Had Enough?

This is a blog about racism in Australia. After living here for over four years now I'm sick and tired of the insidious and often blatant racism in this country. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard work colleagues, people I have just met or people in the media say 'Asians are rude' or that 'Aboriginals are violent and backward' or that 'Lebanese people are thugs'. The prime minister says things like 'Muslims in Australia need to do more to stop terrorism' and gets cheered on as being tough on terrorism. Apparently if you're not of Caucasian descent in this country you don't have any free will - you'll just do what your skin colour tells you to do.

I was born in India, studied and lived in the US (New York and San Francisco) for 9 years and then moved to Sydney. I am a software developer, an atheist and loved New York because of the way it challenged all my preconceived notions about life and about people. However, I was tired of the US in 2003 (George Bush, mass hysteria, paranoia, religious fundamentalists..) and thought that I should see what other countries have to offer. I guess in a way I have, and am planning to move back to the US within a year or so. When I came here I was elated to get away from the US and excited about setting up a new life. In a few months reality set in. Renting an apartment, finding a job, making friends were all an ordeal. There were real estate agents who would take one look at me and refuse to show me apartments ('sorry that one's taken' and then I'd find the same apartment on their rental list a week later). I'd get the worst possible service at restaurants or bars, and if I was with someone who was Caucasian the service staff would speak only to them and pretend like I wasn't there. Nobody would sit next to me on the bus. I was never part of the 'in' group at work. I have never had problems making friends before I came here but it took me years to meet people who were comfortable around me. I did get a job doing software development eventually (9 months in) and my current job isn't that bad. However, I know that my prospects here are limited by my race (there is not a single non-white CEO of a major corporation in Australia, even though about 10% of the population is non-white). I think I'm good at what I do and can achieve a lot but wherever I go I face the 'Indian computer programmers are good at x and y but not at z' type of comments. In Australia I'm limited not so much by my potential as by the country of my birth.

I like to think that in the 32 years since I was born I have become my own person with my own thoughts and idea that transcend the moment of my birth. I have traveled the world, met hundreds of people and have always been aware of my own prejudices and sought to eliminate them. It's not that hard - it just takes one person to destroy a stereotype. It's all about keeping an open mind and being secure in the person you are. I'm nothing like my parents.. I'm nothing like the person I was ten years ago.. I don't understand the 'Indians are like this' comments.

I have good friends here in Sydney now, many of them Australian, a decent job and what some would say is a relatively comfortable life. But it's an intellectual death for me. I won't make generalisations about Australians because that would be unfair to my friends here who are intelligent open minded people, but every time I get humiliated because of my race - every time I get my bags searched in a shop, or can't get into a night club because the bouncer doesn't like 'my look', or have someone who is addressing a group I'm in only make eye contact with the white people in the group, I get angry. I get angry at this country and I get angry at myself for coming here.

I want to write these thoughts down as a warning to anyone who is not white and is thinking of starting a life in Australia. I also want to bust the myth of Australia being an open and tolerant society because it's not. My issue is mostly with racism, but there are other groups, like women, are equally marginalised. Just have a look at the ads at bus stops in Sydney with half naked women hawking bottled water, chocolate or whatever else. Watching Australian television is like going through a time warp back to the 50's, where women are in the kitchen and Asians are in Asia.

It was my decision to come here and I can accept responsibility for that, but I think that life is too short to waste on a small minded country where you will never be accepted as an equal. There is no sign at all that things are changing and the government seems committed to scapegoating minorities to win votes. The opposition leader in New South Wales, Peter Debnam, is standing for elections on a platform of rounding up Lebanese people at dawn if he wins. People get bashed because of their skin colour in Sydney and the prime minister claims that it isn't because of racism. The most popular radio shows are run by vitriolic talk show hosts who bash every minority out there and prey on ignorance and fear. It's not even intelligent bashing - it's the same old racial vilification and straw man arguments. Rinse. Repeat.

It's time that migrants like me who pay their taxes and make a significant contribution to the Australian economy come forward and say that it's not okay to drag us out before every election in the guise of some 'Australian values' debate. I don't want my self esteem to be crushed by the collective weight of Australian ignorance. I hope that there are others out there who feel the same way.