It’s almost refreshing to know in this era of tolerance that racism and hatred, in its most extreme form, is far from dead. I was asked to have a look at the latest web-site from that great mob called Australia First, a name which appears to be merely a smokescreen for this nation’s local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.
I’m all for multiculturalism, and I’m all for immigration. I’m not for throwing open the countries borders to allow any Thomas, Richard or Harold to walk in as they see fit. I’m also all for controls, if someone is a criminal then send them back. If they destroy their papers then they should have to wait until their identity and background are confirmed, and if all is well, sure, allow them in. We have a large nation with plenty of room, so why not?
What I am against is the so called ‘white’ nation that wants to remove all traces of immigration and only allow the British to enter freely. Anyone with a tinted skin are not allowed, well, excuse my Frog, fuck that and fuck you. What those morons forget is that everyone here is an immigrant of some sort, we’re all from somewhere, even me, and I’m 4th generation Australian. But my great grandparents came out here from Europe, so they were immigrants. I hope they were illegal, because I know they weren’t convicts. That came later.
I’ve seen racism in all its forms over the years. I once debated the virtues of ‘boat people’ with an Englishman who, as I pointed out, came here on a boat himself and remained, thus meaning he too was a ‘boatie’. He hated that. I once debated illegal immigration with the leader of the local Nazi party on radio (famous for getting a raw egg thrown directly into his mouth at a rally – “Great shot sir!” We all cried), who became violent when I pointed out that his mother was herself an illegal immigrant from Spain and that he was born in transit, and thus wasn’t a true Australian. I got a lot of death threats after that, in fact they were only second to the death threats that I received from a certain union – this was back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when death threats from Nazis and unions were par for the course. They got to be so tiresome that I once yelled down the phone, “Well come and fucking get me you weak prick! Better still, I know who you are and where you are so I’ll come and fucking find you myself!” I was stopped by our security guards just as I was leaving the building to get my baseball bat and car. To this day I’m still not sure who they were more worried about, me or the union movement.
Seeing the creedo of the Australia First Party makes me wonder how long it’ll be before they start advocating the burning of crosses and mass lynchings. The things people do in the name of God still amazes me. These are people who are asking for violence and ignorance, prettied up in words that the average idiot will probably agree to as they won’t comprehend the sub-text beneath it all. “The dark terror that will be waged by Moslem extremists, Tamil Tiger guerrillas, Afghan drug criminals, African animists and so on is but a matter of time. It sums to culture busting (the process by which Australian community feeling and identity is broken down) and is also a type of state-terrorism against the Australian population - ethnic cleansing!” Excuse me? State-terrorism? Ethnic cleansing? The same kind of ethnic cleansing that happened in say Kosovo or Serbia? I know several Moslems and none of them are extremists, I know several Africans and none of them, as far as I know, worship stones and none of the Afghanis that I know are drug criminals. Indeed all the drug criminals that I know, and the majority that I’ve known, have been, well, white Australians. And the bulk of the extremists that I know are, well, white Australians. When I catch up with any of my pals for lunch I feel no loss of intensity or culture, indeed I feel an enhancement. I work with several people of different origins to me and we have a blast, poking fun at each other’s history and also educating ourselves by talking about where we came from, what happens in our cultures and countries and expanding our yearning to visit the world at large.
What’s wrong with that? Well, nothing at all. I’ve helped a Sudanese friend of mine by funding his relatives schooling for a while and writing a letter of support so he can bring them out – their parents are both dead now, and he’s all they have. He once told me the most beautiful thing, “In Sudan, if you educate a woman then you help educate the world.” Hardly the comments or thoughts of an ignorant person that worships dirt and fallen twigs. But then a lot of the people who turn up at the anti-immigration rallies appear to worship motorcycles, so go figure. Comments such as this, “Resistance must become permanent, regardless of what the government does,” leads me to wonder when the pitchforks and torches will be broken out and marches begun. And trust me, I’ll be there when they march on the people I know, only I’ll be there standing with my friends and resisting the racists that are marching towards us. Count on it. So shun me, see if I care. I’m not that fond on having Nazi’s as pals anyway, and indeed have ceased talking to people for their extreme racist views. Most of the rallies that parties such as this engage in are generally led by violence and intimidation. You’ll find a lot of screaming, yelling and punching. I’ve seen it all before; the brown shirts are coming, wearing balaclavas because they’re too scared to show their own faces for fear of reprisals (!). Surely if you’re brave enough to stand by your beliefs and convictions, then you’d not be cowardly enough, or so ashamed, to hide your face? But that’s what separates the professional idiot from the casual moron – the professional idiot knows that what they’re doing is wrong and that the police will soon be knocking on the door, the casual moron is surprised when they face charges of rioting, affray, property damage and assault.
In this day and age it makes me wonder. If Hitler was to return then he’d certainly be a candidate for a leader, such is the vigour and venom that parties like the Australia First Party and their ilk attempt to display. Bring back the ovens, bring back the mass transports. From shunning immigrants it’ll be a short step to shunning those who don’t follow their own religion blindly, but then asking someone to recant their freedom of religion and blindly follow Christianity, Catholicism, Protestant, Mormonism, Scientologist, Moslem or any other organised religion is to do exactly what you’re rallying against; displaying religious extremism. And calling for violence, no matter how clever or subtle that you believe you’re being, is to engage in terrorism with no regard for scale. And to demand the removal of people from different nations, and cultures, to your own is to actively engage in ethnic cleansing.
Funny that…there is an old adage, be careful that you do not become what you rally and/or fight against. In the case of the racists on our doorsteps, they have well and truly become what they wish to battle, only worse. God help us all if they ever get into power. So go to their rallies, just make sure you take plenty of eggs and red paint for the sheets and white hoods. And yes, I’d be more than happy to engage in a public debate with any of these racists, just name the place and time, but let me know in advance if I need to be tooled up before I head out the door.
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