Cultural Diversity News

Victorian police in firing line on racism, once more...: African Think Tank statement

Tuesday, 04 June 2013 22:09

“....racism is most often presented this way – as isolated, exceptional events. Yet for many people, it is the daily, sometimes unconscious but persistent, racism they facåe, that has the most profound effect.”- Preamble to Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s Report ‘Reporting Racism’.The African Think Tank welcomes the recent release of VHROEC’s report, ‘Reporting Racism’. The well-researched report concludes that racism, both explicit and overt, and implicit, is a part of the daily life of many Australians. It calls for a wide range of community awareness and education programs, and mentions in particular the way that hate and racist bullying can flourish unchecked on the Internet.“To be a black person in Australia is to be exposed to a great deal of racism”, the African Think Tank’s chair, Dr. Ahmed, commented today. “It puts us in a very difficult situation. To point it out or complain is to risk being labelled a troublemaker, a whinger, or to be accused of ‘playing the racism card’.

Read more: Victorian police in firing line on racism, once more...: African Think Tank statement

Racism aboard a 397 bus in Sydney on Sunday night

Wednesday, 17 April 2013 17:19

Passenger Bernd Fichtner explains why he wrote to the Herald to report an incident of racism aboard a 397 bus in Sydney on Sunday night.

When a group of young teenage girls began racially abusing Kate* on a public bus in Sydney, she decided she had to stand up for herself.

If it had been teenage boys, Kate says, she probably would have sat back and copped the abuse, however unjust. But what harm could a 13-year-old girl do?

I couldn't believe that, at such a young age, they were capable of doing this, stealing other people's property and physically attacking me. 

Read more: Racism aboard a 397 bus in Sydney on Sunday night

Confronting Cyber racism: new report blasts Facebook

Thursday, 18 October 2012 11:46

Click here for Report

The Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI), an organisation dedicated to combatting online hate, released a major report today into Aboriginal Memes and Online Hate. The report documents an unprecedented online attack against Indigenous Australians and how racist content went viral through the use of social media and in particular Facebook. Also documented are the responses from Facebook, Government, and Civil Society to this outpouring of hate and OHPI’s recommendations.  The report documents serious incidents of hate speech, and highlights the unwillingness of Facebook to recognise it as such. Facebook has blocked access to most of the Aboriginal Memes content for Australian users, but adamantly refused to recognise it as hate speech and remove it completely. The report also documents a similar attitude by Facebook to Holocaust denial and antisemitic content. This response stands in contrast to hate speech against individuals, where Facebook takes much more effective action. The difference is suggestive of a clash of cultures between Facebook and Australia.

Read more: Confronting Cyber racism: new report blasts Facebook

DCA Diversity Debate coming soon

Thursday, 18 October 2012 11:35