more on the riots downunder
It could be argued that John Howard, Australian PM, was the one who institutionalised racism in the political fabric of Australian society with his 'Tampa' election win 4 or 5 years ago. Desperate to win an election, he campaigned on keeping 'boat people' from Australian shores, by the crude means of simply ordering that a ship that had rescued a boat-full of refugees (the Tampa) not be allowed to land on Australian shores.
This episode reached its climax when he showed a picture on TV, 2-3 days before the election, purportedly showing refugees throwing their children overboard, to prevent their boat being towed out of Australian waters - at least according to him. The net impression was 'what sort of people are these, that could throw their own children overboard'?
This duly won him the election. When, after the election result, it was conclusively shown that this was not true (ie the children were not deliberately thrown overboard) he never apologised for the lie that he had made to the Australian public, even though it became clear that he knew at the time that it was not true; unsurprisingly, the negative image of 'boat people' was allowed to remain in the public mind. (Of course anyone of any integrity would have been mortified at their terrible mistake, but not a man of Howard's calibre).
The point of this digression? As originator of this crude policy to keep refugees (of mainly middle eastern) appearance from entering Australia, he won the election, and institutionalised racism into politics and in so doing (given his post as prime minister) gave it a sense of legitimacy for society as a whole. Of course, he is quoted (Sydney Morning Herald, Tues 13 Dec.) as saying 'I do not accept there is underlying racism in this country'... However, there are many who would disagree - Morris Iemma, born of italian immigrant parents, and Premier of the state of New South Wales, is quoted as saying (in the same paper) ' What [this] showed on the weekend, was the ugly face of racism'.
This episode reached its climax when he showed a picture on TV, 2-3 days before the election, purportedly showing refugees throwing their children overboard, to prevent their boat being towed out of Australian waters - at least according to him. The net impression was 'what sort of people are these, that could throw their own children overboard'?
This duly won him the election. When, after the election result, it was conclusively shown that this was not true (ie the children were not deliberately thrown overboard) he never apologised for the lie that he had made to the Australian public, even though it became clear that he knew at the time that it was not true; unsurprisingly, the negative image of 'boat people' was allowed to remain in the public mind. (Of course anyone of any integrity would have been mortified at their terrible mistake, but not a man of Howard's calibre).
The point of this digression? As originator of this crude policy to keep refugees (of mainly middle eastern) appearance from entering Australia, he won the election, and institutionalised racism into politics and in so doing (given his post as prime minister) gave it a sense of legitimacy for society as a whole. Of course, he is quoted (Sydney Morning Herald, Tues 13 Dec.) as saying 'I do not accept there is underlying racism in this country'... However, there are many who would disagree - Morris Iemma, born of italian immigrant parents, and Premier of the state of New South Wales, is quoted as saying (in the same paper) ' What [this] showed on the weekend, was the ugly face of racism'.
posted by Crema-editor at 12:15 PM
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