No … we’re not full

January 7, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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I felt quite angry while I was out on the road this morning. I pulled up at a set of lights behind a car with a couple of blatantly racist stickers on the back window. It wasn’t really the best way to start my ride to work.

They were the worst kind of anti-immigration stickers, fuelled by ignorance rather than a considered opinion on a workable immigration policy. They made out that it was un-Australian to let people from other nations live in ‘our’ country. (Which is always an odd idea considering that ‘white Australians’ didn’t arrive here until the late 1700s.)

Just as my anger at such an attitude started to build up I found myself starting to smile. The stickers that displayed such a nasty attitude to anything foreign were proudly displayed on the back window of a Korean built car.

I wonder if the owner of the car would understand the meaning of the word irony.

I’m an Australian and I’d rather immigrants living here than racists.



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Racism in Australia

February 6, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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blackwhite.jpgAre we really all equal or are some races superior to others?Is racism alive and well in Australia?

What does our willingness to apologise to Australia’s indigenous community say about our views on race? Are our Aboriginal people still suffering the effects of racism in our communities?

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales and current President of the Baptist Union of Australia. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

Today’s topic was racism and in particular whether or not our Federal Government should apologise to the Stolen Generation.

We also looked at some of the subtle ways that we can demonstrate racist attitudes. Do we make jokes that stereotype a particular group of people? Do we make blanket statements about the driving habits of a particular race? Do we feel more threatened by some people simply because their skin is a different colour to ours?

What are some of the subtle or not so subtle ways you see racism in your community? Is racism something that can ever be completely eradicated?

Click on the audio player in this post to hear what Ross had to say and please leave your comments by clicking the comment link at the bottom of this post.



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