The Racial Hatred Act: Case study 2
- perpetuating myths and stereotypes in the media
- 'The Colour of Money', Damien Murphy, The Bulletin, October 95
- Comment:
- Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Group, Gail Wallace, on the media's role
in bridging the cultural gap- Executive Director, Strategy & Review Branch, NSW Police, Neil Bridge, on the reality of policing
in Redfern- ABC TV Indigenous Programs Unit producer/presenter, Michelle
Tuahine, on the media's stereotyping of Indigenous Australians- 'Black is not a Colour', Letter
to the Editor from HREOC's Zita Antonios and Mick Dodson, The Bulletin,
31 Oct 95Please note that none of the reports in the case studies have been the
subject of complaints or queries under the Racial Hatred Act.
The Bulletin (31 Oct 95) ran this letter from Zita Antonios and HREOC's
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick
Dodson, the week after the report appeared:
Black is not a Colour
31 Oct 1995
Far from displaying the impartiality, accuracy or balance we might have
expected from your publication, the article "The colour of money"
by Damien Murphy (B, October 17) uses O.J. Simpson's trial to perpetuate
negative stereotypes and disseminate alarmist misinformation about race
relations in Australia. The article could well fuel the very racial hostility
about which its author speculates. It employs the sweeping generalisations,
stereotyping, reductionist reasoning and errors of fact characteristic
of an archetypal racist dissertation. It draws an analogy between the indigenous
Australian and African-American experiences because both peoples are "black".
For the racist, "black" is a social type, a category about which
general statements can be made on the basis of which everybody deemed "black"
can legitimately be compared.The facts are that Afro-American people are not directly comparable
with indigenous people in Australia. The struggle of first peoples for
land rights, cultural recognition and self-determination is not the same
as civil rights and black power. "Afro-American consciousness"
has not "shaped Aboriginal aspirations to the point where race relations
in Australia parallel the US experience".The article's disregard for the facts, and for any meaningful analysis,
is reveals in its discussion of issues like the 1959 Rupert Max Stuart
case, attempts by Aborigines in Tennant Creek to resolve alcohol-related
problems, and the alleged "no-go" zone supposedly enforced by
Aboriginal people in Redfern.Today, indigenous and non-indigenous Australians are working together
towards reconciliation. There is considerable evidence of a movement in
public policy towards addressing Aboriginal dispossession and historical
subordination, and a positive shift in public attitudes. Greater understanding
of, and respect for, the value of cultural diversity is also evident in
recent years. It might be expected that the article would discuss some
of these matters but it does not even acknowledge them.Zita Antonios/Michael Dodson, Human
Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sydney, NSW
