The Racist White Man

The 'white man's burden' was the term used to colonise the uncivilised people of the world-to teach them proper religion (Christianity of any form, and cover up them wimmin, for God's sake!!!) while the white man took away all their lovely resources and built up their empires. Ok, a bit of a crass generalisation, but in the post-colonial era only staunch conservatives (I'm looking at you Little Johnny...) can still defend it.

The thing is this mentality still burns bright in Asia. What mentality? The mentality that only the white man can be racist. Now, while in Asia people of all different ethnic backgrounds bicker and call each other racist, we can all surprisingly unite to condemn the white man. And Australia, as the big white man in Asia, is a very easy target.

So it is that the Australian cricket team has come under racist attack from certain groups in Asia. So it is that it is okay for a significant minority (I'm being kind) to make monkey chants at Andrew Symonds (a black player) but for the Indian's to deny anything untoward took place. So it is okay for Harbhajan Singh to lay into Symonds again (come on-it's pretty clear what happened) and get away with it. Because only the white man can be racist. Imagine if Ponting called Laxman a curry-muncher...

Like when some students from Asia come here to study and decide to live with their fellow citizens, and eat their home cooked food-they'll also to to class together and when group assignments are set up, the od Aussie in the group sits there, out of place, as the 'group' chat away in their mother tongue. This group of course, never tire of telling me how racists Australians are.

Like when Pauline Hanson (and she is a racist, an appalling one at that) formulated her immigration policy that had Asia up in arms. Great. I totally agree that the people of the world should take a stand against an immigration policy that is racist by stealth. But if she got elected and the policy became reality, that policy would still be far less racist than that practised by many an Asian country like Japan and Malaysia for example. But I never heard a peep from any of my fellow Asian friends condemning theor own country's racist immigration policies. Charity starts at home people....

Like when even my own girlfriend feels an Australian is being racist when they are being rude to her-it does not occur to her that maybe that person is just, well, rude...?

Like when people from Asia never tire of telling me how lazy Australains are-yet what are they doing studying at Australian universities? How did lazy people build this institutions, pray tell? And the Opera House, or host two Olympic games....

It's fine and dandy for us to be racist because in Asia we are brought up to worship race. Even if it is subliminal, it is there. Race, race, race....so it is Indonesian Chinese seem so integrated into Indonesian society to the extent that they have Indonesian names and speak no Chinese language, but where's the inter-marriage people? Not there, because of RACE!!! I could go on and on and on, but this is a blog, not a thesis....

I should know racism-I've been a minority my whole life wherever I have been. I have learnt to distinguish ignorance from venomous hate. It is better to educate than to hate back. But hate is easy, and hating the white man is easy, because then we don't have to look at our own shortcomings ourselves. Mind you, there are plenty of racists in Australia too-but they don't often form government as they do in Asia!

All you need is one racist white person and the whole race is tarnished. One racist Indian, and that's okay...Really, I pity the white man-he's on a hiding to nothing.