A year ago, just before christmas, we had big racial riots in Sydney. It began when some Lebanese Australians beat up a life saver in Cronulla. I wasn’t here at the time, but I’m guessing it was a personal, spontaneous event having nothing to do with his status. But we’re proud of our life savers and a bunch of white Australians decided to stand up for their icon. The next week, a large group of them beat up a bunch of Lebanese Australians in retaliation. It was stupid. I wonder if it was even the same people or completely innocent bystanders. A week later, it culminated in a mass turnout on Cronulla beach with a thousand people taking sides – all over a single personal fight.
I hate to see my country demonstrating such racism, but then, Cronulla is meant to be the whitest area in Australia and not really representative of the rest. And now I see how much effect the incident has had on the rest of the city. Schools are being invited to attend a play reenacting it and to discuss the issues involved. And last week, about 30 Australians of various ethnic backgrounds were accepted into the ranks of bronzed Aussie icons. This is bound to be the start of a true multicultural mix on our beaches. And when people of all cultures are being saved by people of all cultures on a daily basis, it’s all good.
Good site
Thanks