(no subject)
A side note on the attacks on Indian students. Columnist Paul Sheehan obviously breathed a sigh of relief when at least some of the violence was attributed to non-White Australians. This disproves "the misconception that Indians in this country have become the frequent victims of violent white racism," writes Sheehan. "This misconception has hardened into belief in India, where widespread media coverage of the attacks has played on old sensitivities about the treatment of Indians by whites and white Australia."
Has it? Paging through news coverage and opinion in The Hindu, The Times In India, and Express India, I've found almost no mentions of the perceived race of the attackers, and nothing at all about "white racism". Interestingly, I have found a number of Indian columnists taking the opportunity to criticise colourism and caste in Indian society. Even some of the more angry responses, such as the Bollywood boycott, make no mention of "white racism".
To be fair, Sheehan may have seen or heard reports which I've missed; if he has, though, he neglected to actually mention any of them in his column. I think it's more likely that his response is needless, kneejerk defensiveness.
ETA: Oh, of course. Silly me. The real motivation for Sheehan's column is revealed partway through, where he says: "...most violent street crime in Sydney and Melbourne is not committed by whites. The prison populations confirm this." Reports of a clash between Lebanese-Australian kids and Indian students is the perfect opportunity to continue demonising the former as dangerous.
Putting aside issues of bias in the legal system, I'm not clear on where Sheehan is getting his statistics to begin with. The ABS doesn't appear to collect information on the race or ethnicity of prisoners. According to a 2000 book on "ethnic" crime in Australia, NSW police don't collect statistics on the ethnicity of people they "process". ETA: Similarly, a 1999 AIC study makes it clear that information on ethnicity and crime in Australia is pretty much non-existent. Possibly police, the courts, etc, should start collecting such information. ETA: More on the paucity of information from a 2005 paper.
Has it? Paging through news coverage and opinion in The Hindu, The Times In India, and Express India, I've found almost no mentions of the perceived race of the attackers, and nothing at all about "white racism". Interestingly, I have found a number of Indian columnists taking the opportunity to criticise colourism and caste in Indian society. Even some of the more angry responses, such as the Bollywood boycott, make no mention of "white racism".
To be fair, Sheehan may have seen or heard reports which I've missed; if he has, though, he neglected to actually mention any of them in his column. I think it's more likely that his response is needless, kneejerk defensiveness.
ETA: Oh, of course. Silly me. The real motivation for Sheehan's column is revealed partway through, where he says: "...most violent street crime in Sydney and Melbourne is not committed by whites. The prison populations confirm this." Reports of a clash between Lebanese-Australian kids and Indian students is the perfect opportunity to continue demonising the former as dangerous.
Putting aside issues of bias in the legal system, I'm not clear on where Sheehan is getting his statistics to begin with. The ABS doesn't appear to collect information on the race or ethnicity of prisoners. According to a 2000 book on "ethnic" crime in Australia, NSW police don't collect statistics on the ethnicity of people they "process". ETA: Similarly, a 1999 AIC study makes it clear that information on ethnicity and crime in Australia is pretty much non-existent. Possibly police, the courts, etc, should start collecting such information. ETA: More on the paucity of information from a 2005 paper.