Friday, May 28, 2004

Hm. 

What the hell? Out of the blue, another repressive law, merci Howard. Methinks this is another Weapon of Mass Distraction (*cough*Draper, detained kiddies). Thankfully the public at least have their heads screwed on right. But man. Talk about one step forwards, three leaps back. While studying human rights in Australia this week in Foundations, I was surprised to discover that Tasmania had laws prohibiting homosexual acts even in private as late as 1994. It was only when Nicholas Toonen, a gay activist, submitted a communication to the UN's Human Rights Committee that the Commonwealth passed the Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act 1994 which follows Article 17 of the ICCPR.

Gratuitous list of the day: other WTF-worthy events, aka, the slow and painful political awakening of a complacent bourgeoise (mind you, I'm still half asleep- literally and figuratively *yawn*).
-Rise of Pauline Hanson
-Tampa
-Mandatory sentencing in NT especially with the death of that kid
-Iraq
-September 11
-Redfern riots
-Detention centre hunger strikes

Of them all, I'd say Tampa had the greatest effect on me. It was the first time I was certain that the government was in the wrong. Moreover, I was astonished to find that the majority of the population apparently agreed with them. My own mother - a refugee and a boat person herself! - parotted the government's border protection crap, and supported the ridiculous Final Pacific Solution.

I recall a conversation soon after S11, at a dinner with the step-in-laws, where she proudly told us that she'd given a Muslim woman a dirty look at the bank. This was met with approval by the others. I argued that just as Viets aren't homogenous, neither are Muslims. She replied that they'd all harbour terrorists given the chance. I spluttered. Her partner asked me whether I was going to start wearing the veil. They all laughed.

Even now, that makes my blood boil.

I was raised with these ingrained prejudices. Against Aborigines, smokers, Arabs, homeless people, Indians, Jews, gay people...I still catch myself judging people by the way they look. I'm still surprised to see an Asian girl with an Arab guy. I still mentally run through my self-defence routine if there is Someone Swarthy behind me at night. Of course, I hate myself afterwards, but I can't stop that quasi-instinctive initial reaction. It's disheartening. I mean, I'm a reasonably well-educated middle-class citizen of a relatively democratic and tolerant country. If I have problems overcoming my prejudices, what hope is there for some kid who's fed dogma from birth and knows nothing but hate?

# posted at 12:08 am

Comments: Post a Comment