I am deeply troubled by the racism I see and hear about in Australia. Here is an powerful and moving piece of writing on this topic by Caitlin Prince on her cracked... blog. It is a must-read.
Thanks to Pip Gordon for flagging this excellent piece. Pip says on her Facebook page, "A blog worth a read and a deep reflection. My eyes being opened some years ago have never allowed me to ignore this since. Ignorance is never an excuse."
'It feels like this is a conversation I'm only beginning to have; a conversation I’ve somehow been in the middle of ever since I was eleven years old. I was in a social studies class sitting on the floor of an air-conditioned classroom watching a documentary. An Aboriginal woman was weeping about the children that were taken. There was a strange salty ball knotted in my belly. When the program finished and the lights were turned back up a kid next to me said that ‘All Abos are drunks anyway, they can’t look after their children.’ A chorus of agreement rose in the room.
Mostly I remember the shock; still soaked in the woman’s tears I stared around my class of upper middle class white kids. It was the first time I noticed racism...'
Read more... (and please feel free to comment on Caitlin's blog)
Thanks to Pip Gordon for flagging this excellent piece. Pip says on her Facebook page, "A blog worth a read and a deep reflection. My eyes being opened some years ago have never allowed me to ignore this since. Ignorance is never an excuse."
'It feels like this is a conversation I'm only beginning to have; a conversation I’ve somehow been in the middle of ever since I was eleven years old. I was in a social studies class sitting on the floor of an air-conditioned classroom watching a documentary. An Aboriginal woman was weeping about the children that were taken. There was a strange salty ball knotted in my belly. When the program finished and the lights were turned back up a kid next to me said that ‘All Abos are drunks anyway, they can’t look after their children.’ A chorus of agreement rose in the room.
Mostly I remember the shock; still soaked in the woman’s tears I stared around my class of upper middle class white kids. It was the first time I noticed racism...'
Read more... (and please feel free to comment on Caitlin's blog)