were perhaps misguided in my opinion, but quite a few weren't and solely there to press their right wing causes and racist views.
DeleteIt's a problem everywhere. I think racists feel empowered to let their "true colors" show. I even saw the Australian protests in the news here. I'm convinced Russia is somehow stirring the pot in every western country!
ReplyDeleteSteve, I have heard any suggestion of Russian involvement. The violent ones here are little more than skinheads, with little understanding of how societies and economics work.
DeleteSame here. There are more and more crazies on the buses and trains. I am reading so many social media posts with anti-immigrant ignorant comments. I like your second to last paragraph.
ReplyDeleteJackie, I know your immigration levels are higher than many citizens would desire, and that's fine to have an opinion about. Anyway, your country may be glad of the extra population when you have to defend your southern border.
DeleteHi Andrew. I stumbled upon your blog when I was reading Pixie's blog. I live in the USA about 2 hours south of Washington, DC. I am very anti-MAGA and have attended protests against the current administration. I was interested to read that Australia is having some of the same types of anti-immigration protests that we are having here in the USA. Your last paragraph sums it all up in my opinion. I am a retired history teacher and during my career I taught all types of students with different ethnicities. When there was a Muslim holiday, I would encourage those students who practiced Islam to share with the class some of the things that they'd do. The same with Jewish students, etc. I found that the students (13 year olds) were very accepting and interested in learning about other cultures. Sometimes I think the world should be run by kind children!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael. No doubt you know who Rupert Murdoch is, and his media here actively stirs discontent, without actually mentioning race. The nutters then fire up with their extremist views. There is genuine concern about a lack of housing here and the cost, and immigrants are the easy scapegoats, especially from the Indian subcontinent. But the thing with people from India who come here, is that they are already westernised and are generally a good fit in my country.
DeleteMost thinking people aren't judging all of America by a few toxic leaders, but it is hard to understand how someone like #47 was ever electable.
Yes, children become strongly affected by the views of their parents.
In a million years I never thought that tRump would get elected again. I was positive that Harris would win, and things would be as normal as they could be. Boy, was I wrong!
DeleteIt is horrible to think that our ugliness in the US is spreading.
ReplyDeleteDebby, yes, but it has been bubbling away here. It has become more overt though.
Delete