When do offhand comments become racist?
Social media has started to answer this question over the last few days with the creation of the hashtag #dontsayit. This hashtag has created a definitive list of the remarks made to Indigenous Australians that have crossed the line from being harmless to racist.
It started when Charles Prouse, Chief Executive Officer of Supply Nation, tweeted:
Prouse simply tweeted:
Australians quickly responded, with hundreds of comments ranging from simply thoughtless to painfully ignorant.
These are just a few of the tweets that warn when you just #dontsayit.
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It's good to have "white complexion" discussions out in the open and not be frightened to address them. I know an elder who gives talks. She says straight out to puzzled foreign tourists: "I look white. That's because my Aboriginal genes are regressive, and when white sailors interacted with my ancestors, that's 160 years ago. Plenty of generations since, I have white skin. But I'm a proud ********* elder. Let me tell you about my culture." And she goes on to give a spellbinding cultural tour, in depth. Keeping language strong; keeping culture strong." If she's unafraid to case the "skin colour" issue, so might we all be.
I agree with you on almost all counts except the "welcome to country" tweet which is partly right - welcome to country is quite a new phenomenon. But it's a valid institution now and plays a really positive role. Sometimes the acknowledgement of traditional owners is a bit cursory and even awkward, and I don't think it always works - for example, I've been at conferences where the first and second speakers launch into their speeches, and it's only the third speaker who belated does a welcome to country off their own bat. Similarly, the "traditional" response to the haka at Indigenous football matches doesn't date back beyond the 1920s. Traditions don't have to be ancient to have currency though.