hopeforyou and I have visited Manzanar as well, and we were so impressed that we've both brought other people back there. It pleases me you were satisfied, given your ethnicity.
I think 'Aboriginal relations' is a perfectly acceptable term, but the term I mostly heard in the early-to-mid 1990s was 'reconciliation'. IMHO, the government of that day was the most progressive ever on Aboriginal issues, at least at a Federal level. And one of the reasons I'm extremely pissed off at its successor for is its racism, which wound back a lot of that progress, and we're still cleaning up the mess.
'Dire' is also an apt term for the plight of many Aborigines, especially in remote regions. It's one of those situations that's so complicated that it's not easy to make things better, but a bit more care and attention wouldn't go astray. Racism is a problem with society, though, and while that racist government allowed it to fester, it needs to be fixed at a grassroots level.
Anyhow, I was perfectly satisfied with Copa Airlines. All my experiences with South American airlines have been good, except for that one domestic LAN flight I had in Chile a few years ago, where there simply wasn't enough legroom for me to fit in my seat. My flight from Lima to São Paulo yesterday had the most advanced entertainment system I've seen anywhere-pity I was too tired to take advantage of it!
And yeah, I try to avoid any of the American airlines when possible. Nothing could be worse than the Аэрофлот/Aeroflop flight I had in 1984, though. The seats weren't even bolted down properly.
Manzanar was a surprise to me. I vaguely recall driving past it to Mammoth from SoCal before it was restored. I've been back a couple of times since they opened up the center there, and I cry every time, and find it immensely healing to have a heretofore obfuscated bit of history acknowledged. Even more that they tie it into peace protests against the war in Iraq, and against the PATRIOT act. It is, as you say, a thing of much passion for me.
I hadn't thought about how the current government's style was affecting Aboriginal Australians - most of what I've heard has been about the effect on...Lebanese Australians, is that the big group I'm thinking of? I know some Asian Australians of various ethnic origins who give me an idea that it's not quite as terrifyingly White Australia as when I was a kid, but...
Ooh, seatback entertainment! I miss flying, although the TSA's security theater has made it altogether unpleasant, especially with children in tow. (I have horror stories about traveling with my two kids, a laptop, winter garments, a stroller and a carryon.)
I'd be open to the TSA horror stories-I somehow like getting pissed off at those. Hell, a bloke who used to live around the corner from me is having a hard time getting into the country as we speak-it seems Julian Assange isn't a good person to be mates with. (I wonder if he has an LJ.)
The Lebanese are one of the more recent migrant groups in Australia. They were starting to appear when I was in high school, and I sometimes heard people spouting crap about them not assimilating, stealing jobs, and similar predictable venom. I occasionally heard it from the Vietnamese, who were the new immigrant group before them. I'm sure some Lebanese say the same about today's Sudanese immigrants.
The incident you're thinking about was probably what happened in Cronulla, a southern beach suburb of Sydney, where race riots occurred several years ago. It's the area where purplespark grew up, and he was particularly upset over it. (He lives in LA, so you could ask him yourself.) I was shocked myself, but not surprised that unchecked racist expressions had boiled over. Our Prime Minister at the time, who was a national disgrace the entire time he was in office, even tried to claim that racism wasn't the issue-I actually hold him personally responsible for a big part of it.
Honestly, Australia is like the US, and probably most places: it has its progressive parts (inner-city Sydney, San Francisco, Brisbane, West Hollywood and Melbourne) and its redneck backwaters (e.g. rural Queensland and Texas). It pisses me off that you and I can't both go to any place in either country without harassment, and it pisses me off even more that there are a lot more places I can go harassment-free than you can. But there are a lot of Australians, and a lot of Americans, of all ethnic backgrounds who are just as angry about it as me, so there's hope.
The difference between Australia and the US is that there's a lot more denial of the problem in Australia. You get a lot of 'I'm not racist but' types, and even a former PM making idiotic statements like 'I don't want kids to grow up thinking Australia has a racist, bigoted past'-we do have a racist, bigoted past, you moron, and I don't want kids to grow up in an Australia that has a racist, bigoted future! Australia has made a few advances the U.S. hasn't, but I'm not sure there'll be an Australian PM without white skin in my lifetime.
Yes, it was Cronulla. And I'd forgotten that I actually have met purplespark! I haven't seen them in years.
The access barriers by perceived ethnicity has weighed heavy on my mind for some time. I get some international access because of the current economic prestige of East Asians, but it often results in tourist rates, etc. I'm hoping that more people being more aware turns the tide, too.
TSA rant: I don't know if you know what "Robeez" are - they're like elastic cuff leather slippers for toddlers. Very soft leather, barely reinforced bottom. More like a leather oversock than anything. I had M in those, and snuggled up in a comfy sling, to get us all through security. I was traveling with Ben, so we had two laptops that needed unearthing, plus shoes and toiletries. And the stroller/carseat. And Ben's rolly, as we were traveling for one of his teaching jobs. Put all the usual things on the conveyor. TSA insists on baby out of the sling, AND SHOES OFF. (He's asleep, mind you.) Gee, THANKS.
Their rules are so *stupid*, and I read Schneier just for the pleasure of having someone pierce through all that *concisely*.
As far as Australia's future with a non-white PM? I used to think I wouldn't live to see a non-white U.S. President. One never knows.
Must wrap this up, let's see if LJ thinks it's short enough to post!
I think 'Aboriginal relations' is a perfectly acceptable term, but the term I mostly heard in the early-to-mid 1990s was 'reconciliation'. IMHO, the government of that day was the most progressive ever on Aboriginal issues, at least at a Federal level. And one of the reasons I'm extremely pissed off at its successor for is its racism, which wound back a lot of that progress, and we're still cleaning up the mess.
'Dire' is also an apt term for the plight of many Aborigines, especially in remote regions. It's one of those situations that's so complicated that it's not easy to make things better, but a bit more care and attention wouldn't go astray. Racism is a problem with society, though, and while that racist government allowed it to fester, it needs to be fixed at a grassroots level.
Anyhow, I was perfectly satisfied with Copa Airlines. All my experiences with South American airlines have been good, except for that one domestic LAN flight I had in Chile a few years ago, where there simply wasn't enough legroom for me to fit in my seat. My flight from Lima to São Paulo yesterday had the most advanced entertainment system I've seen anywhere-pity I was too tired to take advantage of it!
And yeah, I try to avoid any of the American airlines when possible. Nothing could be worse than the Аэрофлот/Aeroflop flight I had in 1984, though. The seats weren't even bolted down properly.
Reply
I hadn't thought about how the current government's style was affecting Aboriginal Australians - most of what I've heard has been about the effect on...Lebanese Australians, is that the big group I'm thinking of? I know some Asian Australians of various ethnic origins who give me an idea that it's not quite as terrifyingly White Australia as when I was a kid, but...
Ooh, seatback entertainment! I miss flying, although the TSA's security theater has made it altogether unpleasant, especially with children in tow. (I have horror stories about traveling with my two kids, a laptop, winter garments, a stroller and a carryon.)
Reply
The Lebanese are one of the more recent migrant groups in Australia. They were starting to appear when I was in high school, and I sometimes heard people spouting crap about them not assimilating, stealing jobs, and similar predictable venom. I occasionally heard it from the Vietnamese, who were the new immigrant group before them. I'm sure some Lebanese say the same about today's Sudanese immigrants.
The incident you're thinking about was probably what happened in Cronulla, a southern beach suburb of Sydney, where race riots occurred several years ago. It's the area where purplespark grew up, and he was particularly upset over it. (He lives in LA, so you could ask him yourself.) I was shocked myself, but not surprised that unchecked racist expressions had boiled over. Our Prime Minister at the time, who was a national disgrace the entire time he was in office, even tried to claim that racism wasn't the issue-I actually hold him personally responsible for a big part of it.
Honestly, Australia is like the US, and probably most places: it has its progressive parts (inner-city Sydney, San Francisco, Brisbane, West Hollywood and Melbourne) and its redneck backwaters (e.g. rural Queensland and Texas). It pisses me off that you and I can't both go to any place in either country without harassment, and it pisses me off even more that there are a lot more places I can go harassment-free than you can. But there are a lot of Australians, and a lot of Americans, of all ethnic backgrounds who are just as angry about it as me, so there's hope.
The difference between Australia and the US is that there's a lot more denial of the problem in Australia. You get a lot of 'I'm not racist but' types, and even a former PM making idiotic statements like 'I don't want kids to grow up thinking Australia has a racist, bigoted past'-we do have a racist, bigoted past, you moron, and I don't want kids to grow up in an Australia that has a racist, bigoted future! Australia has made a few advances the U.S. hasn't, but I'm not sure there'll be an Australian PM without white skin in my lifetime.
Reply
The access barriers by perceived ethnicity has weighed heavy on my mind for some time. I get some international access because of the current economic prestige of East Asians, but it often results in tourist rates, etc. I'm hoping that more people being more aware turns the tide, too.
TSA rant:
I don't know if you know what "Robeez" are - they're like elastic cuff leather slippers for toddlers. Very soft leather, barely reinforced bottom. More like a leather oversock than anything. I had M in those, and snuggled up in a comfy sling, to get us all through security. I was traveling with Ben, so we had two laptops that needed unearthing, plus shoes and toiletries. And the stroller/carseat. And Ben's rolly, as we were traveling for one of his teaching jobs. Put all the usual things on the conveyor. TSA insists on baby out of the sling, AND SHOES OFF. (He's asleep, mind you.) Gee, THANKS.
Their rules are so *stupid*, and I read Schneier just for the pleasure of having someone pierce through all that *concisely*.
As far as Australia's future with a non-white PM? I used to think I wouldn't live to see a non-white U.S. President. One never knows.
Must wrap this up, let's see if LJ thinks it's short enough to post!
Reply
Reply
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