Racism??

[Bohdan1]

Living in a small town in Australia, encounters with Aboriginals are frequent. A considerable portion of our Aborigine community are involed in violent crimes and are repeatedly let off with no charges. My question is, why do Aborigines recieve special benefits and aren't intergrated fairly into our criminal justice system?

[MargeB]

I guess it's because they are different. Not because of skin colour, but because they descended from native australians, not from UK exported criminal stock.

[Artful]

Possibly because they aren't integrated fairly into society, full stop. Or rather society today doesn't allow them to integrate.

[mystress]

What we must remember is,the Aborigines were already there when the "white" man arrived in Australia.The "white" man then tried to impose an alien culture(not only the legal side) on these Aborigines,who had no understanding of such a culture.When this happened & caused conflict the "white" man called them "primitive" and "unintelligent".Add onto the Aborigines over 200 years of this, and it is easy to see why they get into violent crime etc(mainly caused by alcohol, their only escape?)

Possibly the Australian Judicial System recognises  this, but has no way of dealing with it (it has been ignored for too long) so it gives Aborigines "lenient" sentences.I have no quick answer to this problem,only to say that it happens also in British Columbia,Canada;where the Native Canadians feel also dispossessed,like the Aborigines.

If you dispossess any native culture,for whatever reason, you will get conflict!

[MargeB]

Out where the river broke
The bloodwood and the desert oak
Holden wrecks and boiling diesels
Steam in forty five degrees

The time has come
To say fair’s fair
To pay the rent
To pay our share
The time has come
A fact’s a fact
It belongs to them
Let’s give it back

How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep when our beds are burning

Four wheels scare the cockatoos
From kintore east to yuendemu
The western desert lives and breathes
In forty five degrees

(live - on scream in blue
The time has come
A fact’s a fact
It belongs to us all
Let’s give it back)

[Artful]

I like that, who is it by?

[MargeB]

Artful, it was a big hit for Midnight Oil: Beds are burning. Great song too. Great video as well, come to think of it.

[kempie]

Midnight Oil...  here's a bio

and a 30 second clip of Beds Are Burning

[graemer]

Bohdan ! can I refer you to these facts issued by the Govt of NSW which contradicts your statement. I'm Aussie by the way.

  Aboriginal people in the NSW Criminal Justice System
Aboriginal people are significantly over represented in the NSW Criminal Justice system. 1998 New South Wales Criminal Court Statistics show that Aboriginal people are more likely than non Aboriginal people to be imprisoned for the same offence. In all 16.5% of Aboriginal people found guilty were imprisoned compared with 7% for all NSW persons. 21.7% of Aboriginal people found guilty for offences against the person were imprisoned. 29.4% of Aboriginal people convicted for theft offences were sent to prison compared with 16.2% overall. A recent Aboriginal justice Advisory Council report shows that Aboriginal people are on average 15 times more likely to be prosecuted for offensive language or conduct charges, and up to 80 times more likely in some local government areas. 
Go MargeB. Peter Garrett is now my local member of parliament.
 

[netibiza]

It is the same over here in Ibiza.  The north Africans committ an awful lot of violent crimes, sell drugs etc and they are always let off with a warning, if even arrested.  One was warned 55 times.  We on the other hand, also being foreigners get the book thrown at us if we so much as jaywalk. It's been puzzling us for years.

[MargeB]

There is only ever one solution to this type of problem: you must become One. This is the ONLY way. Of course the cultural differences must be respected, but you must emphasize what you have in common and work towards common goals. It is a fact of human nature that wherever two separate groups are created and they are seen to be fighting over a limited resource, discord of the ugliest kind will break out. You must find a common goal and work towards it together. All other attempts (such as coercion) will fail.

[snoteater]

Netibiza - how do you know he/she was warned 55 times? A friend of a friend?

[finex]

In many cases it can be because the "offender" is not actually on the system. North Africans offending in Ibiza for example would need to be identified, the appropriate consular authorities informed etc, or deported. At which point they may claim that they are persecuted at home and request asylum.

Given the choice between processing a mountain of paperwork and simply giving them a warning, I can see why some would take the easy option!

[Gilli]

I'm not Australian and don't pupport to have a proper understanding of the racial tensions in Australia today, but from what i've read on the subject, would agree with both mystress and graemer.

When I visited the Northern Territory several years ago I was shocked by the sheer dejectedness I saw on the faces of the Aborigines I saw. I was even more shocked when more than once Aborigines queueing in front of me were deliberately ignored by shop staff, so they could (try to) serve me instead.

I know that racists and racism exists in all countries, but does that sort of thing still happen in the UK ? I've never witnessed it ....

[eupraxia]

Margeb not every one who was exported to Australia was criminal stock. a lot were victims of circumsatnce, i.e being poor.

[MargeB]

it was a joke.

[graemer]

Just last week it was revealed a 12 year old Aboriginal boy who had confessed to a store owner, when confronted, he'd stolen an ice cream (iced lolly type) and handed it back, was arrested and transported thousands of km's to Perth and detained for 12 days. Imagine the outcry if he'd been white.Gilli sadly your observations can still be had.

[morg_monster]

I think the racism shown by some Australians towards Aboriginals is perhaps to a similar level as some British people view Asian or black people, but it is expressed very differently, I think that it must be seen as more acceptable.  I was shocked to step into a cab in the middle of the day when visiting Perth and completely unsolicited was told many shockingly racist jokes by the cab driver, after which he used his radio to contact his equally racist friend and they discussed how they would like to run over as many aborigines as they could find.  I was so disgusted that he could say these things to me, as a visitor to Oz!

In a similar vein while travelling I met a Canadian who said he had dated an Aussie girl, a university educated, intelligent girl from a 'good background', and again was shocked that whenever they would see an aboriginal in the street or it was ever mentioned on TV, this would bring on a huge tirade of anti-aboriginal abuse from her.  Needless to say the relationship didn't last long.

I know some people have these views but I think that racism in Britain has a sufficient stigma attached to it that a racist person will not just come out and say these things to some random stranger.  I am not an australian and I'm not going to comment any further than this because there are so many complex issues which run under the anti-aboriginal feelings, I think it comes from a different origin to, say, the anti-immigration views of BNP members here in the UK. 

Of course I would just like to add that I met plenty of very lovely Aussies on my trip as well!!!  Also some very nice Aboriginals and a few drunken ones throwing things (but then there were plenty of white Aussies ready to give abuse too when they were drunk on a night out - ahh just like home!)