Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly's JO BROWN spoke to three Resistance members involved in the campaign against racism: CONRAD BARRETT from Brisbane, WENDY ROBERTSON from Sydney and ARUN PRADHAN from Perth.
Question: What do you think has been the general response of young people to the increased racist attacks which began with Pauline Hanson's speech?
Wendy: Young people have responded to the increased racism and racist attacks in varied ways. High schools, which are generally the cultural "melting pots" of different races, tend to be highly polarised.
A greater proportion of young people than any other section of the population are showing interest in our anti-racism stalls and actions. For example, the recent picket which we held with Asian Australians Against Further Intimidation and the Democratic Socialist Party attracted a large number of young people.
Arun: I think young people in general have seen through the racist scapegoating that is happening at the moment. It has been particularly encouraging to see a range of young Asians and Aborigines wanting to organise against the attacks.
One 14-year-old Aboriginal boy we came into contact with has been doorknocking his whole neighbourhood and building anti-racist actions after a Vietnamese shop on his street was burned down and he himself was forced off the street by a car.
Conrad: The feeling that I have got through building the anti-racism campaign is that young people overwhelmingly oppose racism. The issue has tended to polarise the community as a whole, but young people seem unified in their opposition to Hanson. I have found at places like Macgregor High — which has a very multicultural student population — that young people are angered by the increase in racism.
Question: What do you think young people can do to combat racism?
Wendy: What we need is a campaign against racism, not just targeting people like Pauline Hanson who are mouthpieces for the far right, but also the Liberal government which is delivering the attacks against migrants and the Aboriginal community, and the Labor Party which laid the foundations for these attacks. Ultimately, we need to fight the real causes of unemployment and environmental destruction, the things that migrants and Aborigines are being blamed for.
Arun: It is not enough for young people to "personally" reject racism. The fact is that racism is a reality for people today, and it must be fought publicly and loudly. Above all it is up to young people to get involved, find out more and get active. Fighting racism is not a spectator sport!
Conrad: Young people in Queensland can help fight racism by joining the Anti-Racist Campaign and coming to the rally on November 23.
Another important thing young people can do is to find out the facts about Aboriginal and migrant issues. The Hanson debate has given media coverage to a lot of misinformation. It is important to be able to put forward a clear opposition to such views and prove that migrants and Aborigines are being scapegoated for social problems that they do not cause. Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly has been important in combating the mainstream media's sensationalist, one-sided coverage of the issue.
Question: What has Resistance been doing?
Wendy: As well as speak-outs and stalls, Resistance has been involved with the formation of the Campaign Against Racism committee in Sydney, which has brought together groups such as the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Watch Committee, migrant and refugee groups from the East Timorese, Chinese and Burmese communities, student representative councils, the National Union of Students and the Labor Party.
Arun: We initiated a picket and speak-out which laid the groundwork for a broad organising committee. This committee involved people from CARE (Campaign Against Racial Exploitation), WARE (West Australians for Racial Equality), East Timorese youth and people from the ethnic councils.
Despite having limited time to build an action, we unanimously decided to support the national day of action against racism on November 23 with a march and rally. Resistance is helping to broaden out support for the campaign against racism, but as a socialist organisation we are also making the point that racism is more than an "attitude problem". Racism has some very entrenched, systemic roots, and as well as dealing with the daily symptoms of racism we are committed to fighting the causes too.
Conrad: Resistance has been involved in the Anti-Racism Campaign, a coalition set up in Brisbane that includes different migrant communities, Murri groups, refugee groups and trade unions and political parties. The group organised a rally of 5000 people in Brisbane. The rally sent a strong message: that racism was not supported by 95% of Australians, as Hanson so presumptuously claims. The rally was also a big morale boost for the anti-racist campaign, which is now building an action in Ipswich.
Although Pauline Hanson has provided a focus for the anti-racism campaign, her comments have created a distraction from the broader issue of racism in Australian politics. The new Liberal government plans to slash spending on migrant services, cut huge amounts from the ATSIC budget and send home East Timorese asylum-seekers. These attacks, along with plans to further weaken native title legislation, are examples of racist policies which are being overlooked due to the "Hanson issue".
[See pages 29-31 for details of actions against racism being held around Australia.]