Is it fear? Is it indoctrination? When does it start? Why does it start?
My personal experience and this may sound somewhat odd, but I am being totally honest. I did not see "colour" or the differences in others until quite late in my childhood, maybe 11 or even 12 years of age. And I guess the only reason I began to see these differences was because they were being pointed out to me, by adults and other children.
My best friend in primary school was a first generation Australian, the daughter of Italian migrants. We used to sit together and eat our lunch, me with my white bread, smeared with butter and vegemite (sometime it might be really interesting and have some processed cheddar cheese in it!). Tina with her Crusty homemade Pasta dura bread, with homemade salami, tomato, "real cheese".
I would look at her sanga, smell the tang of the garlic infused salami, and wonder what the hell she was eating. She would look at my soft squashy white bread with the yeasty, smelly, black goo squished in between, and wonder what the hell I was eating. Suffice to say we would never have swapped sandwiches. How we have changed, now we pay big money for good crusty bread, artichokes, vine ripened tomatoes, specialist small-goods and fresh salad greens.That was the only thing that stood out to me as being different. Not the fact that Tina had dark blonde wavy hair, dark olive skin, and beautiful hazel eyes. She wasn't black, or Asian, but she did stand out from the "Aussie" kids; but I never noticed.
I remember watching television in the early 1970's, with all talk about Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees flooding into the country after the war and the destruction caused by the Khmer Rouge. I did not understand what all the fuss was about, they were just people trying to escape to a better life. Just like I would hoped my family would if they were in the same situation. What were people afraid of? Is it just the fact that these people came from a different country? That they spoke a different language? That they ate different food?Why did Italians and Greeks get called 'Wogs or Wops'? What did that mean? What did they do? Was Tina a Wog too? It sounded so nasty and cruel.
Poms and Krauts; Nips and Chinks; Abo's and Frogs - Why do we continue to use these derogatory terms? Surely as a nation we have grown and learned that there is nothing to be afraid of. Not all dark skinned people belong to gangs! Not all people from the middle east are involved in terrorism! Not all aboriginal people drink themselves into a stupor!
We need to embrace other cultures, to learn from them, to teach them, to grow with them. I feel like I have guided my sons in a direction that makes them curious, rather that afraid.
I married a the son of German migrants; my sister married the son of Italian migrants.
My youngest son will visit Germany and Austria for the forth time in six years this summer; he has also spent some time in Italy. He is hoping to do part of his "Gap" year volunteering at an orphanage in Kenya.
My eldest son has studied International Relations at University and has been to Germany twice, and has also traveled to Austria, France, Ireland, Scotland and England.
My middle son has been to Germany once, all of them have lived with German families in German homes and attended German schools, and all of them have gained a great deal from their experiences.
It is time that Australians realised how lucky they really are. Why do they think people are putting their lives at risk to get here.
We are all just people, some are good, some are bad, some are black and some are white, some are tall and some are short, some are fat and some are thin. We are all just people. Let's just all learn to live together, in Peace and understanding.
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