[asia-apec 587] Migrante-Australia Statement Against Racism

[tpl at cheerful.com]

Statement of Migrante-Australia 
August 1998

>Let Not Racism Divide the Oppressed Peoples of Australia
>
>"Australia's commitment to racial equality and religious and cultural
>freedom is enshrined in our history" - William Fisher, 
Australian Ambassador to Thailand
>
>Racism is an issue that very much affects whites and non-whites, the
>indigenous peoples of Australia, the Asians, Europeans - in fact,
>everyone in Australia. And long before Pauline Hanson and the likes of her
>became the new mouthpieces of racist prejudice, racism has been out 
>in full force in Australia. Thus, William Fisher’s statement above
>is nothing but a diatribe of colonial whitewash, ignoring the true
>history of bigotry, dispossession and atrocity against the indigenous
>peoples of Australia. And now, while white Australians have yet to come
>to terms with their shameful treatment of Aborigines, racism has reared
>its ugly head, this time towards the Asians in Australia.
>
>MIGRANTE-Australia, an organisation of Filipinos in Australia does not
>tolerate Pauline Hanson nor the Australian government’s racist bent.
>Filipinos are Asians and we believe - contrary to the claims of Hanson
>and other racists - that we are contributing our collective strength and
>spirit to the enrichment of Australia. We do not enjoy special
>privileges and in fact, we lack social security and genuine government
>protection.  
>
>Neither the Asians nor the Aborigines should be blamed for what the
>Australian government could not provide to the whole of Australia. We
>are not the thieves who steal away jobs from Australians. It is the
>government whose policies of economic irrationalism policy has destroyed
>employment opportunities. We do not take special privileges from the
>government. It is the government who uses us as an excuse to cover-up
>its inability to provide social welfare and social security to everyone. 
>
>The Howard government is an immoral government. It cannot deal
>decisively with the current rise of racism in Australia. This is proof
>of its pro-racist bias. Howard’s reluctance to deal with the issue of
>racism and his total lack of leadership has added to the misery of
>Indigenous Australians, Asian migrants and refugees in Australia. Asians
>will never forget Howard’s infamous anti-Asian immigration statements of
>1988. Neither will Aborigines forget a leader who cannot apologise for a
>racist, inhumane government policy that has left a legacy of hurt and
>trauma on thousands of indigenous people. The country has certainly gone
>backwards with him and his redneck colleagues in power.
>
>But while we attack the racists in power and those who are being carried
>away with a "better alternative than Howard’s inutile government", let
>us not forget that racism’s ultimate aim is to divide the people,
>safeguard the economic interests of the rich and steer attention away
>from the economic mismanagement and follies of those in power.
>
>In today’s globalised world, racism will be permitted to reign as it is
>an important tool for the oppressors and exploiters of peoples and
>natural resources. Therefore, we the oppressed people must be vigilant
>not to allow such a divide to be wedged amongst us. 
>
>We must not allow ourselves to be used as weapons against our own
>people. 
>
>We must not allow ourselves to lose sight of the real issue. Our real
>enemy is an enemy that is artfully using economic globalisation as a
>tool to corner the human and natural resources of the world. Our enemy
>uses racism in its many mutated forms to break the unity of the
>oppressed and exploited. Black or white or yellow, Asian, non-Asian
>immigrants and indigenous peoples in Australia are not spared from the
>economic backlash of Australia’s not-so-stable economy. Racist or not -
>if we belong to the working class, the toiling class, working women,
>etc. - we all are on the same boat which the Howard’s government is not
>managing well. 
>
>We must fight against racism. And more so, we should fight - together -
>for social justice and economic equality. 
>
>Stop racism in Australia!
>No to economic rationalism! No to privatisation, liberalisation and
>deregulation! 
>Oppressed peoples of Australia unite!
>
>MIGRANTE (Philippines-Australia)
>Organisation of Filipino Migrants in Australia
>Address: 66 Albion St. Surry Hills 2010, NSW
>Phone: (02) 9281 4360
>Contact Person: Ms. Hazel de los Reyes
>Phone: (02) 95161950 (home)
>
>1 August 1998
>
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