A word that many people are afraid of is not a swear word, but will cause just as much disgust, has the capacity to stop dinner parties and ruin friendships; the label of this word will stick sometimes for a short time, sometimes forever. To be given this title is not prestigious or one that many Australians would strive to or feel proud of… it’s the ‘r’ word, ‘racist’.
I think we can measure the fear the ‘r’ word arouses within people by the way they preface conversations, statements and behaviours that are indeed racist. A personal favourite of mine is “I’m not racist but…” or when questioned on such statements, conversations and behaviours the justification is “I didn’t mean it”. I always think “you did mean it, but what you didn’t count on was me questioning you and your motives”.
To my absolute surprise over the last week it has come to my attention that the labelling of behaviour that is racist as racist is seen by some as a bad idea.
If you go to the doctor they can’t fix a broken bone if they don’t identify it as broken; if you go to the mechanic she/he can’t fix your car until they can name the problem. How is it possible that in so many other careers that labelling a problem is a crucial part of the road to the solution?
In my professional capacity it has been suggested to me that we don’t use the word ‘racist’ when people are being racists, “we can’t use the word racist because what will the marketplace think” and “we need to be careful not to blow things out of proportion”. Using someone’s Aboriginality as the basis of a joke, name calling or a derogatory remark that perpetuates recycled stereotypes is racism. To me, and I’m sure to many others, the question is not what the marketplace will think of the organisation if we use the ‘r’ word to name these behaviours rather, what will the marketplace think of the organisation if this is not acted upon. If we don’t label it as racist and seek to change the attitude through education, how could we possibly move forward?
I don’t have the answers to all the social, political and economic problems that are facing Aboriginal people and I have never professed to hold these. What I do have is a job, a circle of friends and colleagues, a kitchen table and a voice. Many of you have a kitchen table, a job, a circle of friends and or colleagues and a voice; you can choose to use your voice for what’s important.
If some of the fundamental challenges that Aboriginal people face are built on racist ideologies that infiltrate many aspects of our lives, then surely a fundamental step in the solution would be to name the racism as racism, learn from it, have the conversation to change the attitude at the kitchen table, with your friends, with your colleagues and move forward together.
Some links below will give you a little insight to some of the stereotypes we are working against. They can also give you a good basis to start your own conversations with your friends, colleagues and family.
I believe that there is something in our human make up (or evolution) which has made humans have prejudice traits. It is not until you realise that you do have prejudice traits can you start overcoming them.
ReplyDeleteThis blog hit it on the head!