My colleague at University, who I share a room with, is from Bangladesh. He has lived in Germany for many years, has been in Australia for four years and has just finished his PHD in finance. He likes Melbourne and appreciates the warm summers as he had found it hard to cope with the snowy winters in Europe. He told me he once wore three jackets and still felt cold! However the Melbourne summer can be very hot, in fact it was 36 degrees the other day which means that the aircon in our building is on full. Being used to cold weather (Holland is never very hot) I appreciate the coolness of the air-conditioning. However when I came in the room the other day my colleague had a small heater under his desk blowing warm air. He asked if I minded as he found the aircon too cold? I thought it was fine and could understand and appreciate (found it rather funny) where he came from!

 

Is Australia a racist country?  It depends on your understanding of racism. Wikipedia defines racism as: The belief that race is a primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Or, on the opposite side, racism can be seen as the belief that a certain race portrays a certain, undesirable  characteristic e.g. "Asian people are horrible drivers.". If this is racism than I suspect that nobody is free from having more or less prejudice beliefs.  People all over the world generalise about other races, but also about nationalities or jobs. Germans are strict, Italians chaotic and un-organised , accountants are boring and Bangladeshi hate cold weather. Even meeting a super creative accountant or well structured Italian will not change this prejudice. And as long as it remains playful then there I see no harm I these believes. Racism becomes a problem  in two cases: when fringe groups start taking  prejudices serious and act violent or negative towards other races and, secondly, in the case of institutional racism where certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment.

 

The attacks on Indian students, mostly in Melbourne, have caused justified outrage in the Indian and Australian press, as the attacks seem to be racial motivated. But is racism institutionalised in Australia or rather: are some fringe groups infected by this horrible disease? In any case Australia should take more responsibility for stopping racism by better educating the young at the fringe of our society about respect for other races and nations and showing the great benefits of a multi cultural society. But is racism institutionalised in Australia? Being white myself, it is hard to judge this, so I asked my colleague from Bangladesh. His answer surprised me. He said that he has left Germany because of racism. He believes that `Ausländer` (foreigners) in Germany are never accepted as true Germans and that he was denied jobs because of his skin colour. He also said that he did not find any of this in Australia and that people all over the world show some kind of racism. He said that for example some Indians were racist against Bangladeshi or other (darker skinned) Indians.  He said he loved Australia and wants to apply for citizenship.

 

There was a huge drop in Indian student numbers last year due to the turmoil and negative publicity, but overall there was a 2% rise in total applications from international students who want to study in Australia. My colleague thinks those students who make a choice for Australia made the right decision.