Austrailians: Are you racist?

Question

My dad wanted to go to holiday to Austrailia and so do I with the rest of my family. But I heard that the 2005 Cronulla Riots took a big blow to the Austrailians' tourism industry and now I have my doubts about going there due to the reasons...

And the fact that people of different colours got savagely beaten by White Austrailians and said to "get out of our country" when really they too are people of diferent colours (I mean the aboriginese were there first) was also very scary for me to hear...

I looked it up also and found that people (Asians and such) are NOT welcome there.

I was HUGELY disappointed when I found out. So we are not going there for the moment. BUT I need to find things out for myself...

...So are you racists? I mean I saw the images of White Austrailians beating up people - really scary...and are you not ashamed?

***I also noticed that it was both parties faults e.g the casus belli was that Asian teens did something but the Aussiies rioted...

Sorry it's just that in the news it said the whole of cronulla (something about 5000 people) chased a man...NOT SAYING ALL ARE RACIST IT'S JUST THAT I HAVEN'T SEEN OR HEARD FROM AN AUSTRAILLIAN (I.E.THEIR VIEW)

Answer 1

As an Australian I'd like to say that I don't believe the Cronulla Riots were entirely racially motivated. It didn't matter who it was that was involved it was the actions of a few morons who created the problem.

When a group of youths (Lebanese in this case. It could have been anyone) spend their time, over a period of months, harrassing women on the beach and attacking a life-guard, it usually means they are looking for trouble.

Unfortunately the trouble happened big-time. When another group of youths decide to take the law into their own hands you have more trouble. Then factor in the others from both sides who arrived after being SMSed on their mobile (cell) phones and you have a riot on your hands. It ended up an all-in brawl, many people there just to get drunk and join in the fight. They didn't need to have a reason they just joined in. Like I said morons.

It is now 2007, 2 years down the track, and that incident happened in one small area in Sydney. Are you going to blame the entire nation for the actions of some young men looking for a fight?

Instead of listening to sensationalised news items on your local tv etc, why not look up Australian news sites and find out what really happened here.

One riot, in one small area, in Sydney and we get branded as rascist and our country not safe. Just have a look around the world and see what's happening in other countries. I think you'll find we're not doing too badly.

Anyway, it's up to you to decide where you want to travel. I'm glad you asked this question to find out what we as Australians think of what happened.

In answer to your original question:
No we are not a racist country.
In my opinion we are very open to all colours and races of people.
There are idiots who look for trouble and encourage violence everywhere in the world. Sadly we have some of them here too.

Answer 2

The Cronulla brawls were a old know-nothing Australian subculture in Sydney fighting a different know-nothing new Australian subculture in Sydney. Neither side went into it or came out of it smelling of roses. Who threw the first punch? We'll never know.

The "Asian teens" were largely of recent Lebanese origin and had been making a damn nuisance of themselves for months making loud remarks about women on the beach. The brawls also followed the imprisonment of some teenagers from that same middle eastern culture for the pack rape of a 14/15 year old girl a year or two before. That and the beach remarks etc led to serious tensions that the usual authorities had no idea about or were ignoring in the hope that it would all cool down.

There has been no repetition of the events, not even on the following weekend. There were next to no serious injuries, no deaths, no stores burnt out, no or next to no looting, a few windows might have been smashed. Nothing on the scale of the Watts riots in LA 35 some years ago or even those smaller scale riots that followed the police beating of Rodney(?) Something much later. It made the news because it was "man bites dog".

Frankly I would not be surprised if some of the imams gave their congregations a good talking to soon afterward. At any rate things have gone quiet.

Cronulla is an area that has had brawls every several years since the early 1960s and has always been a slightly "rough" area. At one time it was rockers and surfers. This time it was "Lebs" and "locals".

Am I ashamed? No. I'm not even particularly interested. As for "White Australians beating up people" I'm reasonably certain that the opposition got a few punches in.

Don't believe everything you read. There are always people ready to exaggerate and distort these events for their own political reasons. Neither Australia nor Sydney are monocultures, not even among "white Anglo-Celtics".

I can assure you that if you visit Sydney Cronulla is an area you probably will not see. Working class suburbs, whether old Australian or new Australian are generally not on the top of the tourist must-see areas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Cronulla_riots

If "Asians" are not welcome, how is it that my section at work has 20 people, including three from India, one from Sri Lanka, four Malaysian Chinese, and one person from Turkey? And another with a highly Japanese name though born here? Hmmm?

Answer 3

I don't know where you get your info,but it's wrong.There is no common 'savage beating of non-white Australians'.And where did you find out that Asians are not welcome? From someone who had a bad experience? And how can anyone say that because one person was a victim of racism,all white Australians hate Asians? Asians are wonderful citizens in Australia.They are most certainly welcome.
And Cronulla-not every white person was involved! Not to mention that some of the others in the riots were involved in a little bashing themselves.
I apologize if I sound harsh.But I am sick of Australians being dragged through the mud by people saying that Australia is a racist country.She most certainly is not.Racial instances are the abnormal,not the norm.

Answer 4

Cronulla riot was an isolated incident fulled by too much alcohol. It wasn't even about race. It was about a mob attacking anyone who they didn't like the look of.

Australia is a BIG place.
DO NOT take a news report of ONE incident on ONE beach on ONE afternoon be the standard to measure racism attitude of the whole of Australia.

Lots of tourists come to Australia all the time. Do you hear about them being beaten up?

"I looked it up also and found that people (Asians and such) are NOT welcome there" What is this you looked up? That is NOT true in the least.

Anyway - you asked "Austrailians [sic]: Are you racist?" I mean, do you think anyone who is a racist would come on here and say "yes" to your question and to get abused by other answerers?

I think you are getting overly worried about something you don't have a true picture of and are over-reacting to the whole thing.
Please go to the link below. It goes to another question which is very much like the one you just asked. You will find some very good responses there.

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoETcgBQRpCCNehXMMRlfrXh5gt.?qid=20070726193751AAyGULu

Hope this clears thing up.

Answer 5

Being Australian, I would say that we are not racist in nature, especially when compared with some other countries.
But like any other multi-cultural nation, the mix of different cultures does sometimes result in tension. In any society, there will be individuals or groups of individuals who are determined to press their own cultural beliefs on others. For example, the Australian soccer scene was held back for years because of a number of clubs that had a very narrow cultural background (without naming any), which had a negative effect on the National game. In each culture, there are negative and positives, and sometimes the negative prejudices are imported to a new country.
Australia does have a problem, however with its native population, which is very much a disadvantaged culture. This does not create racial violence, but it is a problem that has to be addressed.
As far as racial violence is concerned however, occurrences such as the Cronulla riots are very minor.

Answer 6

It's only on the news because nothing much ever happens in Australia so when something does actually happen it is big news. Of course some Australians are racist. Some Malaysians hate Australians. Some Americans hate Mexicans... but in all honesty it is not that bad and I think you will find all the drunken idiots who got caught at Cronulla and Bondi were prosecuted because our anti-racism laws are tough.

Answer 7

As you were just planning a holiday in Australia,I do'nt see why this should bother you.I know nothing about the riots, Have'nt heard about them at all.I have visited Australia 6 times over the years and have always had a great time.(I am white British).Like any country,there are always bigots and racists but you just treat them with distain and avoid confrontation. If it is a point of principle with you,then do'nt go,but I cannot see you having a problem if you are just holidaying there. It's a fabulous diverse country and well worth a visit.

Answer 8

I find it hard to believe that people still think we are a racist nation when in fact we are a country made of of people from every nation in the world! We are not just white you know! Some of my best friends are Japanese, Croatian and Serbian (married to each other...how is that for racism?), Maori, Italian, South African, Filipino, Danish and Indian (married to each other) Tongan etc etc. And they are all Aussies as far as I am concerned as they live here and work here and are good citizens...

We are a tourism mecca for many nationalites and having lived in a tourist town for many years...I have seen every race, colour and creed come through and as far as I know...there have NEVER been any racism concerns.

As with all countries though...I am sure there are a few drop kicks who are in fact racist but you can't judge the majority of us on these low lives! And in some cities there are gangs of one race...ie: Asians, Aboriginals, Lebanese etc that do fight with each other but it is the same in many other places as well.... USA has gangs in some cities...Latino's, African Americans etc and you don't see many questions asking if the USA is rascist due to this.

I don't like it when people think we are all rascist to tell you the truth as most people I know are definately NOT!

Answer 9

im not australian but i have an opinion id like to share

the australians i know are NOT racist

also in every country there are cases of riots and racism

i know you probably didn't intend it...but i don't see why you are labelling all australians because of some people. some people are racist others are not. same in any country any where in the world.

so when you ask your question...don't ask 'australians' just rephrase to not offend any one so that it could be something like...where in australia are most racist riots or something like that.

my friend from greece asked me the same question but about england because of the bombings and threats. it doesn't mean everyone in england is going to be a racist. i just told him to avoid certain areas and to have fun =D

Answer 10

We are a country full of different people and cultures. What you saw on the news was an emotional reaction to a muslim shek calling women pigs. It had nothing to do with Asian teenagers. No one got seriously hurt or injured. Please dont believe everygting you read see hear etc. We have one of the most diverse cultures in the world.