09 - Celebrating Diversity: Videos
Videos
Across the continent, the first Australians are governed by 'protective legislation' which binds them to reserves, controls their wages, residency, ability to marry and travel. Yorta Yorta man William Cooper forms the Australian Aborigines League in 1933 to continue his life-long campaign for equality. His nephew also becomes a political animal; Doug Nichols, a Church of Christ pastor who becomes a champion for those affected by the Maralinga nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s.
Australia is both a young nation built on immigration and a country boasting the oldest living culture in the world. Walk down a city street and you'll see signs of a richly diverse, cohesive and multicultural country - people from all over the world living their daily lives in harmony. Who wouldn't want to live the Australian dream? Everyone is entitled to the same basic levels of safety, protection and opportunity, no matter their race or religion. Indeed Australian laws protect everybody from racial discrimination, ensuring we all get a 'fair go' in life. But our history and recent events suggest the dream is far from the reality. The Stolen Generations were subjected to atrocities that only ended in the 1970s and continue to manifest today. Tensions between Anglo and Lebanese Australians infamously reached crisis point in the 2005 Cronulla Riots. Then Australia made headlines across India for a spate of "racist", violent attacks against students in Melbourne. And only recently, we've seen an onslaught of racist attitudes seep into sport, that supposedly merit-based and quintessentially Australian pastime. So are we really the multicultural safe haven of equal opportunity? Or is racism destroying the Australian dream?
Brisbane Lions great Jason Akermanis has told Adam Goodes to stop "playing the victim" and says those who label the booing of the dual Brownlow medallist as racist are kidding themselves. As AFL and NRL players rally behind Goodes, who has taken extended leave and is reportedly considering retirement, Akermanis said fans had the right to boo anyone they like, whenever they like.
Alice Pung is a writer, editor and lawyer. In 2007 she won the Newcomer of the Year Award in the Australian Book Industry Awards for her memoir Unpolished Gem. Here at the Melbourne Writers Festival she delivers a compelling address on bigotry and racism, seemingly without rancour. During this speech she shares sharp and surprising insights into her own family, friends, class, shock jocks and dog whistling politics.
Sixteen-year-old Joel Tait has just won an Indigenous scholarship to Clifton College - one of Sydney's most elite private schools. It's his first day, and at assembly Joel's teacher notices he isn't singing the national anthem. At home that night Joel is busy learning the words so he can join in, but his father Eddie doesn't want his son to sing the anthem
Dateline broadcasts this special report revealing shocking new evidence of racist violence and anti-Semitism at the heart of Polish and Ukrainian football, and asks whether tournament organiser UEFA should have chosen both nations to host the prestigious competition.