Dr. Bill Johnson, on racism, responsibility and change.
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I see no changes. All I see is racist faces.
Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races we under.
I wonder what it takes to make this one better place..
-Tupac Shakur, Changes
Melbourne, Australia is dynamic and vibrant international Australian city, home to a blossoming multicultural population 4.2 million. The city is known for its European style café culture, diverse festivals, variety of restaurants with excellent food, and intense passion for Australian Rules Football.
Over the past two months as a result of a string of high profile incidents, the city has become increasingly known for something significantly less flattering: Racism
For example, on April 12 & 18 respectively two people were audio/video recorded spewing negative racial attitudes at patrons on a Melbourne train. During one of the “racist rants” a passenger can be heard stating “my son doesn’t want to sit near someone of your race and that’s totally his opinion”!
Fortunately the rants were quickly denounced within the media, additionally, in both cases other train users came to the defense of those being verbally assaulted. However, it is my belief that such attitudes are more prevalent than many would like to admit. A recent report by a well-known Melbourne based newspaper lisetd exposure to racial prejudice among those factors negatively impacting the experiences of refugees in Australia.
Melbourne football community has also had to confront the existence of racism within “footy” culture as a result of high profile incidents of negative racial attitudes. For example, on May 29th during a radio interview, Eddie McGuire, President of Australian Rules Football (AFL) team Collingwood Magpies, bluntly stated that Indigenous football player Adam Goodes would be an ideal candidate for the promotion of the giant King Kong exhibit presently in Melbourne.
To make matters worse, McGuire’s comments came just days after a 13 year old girl was removed from a football game after she taunted the indigenous football player by calling him an “ape”.
Mr. McGuire initially denied that there was any racist intent in his comments, however, as University Professor James Bradly correctly noted “to summon up the image of an ape is to tap into the power that has led to indigenous dispossession and the other bequests of colonialism”. As a result of the public outcry McGuire later apologized and acknowledged “this is something that is abhorrent to say”.
My purpose is not to further demonize McGuire for his racially insensitive comments, I think the more relevant issue here is that these incidences underscore the need for more dialogue around racial issues within Australia and provide a platform to engage in such discussions. They also highlight the insidiousness of such attitudes within Melbourne specifically. As I explained in a recent discussuion with well known radio host Dr. Vibe I explained that the above mentioned incidences provide a welcome opportunity to analyze the climate of racial oppression down under.
Furthermore, it is my personal belief that most people would prefer to pretend that such views are restricted to a relatively low number of individuals. Unfortunately, this accounts to little more than denial of the pervasiveness of negative racial attitudes. Instead of merely scape goating McGuire and other individuals who have been recorded expressing racists views, I reccommend that each of us take a long hard look in the mirror and explore our own racial bias and the origin of such bias and work towards eradicating the racism within.
♦◊♦
McGuire is not the only one to describe King Kong and Black men in the same context, several scholars have remarked that the movie is little more than a replica of erroneous stereotypes of Black men and White (male) projections of Black male sexuality.
King Kong then symbolizes irrational fears and dehumanizing stereotypes of Black men reinforcing images portray these individuals as sub-human. Consider the plot of the movie, New York is “attacked” by a giant “ape” who then proceeds to become infatuated with a White women whom he kidnaps, “fortunately” the Black beast is killed by “heroic” White men at the movie’s end.
Kong also represents another stereotype of Black men, that is, the insatiable appetite Black men are said to possess for White women. This specific distortion of Black male sexuality is thought to be the driving force of White Supremacy. This presentation of the Black man as an “animal” has historically played an integral role in the belief of the inherent criminality of Black men, the view of the Black man as a rapist and the justification of lynching.
To be clear I am not suggesting the movie or musical King Kong should be boycotted (necessarily), nor am I suggesting that anyone who watches this musical is racist. I do believe it’s critically important to understand and deconstruct messages embedded within television and film especially those ideas which perpetuate racial dehumanization.
Negative racial/ethnic attitudes are not merely reserved for footy presidents and/or citizens on trains, much of the perpetuation of such ideas are embedded within news and media personalities.
For example, in his attempt to confront xenophobia within Australia, Sydney Morning Herald journalist Sam de Brito does little more than shed light on his own White Supremacist ideals. He spends much of the article reinforcing the idea that (presumably) Black men are violent and will react physically aggressive when offended.
Here’s an excerpt from one of his opening paragraphs:
“This is not to say the standard result for using racial slurs in a country like the US is death—but baby, you pull an “ape” or “nigger” line out on the subway of your average US city, you’re odds-on to get a beating. You say it to the wrong person and you’re gonna get shot or stabbed or stomped into a cranial pizza”.
Considering his specific focus on racial slurs which have historically targeted African Americans, one can reasonably assume that he feels this ethnocultural group in particular will engage in violence when confronted with a racial slur. The presumption undermines his goal of challenging racism and instead exacerbates negative racial stereotypes.
As noted author/activist Mark Anthony Neal explains in his book Looking for Leroy “Such general framing of Black men leads to casual links in the public imagination that create antagonisms towards Black males, largely instigated by the belief that Black men are criminally and violently inclined”.
Perhaps the most ‘cringeworthy’ statements echoed by the journalist is his notion that when racially offended, adolescent Black girls are quick to savagely respond to their same age and gender White peers.
“If a 13-year-old white girl called LeBron James an “ape” at an NBA game… I guarantee there would have been a 13-year-old black girl so in her face, whitey could sketch her from memory… Even the dumbest, most rusted-on American racist knows if you call a black person a nigger, you better bring it, because you’re gonna get a savage reaction”
His use of the word savage is important as this word is often used in the context of brutality so severe that it warrants comparison to wild animals attacking each others. Surely he does not mean to imply that such reactions are commonplace within Black American behavior?
He later makes the statement that the Collingwood President would be removed from his job had such comments be made in the United States.
“Had Eddie McGuire made his King Kong remark on US radio, he would not work in the American mainstream media again. Game over, Ed. Buy a yacht”.
This is one of the few sentiments which has some validity, as there have been high profile individuals removed from their positions due to their verbalization of racism (Rush Limbaugh from ESPN, Jimmy the Greek from CBS).
However, the sexist/racist words echoed by American radio personality Don Imus are more egregious than McGuire’s, and despite being dismissed from his previous job, Imus is now a gainfully employed radio personality.
To cap it all off, Mr. Brito’s article comes complete with a picture of Gangsta-Rap Artist “Dream” wearing a tank top while clutching his fist with a caption reading “Sledge this Bloke, and see how you go”. Here we see the picture of an “angry Black male” whom will naturally respond with rage when provoked.
The journalist does little to push the dialogue forward; instead the author sets back authentic discussion and analysis on race and racism.
♦◊♦
Within the United States when institutional progress has been made which moved the struggle for racial justice forward, change often came as a result of diverse racial groups coming together to challenge systems of inequality. This was certainly the case in the civil rights movement of the mid-late 1900s. More often than not violence begets more violence, using peaceful means to perpetuate change was practiced by two of history’s greatest leaders, Mhatma Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In fairness the aforementioned author recently wrote a follow up to his initial article. In his update he did a fabulous job of taking responsibility for his (unintentded) negative racial views while maintaining that his primary goal remains confroting and ultimately eradicating racism. I commend his willingness to take responsibility, as healing, learning and understanding can more easily take place when such personal accountability is pursued.
We gotta make a change…
It’s time for us as a people to start makin’ some changes.
Let’s change the way we eat, let’s change the way we live
and let’s change the way we treat each other.
You see the old way wasn’t working so it’s on us to do
what we gotta do, to survive.
-Tupac Shakur, Changes
Many my friends from China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, etc and me from Indonesia often got abuse and discrimination by white Australian, because we are Asians. I am very regret to live in here now. I am not surprise to see this incident like this and can happen anytime and anywhere in Australia.
Considering all of this, the idea that a nonviolent movement alone will change the opinion of a group of people who essentially stole a country in a most brutal fashion from the very people who they now treat like crap is questionable at best. I am sure they WOULD like to see nonviolent movement.
The point is that black people, for hundreds of years, had always been relatively non violent in expressing their displeasure and desire for change. Considering how they had been treated, with overwhelming violence, this was quite remarkable. So, black people had already been nonviolent and it hadn’t worked, which is what Malcolm reminded them and whole world about. In my opinion, it was a combination of all of these things; an aggressive Malcolm X pushing his point of view, the Black Panthers standing up and taking no shit,expressing their second amendments rights, on the steps of the state capital in… Read more »
As someone who came of age during the CR movement and who has studied that period intimately for years, it feels as though the power of the movement has been over emphasized. People forget the power and influence of Malcolm X and The Black Panthers, who took no shit and advocated that black people follow suit. People also forget the hundreds of riots that came before the signing of the CR bill. It is impossible to say with certainty that MLK and the nonviolence movement-which is actually deceptive since there was plenty of violence directed at blacks and some whites… Read more »
David, Thanks for the response, and I could not agree with you more. The incidents I described open a channel to discuss racism within Melbourne and perhaps within Australia in general. The dialogues of course have been going on for quite some time, but do not happen often enough and certainly are not pervasive. My concern was also the scapegoating which tends to be simply another avoidance tool, and I agree that firing someone for such attitudes are not necessarily the answer, and yet I appreciated the general damning response of Eddie’s comments and the train incidents. Perhaps you and… Read more »
As an Aussie, a Melbournian to boot, I am at least glad that racism is being discussed in Melbourne and in the wider Australian community. I don’t think Eddie for example is inherently nasty or racist, and I’m glad he kept his job. Firing people for saying the A-word or N-word doesn’t solve the problem, it only sugarcoats and makes liberals feel better about themselves. Although racism is a problem, how many countries in the world have a football league where spectators who say racist things are held to account? I think that’s progress, and Eddie was held to account… Read more »