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People claim that the modern multi-cultural Australia is not a racist society, and to some extent that is true. Most people are happy to 'live and let live' but that does not mean that there is no
racism in Australia. There is racism to a greater or lesser degree in every country in the world and Australia is certainly not exempt from a degree of this affliction.
People are naturally afraid of other people who are different. Whether that difference is in appearance, religion, culture or language. This is a natural tendency as people are basically territorial
and resent intrusion into what is seen as 'our land'.
This territoriality is present in just about every type of animal species but as we have the ability to reason, we should be able to overcome the most radical tendencies that racism engenders.
There are still radical groups in Australia that crawl out from under their rocks every few years but we now have laws to deal with them and put a stop to their stupidity.
The Cronulla riots in Sydney were an indication that there is a limit to tolerance and if an identifiable group insists on causing trouble, there will eventually be a reaction by society at large.
That in no way condones the violence that erupted, but is simply a fact that people need to be aware of.
Every new group that has come to Australia has been treated poorly at some stage or other. Most simply put their heads down, ignore it and get on with making a life for themselves
without much retaliation. Eventually as with the Italians, Greeks, and most Asians, they become an integral and respected part of society. It is only when a group calls attention to itself
by continued bad behaviour, that unfortunate circumstances like the Sydney riots will occur.
Racism is basically an unreasoning fear of the unknown, but if a group gives others a real reason to be afraid, then any reaction towards them will be proportionally greater.
Our basic nature ensures that racism will always be part of our lives, but as long as we learn to control our behaviour it should not be something we need to concern ourselves with too much.
Australia has in the past delivered some policies that modern society shakes it's collective head in disbelief at, but modern day Australia is probably one of the most tolerant societies in the
world and it is our sincere hope that it stays that way.
Studies in human genetics have concluded that the idea of 'race' is actually a fallacy as race is an invented notion. At a genetic level we are all 99% identical. As little as 50,000 years ago
all of humanity lived either in Africa or the Middle East. As a species we originated in Africa and we are all related to each other.
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