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Post by betahat on Feb 14, 2010 15:06:28 GMT -5
From Wikipedia: "Pauline Hanson was elected to the Australian Parliament in 1996 and subsequently formed the One Nation Party, which in the 1998 Queensland State election won 11 of 89 seats in the Queensland Legislative Assembly. In her maiden parliamentary speech, Hanson said that "a multicultural country can never be a strong country" and supported this assertion with a number of widely publicised remarks about Asians' not assimilating and living in ghettos, and more recently, Africans bringing disease into Australia. [23] Hanson was critical of Australia's immigration policy and of multiculturalism. She was widely accused of racism."
I'm sorry but this would never happen in Canada and we have pretty similar political systems. 9% in a federal election for a party whose main purpose is to abolish immigration?
Of course there is a lot of racism in Canada, the US and Europe, and Europe does elect politicians with explicitly racist and anti-immigrant views (the US political system doesn't really allow such parties to run for office, so instead you get a Republican party with some members who want to build a bigger wall on the border with Mexico and others who want to win Hispanic votes).
But the racist minority in Australia appears to be either significantly larger or significantly more vocal than the one in Canada. There might be historical reasons for that, but it is hard to dispute that racism is "more mainstream" in Australia even if the majority of people are not racist.
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Magic
New Member
HOPE!
Posts: 47
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Post by Magic on Feb 14, 2010 16:06:16 GMT -5
I've visited both Canada and Australia on vacation therefore my opinion is probably not the most insightful, nevertheless I have witnessed substantially more racism in the latter than in the former in the political discourse (media included) and in daily life.
Australian courts considered Oz to be terra nullius (uninhabited) at the arrival of British settlers until recently which is a negationist policy compared to the 'White guilt' Canadian laws toward Natives. Plus, I believe the fact that North America has a longer and more diverse immigration history helped attenuating institutionalized and ordinary discrimination.
On another note, during my few years stay in Miami, I've seen quite some reverse racism from Cubans against other latinos or ethnic groups.
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quiapo
Junior Member
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Post by quiapo on Feb 14, 2010 16:47:02 GMT -5
Paulin Hanson announced yesterday that she is permanently emigrating to Britain.
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quiapo
Junior Member
Posts: 188
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Post by quiapo on Feb 14, 2010 16:50:12 GMT -5
Pauline Hanson popularity has been based on more than her racist views, but also on a simplistic approach to economics and patriotism that appeals to a minority.
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Post by chickenrice2010 on Feb 14, 2010 19:38:55 GMT -5
...and also on her appearance on "Dancing with the stars" lol.
Yes, so to the topic starter: Australia is just as f**cked as any other country, except racism has a more ugly presence in the mainstream media
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palavore
Full Member
I put my pants on just like the rest of you -- one leg at a time. Except, once my pants are on, I make gold posts.
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Post by palavore on Feb 14, 2010 21:24:44 GMT -5
There was an article in The New Republic a while back. Immigration in Europe was the topic of article. What they found was that there weren't any obvious causes for anti-immigrant (and racist) sentiments. Economics didn't play a big part and neither did the size and impact of the immigrant population or levels of education. This is probably true for Australia. Their "nativists" have no more to complain about in comparison to other countries, but have made the issue more prominent. Perhaps it is a top down influence where charismatic leaders and the mainstream are to blame for stoking racial tensions. Actually, it's rather absurd the lengths at which the Australian government will go in turning away immigrants. They'd rather spend great sums of money interning them on islands than letting them work, pay taxes, and contribute something back into the Australian economy. If not racism, then an unhealthy pride. Funny thing about minority ethnic groups being racist towards one another. [It's so true about the Cubans in Miami.] When I use to live near Miami, I knew this Australian guy (of Argentinian decent). The only part of Australia he ever talked about were the lazy Lebanese and the double crossing Japanese. Argentina, on the other hand, was a lovely country. Something must of happened to him in Australia.
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