Sometimes I sort of wonder what constitutes the baseline for racism. It's actually a hard thing to bench mark when you think about it, so you sort of wonder how much veracity there could be in any study. How do they account for cultural prejudices that precede people's lives, such as ancient enmities between peoples? How do they adjust for that context? I mean, can there be such a thing as a replacement-level racist, and if so can they be persuaded to desist?
Anyway, here's what AAP has to say:
A study into racism has found Muslims, or people from the Middle East, are most likely to encounter prejudice in Australia.I think in the wake of 9/11 attacks, any Rorschach Test will reveal that we as a population has been duped into suspecting every Muslim as a potential Terrorist. What was that catchphrase? "Alert, not Alarmed"? Well, 7 years later the war on terror has eroded the tolerant, egalitarian Australia that used to exist.
Human geography and urban studies Professor Kevin Dunn also says older Australians are more worried about this group than younger or middle aged people.
"It's an indicator of a narrow view of what constitutes Australianism," Professor Dunn said.
And .. he's found while 40 per cent of Australians believe some ethnic groups do not belong in the country .. one in 10 has outwardly racist views.
The overall figures surge to 65 per cent for people over 65 but drop to 31 per cent for those aged 18 to 34.
Pretty damning, really - And I say that as a non-Muslim. What ever happened to the Australia of a 'fair go'?
No comments:
Post a Comment