AM I A RACIST?

On my way to work this morning, I called into a bakery to grab a bottle of water and a salad roll for my lunch.  I was served by a lovely Indian lady, who has been working there for some time now.  For the sake of privacy, we’ll refer to her as India.

As I was walking out with my goodies, I passed a lady coming in.  I really paid no mind, as I had already started ticking over the things I had to do at work that day, and having made my purchase, my mind had shifted to the next gear.

Anyway, as I’m nearly at the door, I hear India ask ‘how can I help you?’, or something to that effect.

The response she got caused me to stop dead in my tracks and turn to look back.  I couldn’t believe what I heard.

The lady that I had passed on her way in simply said ‘You cannot help me.  I want to be served by an Australian, not an Indian.’

And she was dead serious.

Now, those people that know me well, understand that I’m rarely short of an opinion, nor am I afraid to express it.  In this instance, I was completely and utterly speechless.  Totally stunned into silence.

In my defence, I do have an inner ear infection, and it feels like I’m living in a tunnel at the moment.  However, I’m pretty sure I heard right, and by the reaction of India and her ‘Australian’ co-workers, I had heard correctly.

One of the co-workers stepped forward and said ‘India will be able to assist you…’ with a slightly sharp edge to her voice.

The customer didn’t care.  ‘I’m sorry, I don’t like curry munchers.  I need someone else to serve me.’

Curry munchers?  She actually said it out loud AND in direct reference to an Indian person.  My jaw hit the floor.  I was paralysed to the spot.  WTF was going on here?

The girls behind the counter exchanged horrified looks, and India gracefully said ‘It’s okay.  Serve her.’ To one of the other girls, who proceeded to do so, albeit reluctantly.  India started to head toward the back room, and I dare say, it was in an effort to hide her feelings from this horrendous woman.

At that moment, my phone rang, and I had to go, but as I drove to work, all I could think of was India and this shocking customer.  I can comfortably say that I can’t recall ever seeing such blatant racism before.  Not in the flesh like that.  It was shocking.

So this started my mind turning, and I wondered ‘am I a racist?’

I believe that I am.

Would I have treated India in such an appalling manner?  Never.  Would I openly discriminate against someone because of their race? Never.  So what makes me think that I’m a racist?

Though I didn’t watch it the other night, the show Can Of Worms raised a question: are you a racist if you laugh at a racist joke?

I think so. 

We’ve all done it.  Don’t kid yourself.  There’s something someone has said that’s derogatory to another race, and we’ve laughed.  Sometimes, these jokes are funny.  Admit it.  However, if we were as ‘anti-racism’ as we claim to be, when we here these jokes, we’d leap onto our soap box, and give the joke teller a piece of our multicultural mind.

Doesn’t happen.

It’s like all the jokes you get on your mobile phone when someone famous dies.  Amy Winehouse is a perfect example.  I reckon it was about two hours, and I had them coming through.  Two hours. 

Did you know that McDonalds has a new happy meal in memory of Amy Winehouse?  It’s just coke and ice.  Hilarious, but completely and utterly disrespectful.  Doesn’t stop people sending them.  Doesn’t stop me laughing at it.  Doesn’t stop me publishing it here.  Doesn’t stop you laughing when you read it.  Hilarious, but wrong.

Same as the racist jokes.  Hilarious, but wrong. 

However, does it make me a racist? 

Or it is just ‘the Australian way’?  Do we just find humour in every situation to make light of it, or are we just inconsiderate racist rednecks?

So, what defines a racist? 

Are there levels of inappropriateness?  Is saying a racist joke okay, because we know we will still buy food from the Indian restaurant, sushi shop, Asian bakery and have yum cha on Sunday’s with your family? We’ll still get our cars washed at Magic Hands, buy our subs from Subway, and enjoy the multicultural culinary delights of Lygon Street, all of which employ a diversity of cultures?

Would you actually walk into a shop and refuse service from someone because of their race? Would you not employ someone because they don’t seem to have a good grasp of the Queen’s English, even though they appear to be quite competent?   Would you help a frail old Muslim woman if she dropped her shopping in front of us, or would we just keep walking, with the fear that she may blow us up?

I think the majority of Australian’s acknowledge and appreciate our multicultural diversity, and enjoy it.  However, we just like to make fun of it every now and then.  So maybe we’re not racists?

Now here’s a question for you: have you ever been the subject of reverse racism?

Have you ever had an immigrant say to you that they hate this country and all Australian’s are racist?  Have you ever had someone call you a filthy infidel, because your beliefs are different to theirs?  Have you ever had someone selected for a job over you, because the employer needs to fill their ‘multicultural quota’?

Do you get angry when you see enclaves of immigrants protesting against the Australian Government, because they don’t like the way people in their homeland are being treated? Have you ever seen these immigrants protest against the government because they don’t like the way they are being treated?  Does it frighten you when you see a lot of gang related racial violence reported on the news? Do you get angry when you see a Muslim temple being built in your neighbourhood? Do you get angry when you see a woman in a burqa?

Do you think: if you don’t like it here, leave?  Don’t push your beliefs onto our country?  Take your racial violence back to you own country; we don’t roll like that in Oz?  I know I have.

Does that make us racists? 

Possibly.  Or does it make us proud Australians; defensive of our way of life, and shocked by the ways of other cultures?

Are we just slapping the ‘racism’ label on something that is natural? Is it normal to feel indifference toward other races, to feel threatened, fearful and confused?

Who knows?

However, what I do know, is the woman that walked into the bakery this morning was a racist.  It was offensive, and its people like her that give people like me a bad name.  Sure, she possibly had her reasons, but you can’t tar everyone with the same brush, now can you?

Measuring myself against this woman this morning was easy.  It was instantaneous actually, and gives me some confidence in knowing that maybe I’m not a racist after all…

Peace out.