Hello all. I'm canadian of Indian background and am
planning a trip to Australia/NZ this summer (June/July) and
I am a little concerned about racism in these countries. I
guess b/c I've grown up in Canada I've been relatively
immune to this and have heard bits and pieces of this going
on down there. However I have also heard that the people
in Aust./NZ are also very friendly. I guess I'm asking if
any other non-white travellers had any problems or if I'm
just worrying about nothing. I'd also like to hear any
thoughts from Aussie's. Thanks!
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Despite what you may sometimes read on the ThornTree,
Australians as a whole are not racist. We have a very
multi-cultural society and everyone who's anyone is
welcome...as long as you don't rape, pillage or murder!!
So come and have fun!
Come here with an open mind and a sense of adventure and
you'll do just fine. Enjoy your time in our wonderful
country. You are most welcome.
Now that South Africa is pure, I sometimes think Australia
is being set up to become the evil nation. Because we are
so out of the way, it is easy for misinformation to become
entrenched in the northern hemisphere.
While it is still basically an Anglo-Saxon nation, that is
our history after all for at least the last two hundred
years, it is quite homogeneous and people seem to be
accepted for what they are so long as they don't patronise
us or tell us how we could do it better as soon as they get
off the boat. There is a lot of intermarriage, especially
in the second generation and people seem to enjoy their
stunning grandchildren. It is the most kindly, truly
tolerant nation I have ever been in. Canada is pretty good
but not as kind as Australia. I think you will be quite
relaxed and happy here if you just take it as it comes.
Now that South Africa is pure, I sometimes think Australia
is being set up to become the evil nation. Because we are
so out of the way, it is easy for misinformation to become
entrenched in the northern hemisphere.
While it is still basically an Anglo-Saxon nation, that is
our history after all for at least the last two hundred
years, it is quite homogeneous and people seem to be
accepted for what they are so long as they don't patronise
us or tell us how we could do it better as soon as they get
off the boat. There is a lot of intermarriage, especially
in the second generation and people seem to enjoy their
stunning grandchildren. It is the most kindly, truly
tolerant nation I have ever been in. Canada is pretty good
but not as kind as Australia. I think you will be quite
relaxed and happy here if you just take it as it comes.
only joking...I don't know what you've heard, but you
needn't worry. I'm an Indian living in Melbourne and it's
not a problem.
Australia does suffer from a fair ammount of institutional
racism and the occasional racial based verbal attack. I
have heard reports of Indians (Sub continent)being given a
hard time generally because they had been mistaken for
Murris (aboriginals).
I can reassure you though that your personal safety will
not be at risk and your chance of encountering racism will
be slim, particularly in the "tourist" areas.
As far as tolerance and multiculuralism you will find
Australia alot like Canada
Australia does suffer from a fair ammount of institutional
racism and the occasional racial based verbal attack. I
have heard reports of Indians (Sub continent)being given a
hard time generally because they had been mistaken for
Murris (aboriginals).
I can reassure you though that your personal safety will
not be at risk and your chance of encountering racism will
be slim, particularly in the "tourist" areas.
As far as tolerance and multiculuralism you will find
Australia alot like Canada
New Zealand is just fine. Racist? No way. There would be
more people here who would stick up for you before you even
had time to reply to any racist person you met. Don't worry.
I am an Australian Travel agent from Italian birth and I can
tell you that despite a couple of morons whose hat size is
larger than their IQ we are a tolerant race. The mix of
cultures is very good but we still have the odd person who
though ethnic themselves, point accusing fingers at other
migrant groups.
Unless you are a complete putz, you will find many Aussies
will stand up for you if some idiot tries to get to smart.
Having tie sto NZ I can tell you they are pretty much the
same as Aussies (sorry to upset all you Kiwi's) NZers and
ourselves are a little like a family - we argue between
ourselves, call each other names and denigrate each other
BUT let any other interloper stick his bib in and we both
turn on HIM.
I mean Aussie always tell NZ sheep jokes, and Kiwi's always
produce sporting upsets against us just to spite us. When
you have nations so used to taking hte mickey out of each
other and themselves, how could we be that bad??
Come on Rose - what the hell do you think you're talking about. Now that SA is pure... hello - have you actually been to SA? No country is pure - SA is on the way up, but its a long way from being pure. I think America is the most racist country in the world. That case not so long ago when they dragged that black guy along behind a vehicle... and he was still alive when his head came off. Don't you dear talk about Australia being evil - when America is the one to watch.
It seems that racism in Australia is considered an evil
that only Anglos do eg Pauline Hanson, John Howard etc but
as Australia is a multicultural and ethnicaly diverse
nation racism is not limited to just Anglos against
everyone else. There is a fair amount of institionalised
and state sanctioned racism but there is also a fair amount
of racism within the community itself and it does not
matter which ethnic group you come from.
I disagree with Rose's assertion that Australia is a
homogenised society. This concept goes against what
multiculturalism is about. To me homogenisation =
assimiltaion and that policy went out in the 70's.(although
some remnants still exist) Australia in the late 90's seems
to be more tolerant and accepting of people of different
backgrounds, race, sexual orientation etc. You may get the
odd comment from ignorant people from any ethnic group in
Australia. You will probably also notice we use the words
"wog", "skip", "wong fu", "curry muncher", "pom" etc in
gerneral conversation. In the wrong context they can be
considered derogatory but a lot of these words have been
reclaimed by the ethnic groups they refer to. eg the group
that did the shows "Wogs out of Work", "Wog Boys",
"Acropolis Now" are all men/women from greek descent. The d
generation also did skits like "healthy, wealthy and woggy"
on their Late Show program where Santo Cilauro was the
presenter. To slag one another and ourselves off is an
Australian tradition as #9 said and it is done by everyone.
Walter does have a point regarding people standing up for
you. I know that where I live (WA), that alot of people
will stand up for you. If people do call you names, that
would only be in a heated arguement, and they do that
simply to annoy or stir you up, but i doubt that they
really mean it. I think that australians have more of a
problem with asians. Not a big problem (only because they
are a little jealous and a tiny bit invaded). Otherwise (i
know it sounds like i've discribed australia as real
racist) australia is pretty good. You shouldn't worry.
If you're not white then you're not welcome in Australia. JUST KIDDING! In fact I think it would be the opposite bevcause as has already been stressed, we're a highly tolerant multicultural society. As #11 said, Aussies like to take the piss out iof each other and nobody gets too offended too easily, generally. Unlike a lot of people (Londoners South of the Watford Gap?) Aussies don't take themselves too seriously. Having said all that, you may hear the occasional disparaging comment about Asians or Aborigines but it's never racism of a malevolent (i.e. KKK) kind, although racism of any kind is no good. In my opinion a lot of Australians perpetuate negative stereotypes of Aboriginals or Asians but aren't really racist as such. So, for example, you might hear someone complain about Aborigines being drunkards or lazy but in reality if that person met an Aborigine who they liked then their skin colour wouldn't prevent them from befriending that person.
I am also a Canuck with an Indian background who visited Oz
for the first time this April. I had a great time while
visiting Sydney, Cairns, Alice Springs, Uluru and
Melbourne. We never encountered any racial problems at all.
Most people were very friendly and went out of their way to
help us. Before leaving, I had also heard rumours that non-
whites might be treated differently but that is unfounded,
at least for tourists. Have fun.
Hey Chelsea, I've never heard of anyone else with the same
name as me!
Hi everyone. Thanks so much for everyone's responses to my
worries. I had a feeling that previous descriptions of
Aussie/Nz were exaggerated or unfounded. But you all
definately have made me feel better about travelling over
there! (and Chelsea, you are the 2nd chelsea I have had the
pleasure of hearing about!) Cheers everyone!
the so called australians are the bigest racist , they hate
everybody who were not born in this country, they forget
one thing they are nothing but a son of a convict. the so
called tolerance is only on the surfice but inside they
are[ so called real fairdinkum aussies Iwas born here types]
THE WORST.....the hatred is here for ever. old blokes from
ww2 still hate the JAPS.and that hate is handed down from
generation to generation. In USA the whites and the blacks
and the others are openly abuse each other, here i got to
admit no so openly [yet].
if you open your mouth and they herea a foreign accent , you
are a wog and they treat you like shit. there are two laws
here one for the so called AUSTRALIAN and one for the
newcomers.
i could tell you more about it but you have to come here
, see it hear it yourself from other INDIANS, they [the
australians ] will not do anything openly against the
tourist ...............they are not game enough to start a
fight only if there are 12 of them against you.
So do come over the country is great , open spaces, room
to move . but mix only with your own kind you'll be right
mate.
not that bad yet.. only 99%