Cartoon: Aussie confusion

People see and interpret how they want to: reality is accepted perception. Whether it be “Australians are one” being taken as it being “white”, “lack of culture” or even the good intentions of accepting all cultures IN Australia as having core Australian values, then that is the perogative of the one whom comments upon it. It all depends on what one wants to think.

@Ivan, yes it’s obvious it’s up to the individual to perceive what they are able to.
When does “white” entail “lack of culture”?(and it’s not suggested by this cartoon.)
It’s still a culture – and that is what the cartoon is bringing attention to. It’s for people who don’t understand that “Aussie values” are made by the dominant culture, that multiculturalism in Australia is not “multicultural” – because those that call themselves Aussies don’t make Chinese New Year a public holiday. Multiculturalism in Australia is about “assimilating (I hate that word) into the dominant White society rules and protocols”.
Those that are misguided like to think that that is the meaning of being “Aussie” and that it is about adopting a culture that in a lot of ways, excludes them (because they don’t make up the rules)

Why doesn’t the cartoon guy have slanted eyes? Isn’t he supposed to be Asian?

hmmmm

Multiculturalism in a way promotes segregation amongst races. I went to an all boys school with people who were from different countries. A lot of them who are now clearly Australian citizens or even born in Australia still have strong allegiances to their parent country. i.e. A Serbian born Australian would still consider himself Serbian. But not Australian. Or an Australian born Lebanese person would still only consider themself Lebanese.
I am all for promoting and retaining ones customs, traditions and beliefs. This is a basic right of being an “Australian.”

I don’t see that there is a reason for us to not say we’re proud Australians. I’m an Australian soldier with a Chinese background. I am proud say I am Australian as well as Chinese.

I proudly wear an Australian flag on the left shoulder on my uniform. Does this mean I’m denying my own heritage? No I don’t think so.

@Jason: Precisely. The paragraphs underneath the cartoon explain that the purpose of the cartoon is to critique the Assimilationist identity many Australians with non-White backgrounds have.

An Integrationist identity as you have described above, is not critiqued in the cartoon.

@Jason, multiculturalism is necessary, not just a device we can choose to affix. Say the word “Assimilation” to an Indigenous Australian, and there’d be more than fist fights and black eyes.

To me, perhaps it’s mistaken to question your Serbian friend’s allegiance to this country. Perhaps because he has questioned Australia’s allegiance to him. What is Australia’s allegiance to him? I think we can ask Japanese Americans during WW2 what allegiance the U.S. had to them, or Middle-Eastern Australians right now and during the Cronulla Riots. (Alan Jones inadequate 10k punishment, government handling of the situation etc). What would happen if Australia warred with China?

To me, I don’t think the current Australian flag is adequate for representing the people of this country, especially being inclusive of all the people in this country. An example of a flag that failed – one that represented a country but not its people is this: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Colonial_Vietnam.svg.
(That’s why Vietnamese people created the yellow flag with the three red stripes to represent themselves.)

Canada has had a successful flag change.

http://www.ausflag.com.au supports the notion to change Australian’s current flag and the reasons are very compelling. As opposed to these folks who want to keep the current http://www.flagaustnat.asn.au/ they sound like the bunch of racists running “The Tea Party” in the U.S. at the moment.

Australia’s racism and division devices seems not only institutionalised, but blatantly appears in politics and media as well. 1. The Flag; 2. The date of Australia Day; 3. The policies for the treatment of refugees; 4. Tv programs like Today Tonight, ACA, talk back radio,  newspapers etc.
I think that’s why people of colour here question it, and until there’s change (many, including the inclusion of immigrant history and contribution to the school curriculum nationally, wide usage of terms like “Asian Australian”) I’m afraid it’s going to be worst in the future.

Video to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fs4kN0S2Bk

@Ann: Why should it be wrong to question my Serbian friend his allegiance to Australia? After all is he not Australian as well?
What happened also when Israel attacked Southern Lebanon in 2006 and the Australian Government were evacuating people? How many Lebanese people suddenly put their hands up to say they were Australian and eventually got evacuated back to Australia?

If we were to go to war with China. I’d be gladly on the Australian side and I’m pretty sure I’d be well accepted by my peers. Why Australia? Because I live in Australia, I was born in Australia and I’m Australian. Chinese culture…I’m all there…but China as a country…I don’t really give a rats arse.

Sure Australia had its racist past. We cannot forget it. All we can do is change. No country is perfect. Your idea of the flag being changed, its your right as an ‘Australian’.
Go to China and demand a flag change mate I’d guarantee you that your campaign would not last very long.

When Nelson Mandela left prison, he never spent the rest of his life hating all the ‘White’ people out there. Instead he forgave them and moved on.
Maybe we should all learn from Nelson?

Cut a long story short….I never said Multiculturalism was bad. Nor did I even mention assimilation.

Let me just end this post by saying: “Land Rights for Gay Whales…”
Think about it

@Jason. Sorry dear, but you’re a little bit confused and just a touch deluded.
1. When people ask me: “What are you?” if I have the nerve to reply, “I’m Australian” it is not satisfactory to them because – even though I am whiter than you, Mr. Airforce-man – I do not look white. A quick glance in the reader’s comments section of the Mx newspaper reads as follows: “This is Australia mate, and is predominately an Anglo-Saxon nation.” I’m not disputing the facts of the demographics here, but I am interested in the commenter’s mentality when he feels the need to point this out. He doesn’t say “We’re a multi-cultural society,” he highlights that there are more white people than non-white people. This gets printed in newspapers. My point: the term “Australian” visually describes someone who looks like Axle Whitehead – not you.
2. The comic is not about hating white people – hate is useless – it is about THINKING about the discourse surrounding the issue of Australian nation – so spare us the Mandela-blah.
3. Sweetheart, it looks like you don’t know a thing about the Australian flag’s history, so shhh.
4. “Land Rights for Gay Whales”? Ah, I see. You’re too cool to actually engage your frontal lobe in socio-political concepts so you’re happy to employ a dismissive phrase to mock the arena of discussion. Think about that – if it isn’t too much of a strain

I think the great anti-racist activist Tim Wise says it best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebxvzz6w8BI
This man is a legend.
Also his talk in this, is the perfect “soundtrack” for this cartoon.

@Cass what do you identify as?

@Jason you pointed out again that you would choose the Australian side not China. Of course again you talk about your allegiance to Australia, again I never questioned your commitment to OZ, I asked you what allegiance they would have to you. Again I use history as an example:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment

You think if Australia warred with North Korea that Korean Australians would take North Korea’s side?! Probably not, because it’s of politics not racial lines. We all know North Korea is a dictatorship “socialist” country, and Korean Australians are mostly South Koreans of the republic.
They’d gladly join the Australian military and fight N. Korea.
So your talk about taking Australia’s side not China is well … besides the point.

You point out “Australia’s had its racist PAST” is not true. Racism in Australia has not died and gone to bed in the past, it’s here right now in the present. 

Turn on any news program these days and all the racist rhetoric coming out of the the two party leaders about “cutting down immigration” “protecting borders” are underlined with racism. It’s racist propaganda in full swing.
They’re playing to the ears of the dominant culture who is scared to death about the “foreigners”.
Watch the Liberal Party’s advertisements, I haven’t seen one Person Of Colour in them.

“All we can do is change” who are you talking to? Certainly not me because I’m not a part of the dominant white society that is benefiting from its “racist past”. Neither are you. 
In fact this statement alone supports the cartoon. It’s saying that yes Australia needs to be made accountable for it’s actions against Non-Whites and that by ignoring “race” they ignore the institutionalised racism that exists. 
Have you not read recently the study from ANU, that a Job seeker who has a White sounding name would send out 10 CVs to get interviews, a person with an Italian sounding name would have to send out 11 of the exact same CV to get as many interviews, 14 Aboriginal, 16 Middle Eastern, 17 Chinese?!

How can we ignore “race” and be Colourblind, when race has such consequences in this society. We must talk about it. Whilst Whites CAN afford to be Colourblind because it doesn’t affect them, we as Non-Whites can’t afford to be Colourblind when it directly affects us.

And your last comment “Land rights for gay whales” I don’t know whether to take it as a joke or see it as being a jibe. Also we are not fighting an imagined non-sensical problem this is reality. Just because you don’t consider yourself an activist (even though technically being in the military is an activist mentality) please don’t undermine our activism.

@Ann. I haven’t been paying much attention to the Liberal Party ads on TV so I went to their website to see the ads. You are right about the lack of non-white people – their so called Australians are ALL Caucasian, not one Aboriginal or Asian in sight!

http://www.liberal.org.au/Liberal-TV.aspx

Well… there is a lady who looks Maori at the end of the advert. Or perhaps she is part (!) Aboriginal?

All the images of happy Australians on their website are all Caucasian as well.
The Australian Labour party isn’t much different. Happy white kids and families…

So I ask myself, does it matter? Well…sort of. In some ways, I’m not so much upset that we aren’t represented, I’m more angry that I didn’t even notice! I think I’m (to use your term) colour-blind.

@Ann: I identify myself as the Eurasian Sensation, booyah!

“If we were to go to war with China. I’d be gladly on the Australian side and I’m pretty sure I’d be well accepted by my peers. Why Australia? Because I live in Australia, I was born in Australia and I’m Australian. Chinese culture…I’m all there…but China as a country…I don’t really give a rats arse.”

5000+ year lineage of culture, traditions and blood lines from your ancestors dies with one little retard. *smh* you are saying you are willing to kill Chinese people if whites go to war with them.
I hope one of your descendants can bring back some honour to your family name, because you sir, are nothing.