Race
It never looks quite right. On any sunny afternoon in Manhattan’s wealthy Upper West, there are swarms of black nannies pushing young white children in strollers.
At a glance, it’s a deep south plantation fantasy, minus the tobacco fields, bullwhips and chains. But we’re in the north of America. And the north beat the south because of slavery.
Is it a status symbol to possess a black nanny? Is there a modern mammy conspiracy?
Continue reading "Nannying in New York is a black and white issue" »
You don’t often hear people challenging someone’s claim to be Italian. Or Swedish, or American. Generally you accept what they say even if they don’t have an accent, or a funny surname, or blond hair.
Aboriginality, on the other hand, apparently remains a contested field.
The Federal Court last week decided that high-profile and controversial columnist Andrew Bolt had breached the Racial Discrimination Act in his columns ‘It’s so hip to be black’, and ‘White fellas in the black’, which questioned why nine prominent ‘fair-skinned Aborigines’ identified as Aboriginal.
Continue reading "The politics of race go beyond black and white" »
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Nicholas Steel says:
It’s odd that the progressive community are quick to accuse all and sundry of racism. However they are silent on the 40 million deaths from malaria that have occured due to the environmental movement banning the use of DDT as an insecticide in the early 1970’s. If you examine census… Read more »
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PG says:
“They think people who have been sideswiped by colonisation, sent into a tailspin of poverty, ill health and despair, people who suffer appalling health outcomes, shorter lifespans and intergenerational unemployment, are somehow better off than they are” I agree with the point you are making here, however if you have… Read more »
A radio host the other day was discussing the iPod-full of Australian artists that our Prime Minister gave to Barack Obama. Reviewing the collection of songs - which included Midnight Oil - he claimed it proved “political correctness has gone mad’.
(Glenn Beck on political correctness gone mad)
These sentiments were echoed in The Punch the other morning when Kevin Donnelly warned us that the proposed national curriculum was much too ‘politically correct’. The entire curriculum, Donnelly argued, is overwhelmed by politically correct messages and ignores Christianity.
Feeling under siege by political correctness I decided to do something about it: I called a Muslim friend and made some jokes about her cultural background. I figured it was OK, because some of my best friends are Muslim.
Continue reading "Economic correctness - the new political laziness?" »
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Glenn says:
@Scarneck People in housing estates are not “filth”, they’re only less fortunate then you. You had a relatively decent upbringing (although your politics leave much to be desired) else you’d be in one of those houses. You aggressive individualists can’t see cause and effect in the individual, you focus exclusively… Read more »
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Glenn says:
This article is such a departure from reality one has to wonder if it wasn’t written purely to manipulate people into further abandonment and demonisation of Political Correctness to further the neo-con social project now underway in Australia. The original political correctness is things like not allowing wife bashing, racism,… Read more »
Islam doesn’t have much of a reputation for a sense of humour. Maybe its best comics don’t get an airing here in the west – there might be an equivalent of a Peter Cook or a Lenny Bruce doing stand-up at a nightclub in Tehran.
But as a general rule, the more orthodox practitioners of the Muslim faith are more likely to crack a fatwa than a funny. And there are a few Danish cartoonists who found out the hard way that poking fun at the prophet Mohammed by daring to draw a picture of the guy can land you some pretty bad reviews, and also result in your nation’s embassy being burned to the ground.
In Australia, the relationship between Muslim communities and the wider community has often been fraught. The tension has been strongest in Sydney, particularly in relation to the Lebanese Muslim community. There was an amusing and hopeful moment last week which suggested that a genial kind of mutual accommodation may be taking hold.
Continue reading "Multiculturalism: something we can all joke about" »
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Levi says:
Kika….and before the crusades it was the arabs and their new, zealous religion exploding out of the Arabian Peninsula and conquering large parts of the Middle East, Asia Minor, North Africa, Spain, Persia, Central Asia etc. History is indeed circular, but if you want to go all the way back… Read more »
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Levi says:
Kika, you have obviously never been to South Korea. They are one of the most ethnically homogeneous nations on the face of the earth and have very strict immigration controls. Their culture is also rich, vibrant, thriving and all those other buzzwords that multulturalists love using. They have great food… Read more »
Andrew McLeod, addressing the United Nations last week, argued that the AFL must address racism in football, citing their laws that prevent insults and threats on the basis of a person’s race.
His address, on Australia Day, coincided with hundreds of speeches around the country assuring those taking up Australian citizenship that the nation’s racial vilification laws prevented discrimination against them on the basis of their race.
Race is also emerging as a hot topic in the controversy about a referendum on indigenous recognition in the constitution. Options for change are already citing “people of any race,” “racial groups” and “all racial backgrounds” and the race power contained in section 51 (xxvi) (1).
Continue reading "Science shows we should get rid of ‘race’" »
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Queenie says:
I guess finding useful, reliable information on the internet isn’t hoepelss after all. Read more »
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Greg says:
Race is determined from DNA testing in Australia: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/dna-offers-a-clue-to-the-criminal-look/2006/10/28/1161749357987.html In the USA: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2003-06-05-dna-ancestry_x.htm and in the UK: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2393936,00.html Proof, proof and more proof. Time for the race deniers to say “uncle”. Read more »
Last week Gordon Brown called one of his voters a bigot. Her crime, voicing her concerns about immigration policy in the UK. Brown was condemned for an act of outrageous insensitivity and dutifully marched back to her home for a 45 minute apology.
Talking about immigration is not easy in western democracies. There is an elite consensus that seeks to deny the conversation. Apparently, we’re not mature enough to have this discussion without our raw, untamed racial prejudices overwhelming our capacity for reason and having their way.
To protect us all from our dark side, the self appointed elite apply the tags of racism, bigotry and dog whistling to anyone who cares to discuss the topic. After all, it’s for our own good.
Continue reading "Debating population is not racist or bigoted" »
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Yury says:
By the way, you’ve told my weakness was to draw attention to one particular year. There you gave it yourself: almost quarter-century trend. Anything horrible happened to this country because of it so far? Your last two year increase in NOM, which apparently worries you a great deal is not… Read more »
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maureen says:
Yury - This is getting a bit like that monty python sketch with John Cleese - his arms and legs hacked off he stands up and says, ‘come on then its just a flesh wound! Is that all you have got?’ Yury I have plenty more. Yury here’s another hard… Read more »
I’m still not sure how it happened. We headed out to Olympic Park on Friday with two other couples to see Beyonce’s Sydney show, planning to bop the night away to her awesome collection of insanely catchy dance tunes.
We ended up wiping away tears and struggling to speak as the concert turned into an emotionally-charged celebration of the best features of life in the west – women’s rights, civil rights, democracy, freedom of expression, a philanthropic sense of community.
The word “pop” of itself sounds frivolous and popular music is generally ignored or ridiculed as the shallowest cultural genre. But at some point during Beyonce’s show, the concert underwent a strange transformation, as if she’d read the “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” passage from The Declaration of Independence and decided to build a stage show around it.
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Ian says:
I am from Malaysia, while, it is not the first time that the Islamic party try to ruin Beyonce’s concert. She was supposed to perform somewhere last year in November, but again, the Islamic party put the blame on Beyonce and “her skimpy attire and behaviour onstage are immoral and… Read more »
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Andrew says:
Back to school, Nic: it’s “drivel”. Read more »
One of the most disturbing things about this morning’s counter-terrorism raids in Melbourne is the profile of the suspects, who were allegedly planning a Mumbai-style machine-gun attack on Australian Army barracks.
They were, The Australian reports, construction workers and taxi drivers of Somali and Lebanese descent, living in suburban Melbourne.
Combine this with the admission of Anglo-Australian terrorist Shane Kent that he was part of a terrorist organisation and it’s clear terrorists don’t look like anything in particular and could be living in your street.
Continue reading "Race profiles a blunted tool in fight against enemy within" »
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johnv_au says:
The profile is they will be muslim they will be residents in the country they are going to attack and young and ready to kill non muslims and the authorities and law abiding muslims will probably already know them and they will be driven by what is happening to muslims… Read more »
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Paul says:
Paul Colgan your politcally correct views in this case are absolute nonsense. how many innocent people will have to die before fools like you admit that our biggest terrorist threats are from EXTREMIST MUSLIMS primarily of ARAB AND AFRICAN DESCENT. how on earth do you get away with publishing drivel… Read more »
WHITE supremacy is so yesterday, don’t you think?
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.
Continue reading "If the sheet fits wear it: white supremacy is, like, so passe" »
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Jimbo Jones says:
The author is the only shepherd that goes “Woof!” Read more »
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Grover Jenkins says:
I think I saw the author partaking in the Sheep Dog Trials. Read more »
Last November, a curious list was posted to various websites in England.
It had no author, it carried no commentary but included the names, occupations, addresses and personal details of some 12,000 people who were members of the British National Party.
The privacy breach may have been of concern to some liberal commentators but for British authorities and political leaders, it was an alarming wake up to the rise-and-rise of the far right movement in the UK.
Continue reading "Postcard from London: list of blackshirts stuns Britain" »
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Jacob says:
This article is just the type of misinformation we have all come to expect from the mass media. The BNP are not “neo-fascists” nor are they complaining about East Europeans in housing estates. BNP is a reaction to increasing anti white racial attacks, attacks that are of course, never reported… Read more »
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watty says:
A ist of “closet Trotskysites” could take up the whole of the weekend edition of the Times. And that is just the Teachers Union. Read more »
Here’s my guilty admission. I sat through Samson and Delilah and I wanted it to end.
The violence, the petrol-sniffing, the exploitation – white and black, and the indifference were all confronting.
But it wasn’t my squeamishness that had me longing for the closing credits. What did me in and left me feeling completely bombed was that for much of the movie you are placed in the shoes of Aboriginal young people who have seemingly little to live for.
Continue reading "Finding love and salvation amid poverty and despair" »
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shannyn says:
So has the movie highlighted the need for better policy for indigenous people Maxine, colonialisation hasnt worked for them and neither will the intervention, these people need to be part of their recovery, they need to be able to assert their will and to direct us as to what they… Read more »
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Geoff says:
As superb and uncomfortable as this movie is 2 quibbles about your comments Maxine. 1. star crossed lovers? Hardly. and 2. while the end does show the strength of spirit of aboriginal women the ending could not/would not happen. What was this girl doing seemingly devoting herself to this by… Read more »
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Dieter Moeckel says:
We made the tree change from Darwin to Wonbah more than 15 years ago. After fencing, a road, and couple of dams our money was gone. Super is enough to live comfortably. We have geese growing old and stringy the only one that made it to the pot committed Kamakazi by flying into a tree; the chooks are… [read more]From: I’d rather have a piece of toast than listen to crap lyrics
Erick says:
Led Zeppelin are responsible for my all-time favourite mixed metaphor: "There you sit, sit and stare, like a book on a shelf rusting." (Misty Mountain Hop) I laugh every time I hear it. Hmmm, I believe I've decided what to play on the way to work today. [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
No wuckin forries. These nuckin futs are tuckin fops
Well, puck me with a fitchfork. The F-word is apparently an acceptable part of Australian speech. That’s… Read more
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