Australia racist? Well, der!

Finally the women came face to face, when their daughters were in the same class. Marijana learned that the elderly mother living next door came from Holland, after escaping near-starvation under Nazi occupation. Two households, both alike in dignity, each fearing the Other: imaginary bomb-making Bosnians versus gun-crazy Aussies, and both hoping to live on Ramsay Street in mutual prosperity.

To those who deny Australia is a racist country, I say this: the elephant is in the classroom, in the workplace, in the neighbourhood. Racism thrives, and not only for people of Anglo-Celtic backgrounds. It's as easy for those from Middle-Eastern, European, Asiatic, Islander, or African backgrounds to evince racist behaviours, albeit by neglect. Is it racist to point out this elephant? We all fear some version of the Other, and how it might change us.

Multiculturalism does change us. Are we worse off for it? We might blame our parents' attitudes or our ancestors but that's a cop-out, like blaming government. Hanson-like, we can plead with lawmakers to solve our problems but that won't stop racism. We can vote for more police. Will they stop racism? Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu wants to put two armed guards on every Melbourne train after dark. This will relieve the concerns of travellers and increase rail patronage but will it reduce racist behaviour, or merely chase it underground?

The 2005 riots in Cronulla, lasting several days and nights, showed how little effort is needed to scratch racism's sore. Alan Jones and 2GB broadcaster Brian Wilshire helped to fan a fire already spread by text-messaging. Sections of the public hadn't forgotten the gang rapes of 2000, perpetrated by a group of Lebanese-Australian youths. Justification or excuse? We mustn't allow mob mentality to dictate social policy.

The rabble that attacked the Bastille kick-started a revolution but only with weapons and hate, not constructive plans for change. There will always be knee-jerk jerks like Jim Saleam and Jack van Tongeren but it isn't neo-Nazis who incite racist acts in significant numbers: it's irresponsible demagogues like Jones et al. who retard Australia's civic maturity, because they know better.

Our constitution contains a remarkable section (51, xxvi) known as the “race power”. In its original form it was drafted to enable the government to restrict the conditions of migrant workers, especially the Chinese. Our new-minted parliament in 1901 passed the infamous Immigration Restriction Act. Its legislative architect, Alfred Deakin, reasoned thus:

“It is not the bad qualities, but the good qualities of these alien races that make them so dangerous to us. It is their inexhaustible energy, their power of applying themselves to new tasks, their endurance and low standard of living that make them such competitors.”

Legally enshrined, the White Australia Policy was institutional racism. Supposedly we've moved on. Or have we?

Susan Jones (her real name is equally commonplace), born in South Africa, had married an Australian. Prospective employers here were impressed with her credentials, and invariably granted her an interview. They didn't expect to greet a woman of Zulu origin.

Susan's accent presented no problem. Her qualifications were excellent. She had experience. Attractive and in perfect health, she had glowing references and she interviewed well. So what thwarted her attempts to gain a job in her chosen field? No explanation given. Susan at least managed to attend interviews. Her fellow black South Africans didn't make those shortlists. Could it have been their exotic names? A coincidence, surely.

Research into the recruitment industry in Australia has repeatedly shown that employers tend to hire people like themselves. Are they racist or merely conservative to shy from the Other? Employers are ordinary folk, glacier-slow to change. But they'll adapt, usually following someone else's lead.

So who will defeat racism? We've all watched it happen. When someone from XYZ becomes a colleague or friend, the prejudice fences often subside. When someone from ZYX marries or brings a child into our family, the fences usually fall. The Other remains but no longer frightens.

Racism lacks a natural predator. We'll never stamp it out with force. Nor will we develop a social discord vaccine. Experiences from our workplaces, schools and neighbourhoods continue to show racist behaviours shrivelling in environments of understanding and collaboration. Despite all the education and advocacy and preaching racial tolerance, Australia's multicultural experiment remains a work in progress, relationship by relationship.