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Filed under: Race, Religion, White Supremacists

23 comments

WHITE supremacy is so yesterday, don’t you think?

The high-energy stylings of the KKK dancers in Jerry Springer: The Musical

But the skinheads are using a modern medium for their oh-so-1950s messages. And, as with so much online, it’s a rare chance to see inside a different world. A strangely amusing world.

I came across a couple of sites by accident, and before I knew it I was Googling around checking out the rantings of racists. With each new site, I was mentally preparing myself to be outraged, appalled. Filled with a towering sense of injustice.

But the white supremacist websites don’t produce that reaction. They’re a bit sad, generally amateurish, and just a bit funny.

In South Australia there’s a guy called Reverend Cailen Cambeul (he calls himself “the racist formerly known as Colin Campbell” and has a bit of a chequered history).

He runs “The Church of Creativity” down here – its catchcry is “Creativity South Australia: For a Whiter and Brighter World”.

They’re the Napisan of race relations, with a mission statement that sounds like housewifey cheese.

The Reverend is full of other gems such as:

“It is time White people awaken to reality and realise that doing what is best for the White race is best for themselves – it is a virtue. And doing what is bad for the White race is their own deathknell – it is a sin … Does that make me a racist … Does that make me a hater? If you knew me you’d find I hate most people. It’s just that I give White people a chance before I decide that I hate them… Wake Up Whitey!”

I’ll pause here just to say that I can see that this is offensive, that it would be fair to argue that I have no right to make light of these guys because I’m a pinkish blonde mongrel mix of mainly Euro descent. But I feel very strongly that these are not the guys we need to worry about.

Have a look through the forums, where there are rambling discussions of mixed marriages, immigration, multiculturalism, Jewish conspiracy theories, etc. The members are predominantly men, predominantly bad at spelling, and consistently terrible at making a logical point.

They are a hodge-podge of disillusioned youth who need to get out more, definitely need to get laid, and would probably be cured of their bizarre beliefs with a bit of time or a bit of distraction.

Maybe these guys are still scary in a gonna-gun-someone-down-one-day kind of way, and the ideas are vile and reprehensible, but drifting through their websites the image that most strongly suggests itself is a pale guy with an overbite and thinning hair. Someone who got bullied at high school.

It’s the bizarre grammar that tickles, and the sheer incoherence that reassures.

The Creativity mob has some power in the US, but down here it’s just a few loners looking for something to do with all their hate, and they form little insulated black bubbles of nastiness and wallow around in them for a bit.

These are not the guys responsible for sustaining racism.

Oh no.

The Ku Klux Klan, who claim to be getting about a bit in Australia, are a bit scarier. Even though they are led by people called “Imperial Wizards”, which makes me picture guys in pointy hats on Quidditch-style broomsticks. They are organised, and seem to have a core structure that could suck in recruits.

But the really, really scary buggers are the slick, sly ones trotting out well-rehearsed arguments about limiting immigration and stopping the formation of ghettoes and talking about floods of boat people coming.

In the same way that it’s no longer Creationism you have to worry about, it’s Intelligent Design with its overlay of pseudo-scientific waffle, it’s when they start to get smart that we need to take notice.

I thought One Nation was pretty funny and nothing to worry about until I started hearing people say Pauline Hanson “sort of“ had a point.

Then you started to hear John Howard’s dog whistling, and before you knew it tolerance was taking a backwards step.

That’s why Australia needs to tune its ears to the dog whistles and remember that just because savvy people in business suits seem more evolved and make a bit more sense does not mean they’re not racist. They may look like creatures of the new century but their roots are firmly in the shameful past.

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23 comments

Show oldest | newest first

- Jimbo Jones says:
  
  11:32am | 29/01/12
  
  The author is the only shepherd that goes “Woof!”
  
  Reply
- Grover Jenkins says:
  
  11:07am | 15/12/11
  
  I think I saw the author partaking in the Sheep Dog Trials.
  
  Reply
- Brian "Wheely" Ferris says:
  
  06:45pm | 16/11/11
  
  The only dog whistling here comes from the author.
  
  Reply
- PROUD WHITE AUSSIE says:
  
  10:24pm | 09/12/09
  
  what a load of shit. Everyone is so busy trying to be politicly correct that they forget where they are. we fought and died to protect the Australian way of life and this scum who’s parents and grandparents tortured and raped Australians during expect us to welcome them with open arms? As far as I’m concerned they should not be trying to to poison the Australian way of life. If they’ve fucked their country stiff shit don’t expect to come here and fuck our country aswell and all the bleeding heart’s that love gooks that much you know where the airport is so love it or leave it go and eat dogs we don’t want flakes here anyway
  
  Reply
LibertarianLogician says:

02:25am | 22/07/10

so, does that extend to the Chinese? they were technically on Australia’s ‘side’ during WW2. also, wouldn’t your point of view mean we should be excluding Germans and Austrians from immigrating here? or are they exempt from their past mistreatment of Australians because of their skin colour. I think you are also confusing the people of a country with the politicians and government institutions of that country, which is a logical fallacy. Lastly, Immigrants during the post WW2 era largely created the so-called ‘australian way of life’ - previously we largely saw ourselves as a colonial outpost of Britain.

also, did you personally fight in a foreign war to protect the Australian way of life? if so, you have my congratulations and thanks.
- Brendan says:
  
  04:59pm | 07/09/09
  
  I like Dave’s comments.
  
  I’m not of the “my country, right or worng” view, but I think this country gives more of a fair go to everyone than almost any other. I’m distrustful of those would advocate staying here while changing everything about it.
  
  But then, on the other hand, I think its the right of everyone to question the system they live under and speak fearlessly to authority….
  
  Maybe I’m just confused?
  
  Reply
- Dan says:
  
  12:46am | 31/07/09
  
  Margaret Gray, it’s not about picking easy targets, afterall what is an easy target in your eyes may not be an easy target for other people. Nonetheless, if you do believe that we should ignore racists in our community because there are racists in other communities is simply stupid.
  
  W, maybe the people who voted for Howard ARE racists. Howard was an abomination; he was blatently Islamohobic. If someone voted for him, and they don’t like being called racist, they won’t get any symoathy from me.
  
  Reply
- Dave says:
  
  12:07am | 31/07/09
  
  “White and proud, not racist”. If you saw someone walking down the street wearing that T shirt would you think to yourself “yeah right, racist”.
  
  I have a shaved head, multiple tattoos, lily white skin and a hairy face. If I wore that shirt what would you think?
  
  There is nothing wrong with being proud of what you are, but there is something wrong with judging a book by its cover and hating someone because of the way they look.
  
  This tattooed, bald, rough looking fella has a brain, six kids, one grandson (who is part aboriginal), tertiary qualifications and owns a small business. I am patriotic, don’t believe in multiculturalism but don’t care where you come from or what colour your are so long as you love this country and want to make a commitment to it. I love my family and friends, most are white, some are black, some are gay all are loyal. I have political opinions that our government calls pro bikie (funny I don’t ride a bike), but there they go judging a book.
  
  Perhaps we should stick up for our own country a bit more and stop telling everyone we need to be a melting pot and change everything all the time and there would not be so many, thinning hair, overbite, poor spelling and angry young men out there.
  
  Oh, yeah, let’s have a sense of humour too, we are a little too PC.
  
  Reply
- Tory says:
  
  10:21pm | 30/07/09
  
  Hi, all - a bunch of you have missed the point, which means I’m crap at communicating effectively, which in turn bothers me immensely.
  
  What I was trying to say is that the white supremacists are old-school, simplistic thinkers who are now isolated pockets that are no longer the real problem when it comes to racist thinking in Australia.
  
  The real problem now is people who are media savvy, slick talkers, and have ways of dressing up their racist arguments in ways that might make sense to confused people and therefore be more effective. These are the people lobbying governments.
  
  That’s where the comparison between Creationism and Intelligent Design came in.
  
  White supremacy - blunt tool, outdated argument, unconvincing
  vs.
  Ideological racism - sophisticated arguments touching on populist fears.
  
  is a similar line to
  
  Creationism
  vs.
  Intelligent design
  
  which again has similarities to
  
  Hansonism-style xenophobia
  vs
  Howard-style anti boat-people racism
  
  You’re right, there are plenty of other targets to attack when it comes to picking out racists, but this just happens to be something I came across that struck me as worth talking about. So thanks for joining the conversation!
  
  Reply
- PL says:
  
  04:16pm | 30/07/09
  
  Stephen,
  although the “aussie pride” groups like Australia First and PYL look like white supremacists (probably due to their membership demographics), their arguments are often produced in quite a logical manner. They market monoculturalism as a way of minimising violence as this is the ultimate scenario of culture contact.
  However, what it does is refuses to tackle the problem - ignorance and irrational fear is the problem. I do not believe people are inherently violent, they just perceive through their (always limited) understanding of the world that there is no alternative to it. Therefore there should be nothing to fear from people as long as they do not fear you.
  Even within a defined culture these perceptions can be markedly different - you and I might have a completely different understanding of the world yet we can live in peace. Why? Because we both understand that we don’t know everything, and that our rationality is bounded by an incomplete perception of the world. These simple principles have nothing to do with culture, they are universal.
  The aussie pride movement is taking the apologist approach to this, saying we have to legislate around people’s inability to accept difference rather than tackle it. This is the incorrect approach in my opinion.
  The white supremacy movement takes it a step further, refusing to compromise on their perception of the world and promoting cultural violence as a means of protecting that perception. This is much worse.
  As for the multiculturalism debate, I’m not sure what political policy you are referring to, but I assume it is the Keating era you are objecting to? The increase in cross cultural immigration? I don’t agree with you there - multiculturalism in this country is inevitable and economically sound I believe - the global market is multicultural, and the most multicultural nations are in their best position to capitalise on it.
  
  Reply
- Margaret Gray says:
  
  03:18pm | 30/07/09
  
  “...I think it’s fairer to say that Tory focused on the racism that exists within Australia. Why would you criticise her for that?...”
  
  Could you pick an easier, softer target?
  
  Tory’s flawed article judiciously ignores the racism deeply prevalent in non-white Australian society.
  
  Do you also deny its existence?
  
  Regardless of their vile cultural stance, let’s examine Tory’s:
  
  “pale guy with an overbite and thinning hair”
  “someone who got bullied at high school”
  “predominantly men”
  “predominantly bad at spelling”
  “hodge-podge of disillusioned youth”
  “need to get out more”
  “definitely need to get laid”
  “bizarre beliefs”
  
  Nice.
  
  Reply
- stephen says:
  
  02:41pm | 30/07/09
  
  I agree with the author that these oddballs all look a bit unhealthy ( no teeth
  and play the banjo), but unfortunately, they’re not all dumb.
  Mobs like patriotic youth league, blood and honour, and australia first (sic), and other white supremacist groups only have to sit back and relax whilst our Labour Govt. makes a mess of Multiculturalism in this country.
  The far right, at the next election, be the new alternative, and I’ll bet my last dollar that ordinary mums and dads, at the polling booth, will be looking over their shoulder.
  
  Reply
- RT says:
  
  01:50pm | 30/07/09
  
  W, I missed the part where Tory called those who voted Howard worse than white supremacists. Can you quote the part you mean?
  
  Reply
- Mr Subramanian says:
  
  01:29pm | 30/07/09
  
  W, did you read PL’s points? John Howard used 1. - 5. very effectively in a quite a number of elections, except that 4. was not directed so much at the object of the fear (like it normally is with racism) but at the Labor Party. She’s not calling those who voted for howard racist, she’s asking them to look beyond their fear and distrust.
  
  Reply
- W says:
  
  01:04pm | 30/07/09
  
  I really enjoyed how you called the 50 odd percent of Australians who voted for John Howard more dangerously racist than white supremacists. This is going to encourage a constructive dialog.
  
  Reply
19yearold says:

10:51am | 26/01/10

if you understood the voting system, youd realise that the only people that voted for John Howard were those that were in his electorate, the rest voted for their local minister. and when you take into account preferences, the numbers drop even more.
- Mondo Rock says:
  
  12:45pm | 30/07/09
  
  Or did you only chase down ‘racism’ amongst the easy, low hanging fruit of white supremacists?
  
  Margaret - I think it’s fairer to say that Tory focused on the racism that exists within Australia. Why would you criticise her for that?
  
  You appear to be taking the Bolt-esq position that white Australian racism shouldn’t be addressed while worse racism exists amongst other groups. This is a childish and ultimately pointless approach to the issue.
  
  Reply
- PL says:
  
  12:32pm | 30/07/09
  
  Margaret Gray, what’s the lesson? Does the fact that xenophobia occurs in other societies such as Islam make xenophobia more rational in our own? Xenophobia is never rational I’m afraid.
  The blog clearly states it is looking at white supremacy only, if Tory feels the need to examine the prejudice espoused by islamic extremism she can do it at a later date if needs be.
  That said Tory, I don’t think it is necessary to talk up fear of white supremacy, as the fear of the unknown is exactly what they themselves prey on. Its the classic hate group scenario, practiced by the islamic extremists as well:
  1. Find the fearful and disenfranchised
  2. Offer them kinship
  3. Establish trust
  4. Tell them who is to blame for their misfortune (Jews, Blacks, Whites, Christians, Muslims, etc.)
  5. Organise them to act upon it.
  
  The good thing about white supremacists is that they are not violent in the way they act so much these days (with a few exceptions) but that may change. Nevertheless there is only one way to eliminate hate groups - eliminate point 1. That will take empathy from all human beings to acheive it. And not just the xenophobes, but the people that fear and/or despise them as well.
  
  Reply
- Margaret Gray says:
  
  12:00pm | 30/07/09
  
  “...before I knew it I was Googling around checking out the rantings of racists…”
  
  I’m sure as part of your thorough research and due diligence you also checked out: Al Qeada, Jemaah Islamiyah, Mujahideen or Hezbollah?
  
  Or did you only chase down ‘racism’ amongst the easy, low hanging fruit of white supremacists?
  
  “...consistently terrible at making a logical point…”
  
  There’s a lesson for you in that.
  
  I look forward to your next ‘article’ which exposes China’s deep racism; the racial persecution of gypsies in Eastern Europe and the entrenched racism inherent in the preachings of Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.
  
  You do know who he is don’t you?
  
  Reply
- watty says:
  
  10:59am | 30/07/09
  
  Nice try Tory. Linking Hanson,Howard and anyone else who may differ in opinion to you on immigration and our “shameful past”.
  
  Ever consider that “progressives” like you might just be as heinous to some as Hanson is to you?
  
  Reply
- Maddux says:
  
  09:58am | 30/07/09
  
  Not Really
  
  Reply
- Matt says:
  
  09:34am | 30/07/09
  
  Comparing Pauline Hanson to advocates of Intelligent Design is something of a leap, wouldn’t you say?
  
  Reply
- ea says:
  
  09:12am | 30/07/09
  
  First you need to worrry about your own attitudes and then those of people you know who may be toxic.There will always be minorities with views others think weird, unacceptable etc but that’s democracy for you!
  
  Reply

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ToryShepherd 17 May 12 02:59PM

RT @antsharwood: Meanwhile, a case from the glass half full files. Andrew Bolt has attacked me in a much nicer way than usual today http://t.co/mQqX6rOc