Greer gets it wrong again.
Sitting on the bus sinking deeper into my hangover I attempted reading the Guardian today and was rapidly getting nowhere with it. Try a bit of Germaine Greer, I thought. She always has something to say which provokes a reaction.She didn't disappoint.
"If Australia had been colonised by any other nation but the British, it would be less racist."
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Really? So, despite the fact that countries like Italy, Spain, and France have huge problems with racism, it is only the British who would leave a racist mindset as a legacy of colonialism?
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Rubbish.
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I don't see how Australia's white supremacists can be blamed on the British anyway, to be honest. All countries have a responsibily to address their internal problems, but Greer seems to want to push the blame elsewhere. So it is the "unshakeable conviction of British superiority" which she decides is the reason for Australia's racists.
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It's not the first time Greer has spoken such gibberish. When the film "Bullet Boy" was released, a look into black Britain and the rising problem of gun crime, Greer argued the film "diluted" black slang, and somehow dumbed down an "impenetrable" culture and form of speech non- blacks would never understand. This was all news to the black commentator (name forgotten) she was arguing with. It must have been a surprise for the black actors and production team who previously thought they were representing themselves pretty accurately, too.
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Like Greer, Australian PM John Howard also seems to want to shift the focus on the racism of the supremacists elsewhere. So he puts it all down to alcohol. It's the loss of inhibition which comes with drinking, he says. That's a funny euphemism. "Loss of inhibition", as in, "racist thuggery". The terms are practically inter-changeable.
posted by Phu @ 3:20 pm
2 Comments:
Well, if the British are responsible for the plight of the Aboriginals and Co., then it is unfortunate that Australia isn't under the direct control of the UK or its cultural sphere of influence.
If they were, then they might have enjoyed the level of intellectual and humanitarian vibrance as seen in the UK to counter the racist evils in Australia to a greater degree than currently witnessed.
Oh yes, Britain is not without its share of bigotry. But having a 'share' does not denote an 'equitable share' does it? No doubt, the British definitely contributed to the current state of Australia in providing the initial impetus for its evolutionary trajectory. However, when we compare the 'racially' favourable state of Britain to Australia, their current state might just as well be due to their having relinquished effective and continuing control over Australia.
The good thing about the UK is not its extremely low level of racism but its extremely low tolerance of efforts to ignore racism. The devil, however, sleeps relatively undisturbed in the dungeons down under.
"The good thing about the UK is not its extremely low level of racism but its extremely low tolerance of efforts to ignore racism."
Definitely couldn't have put it better myself. It's a similar situation in Europe, I'm not seeking to paint Britain as perfect, but it is years ahead of some other western countries.
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