Race Riots in Sydney

BACKGROUND

SYDNEY, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard called for ethnic and religious tolerance on Monday after racial violence, spurred on police say by white supremacists, erupted in parts of Sydney. Racial tension sparked violence on Cronulla Beach on Sunday when around 5,000 people, some yelling racist chants, attacked youths of Middle Eastern background, saying they were defending their beach after lifesavers were attacked there last week. Violence then spread to a second beach, Maroubra, where scores of men armed with baseball bats smashed about 100 cars. At Botany Bay, riot police confronted hundreds of youths and police said a man was stabbed in the back in a southern Sydney suburb in what media reports said appeared to be racial violence.

"Two youths, who looked Middle Eastern, on a train at Cronulla are jeered by a mob outside.
Photo: Brad Hunter" SMH.

Photos of the mob from the Sydney Morning Herald.


OPINION

I arrived back in Australia on Saturday morning and began lapping up the wonderful Sydney summer; the blue skies quickly sending European winter into forgotten memory. Of course my first hours at home were filled with fine moments of family reunion, but interesting enough (and most enjoyably) it was followed by a solid 36 hours of Chinese food- spent in the world's second biggest Chinatown. Chinese food in Europe doesn't quite cut it. We have it incredibly good in OZ- fresh produce, world class chefs and a large and demanding consumer base make for excellent and authentic Chinese cuisine. It was great to be back in the streets of Chinatown where I have spent so much of my university days, and the difference from Europe is striking- 15% of Sydney residents are of Asian decent, as much a part of Sydney as Chinatown in the heart of the city itself. But there weren't racials slurs or violence in these streets I walked. No, despite the fact that a full third of Sydney's population is foreign born, it was the relativey small (3.1%) population of North African and Middle Eastern decent who became the focus of hate from Sunday's ignorant mob.

I suppose I show these stats to try and demonstrate the diversity and peace which forms Sydney, and that has always been a valued part of our society here. I find it a deep shame that our reputation is being tarnished- as if we are not one of the most inclusive societies in the world- as if 97% of us are not immigrants or descendents of immigrants.

Are there racists in Australia? Of course, and there always have been. But usually we ignore this minority. As a rule we don't publish their narrow minded half-thoughts in our national papers. Every city has its uneducated yobs who claim to be patriots. In fact such low end patriotism is much rarer in Australia then most places in the world because we don't really care. Our national identity is rarely challenged because we are an island and thus we rarely find reason to express it, save perhaps on the sporting field. It scares me to think that these ignorants have such a lacking sense of identity that they keenly rally around minority scapegoating while glorifying such meaningless and pitiful icons that they try and tag to our nation identity.

There are many ignorant and narrow minded humans, in Australia and everywhere else. In every country they are xenophobic and parochial. In Australia this minority has been fueled and directed by a culture of fear of Islam and the Arab world that has been set in much of West. There are genuine issues- increased unemployment and crime in a number of communities- but these are local problems confined to fraction of society- it is not a clash of civilisations in greater Australia. Where these local problems coincide with the ignorant we see some violent tremors. But the patchwork and melting pot of Australia is far more robust- we have bridged deeper valleys in the past and will do so again to benefit our future.

As an Australian, I find these mob actions completely unacceptable. I find these ignorant viewpoints unfit to be published in any paper of credibility- except perhaps in combination with scathing editorial. I do not believe that we need rely on our institutional guardians and the press to demonstrate the clear moral highground on this issue. I feel it is something that disgusts the vast majority of our citizens, something that runs against the "fair go" and decency we hold high in our culture, and something that we refuse to accept as being what it means to be an Aussie.

I find it sickening that the mob was singing our national anthem amidst the racist chants. If they had the sense to remember the second verse they would have wisely recalled,

"For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair."

Indeed.