Controversial university professor slams Alice Springs’ ‘racist act’

A crisis meeting in crime-riddled Alice Springs has been slammed by a controversial uni professor, who accused concerned locals of a “racist act”.

The furore over an Alice Springs community meeting has reignited after a university professor accused residents of a “racist act”.

Appearing on ABC’s The Drum this week, the University of Technology Sydney's professor for Indigenous Policy Nareen Young accused local attendees of racism.

The Save Alice Springs meeting was held on Monday evening, with more than 3000 residents fed up with the crime wave affecting their town attending.

The event, which lasted for 20 minutes and was organised by local business owner Garth Thompson, was convened in order to clearly demonstrate to politicians how desperate the community was for change, as well as to gather volunteers to form a community group to advocate on locals’ behalf.

However, in the days since, the ABC’s coverage of the gathering has been slammed as “biased” by Mr Thompson, mayor Matt Paterson and other high-profile Australians, after the national broadcaster aired allegations the meeting contained elements of white supremacy and racism.

The ABC’s Indigenous Affairs correspondent Carly Williams interviewed several attendees outside the meeting, with one woman describing it as a “total white supremacist fest” with a “scary” vibe.

Another man also threatened violence against Indigenous people in a sickening spray, using racist language while speaking with the ABC – however, no examples of racism from inside the meeting were broadcast, leading to accusations of bias.

Now, Prof Young has renewed the debate, sensationally comparing the meeting to a well-known film, Mississippi Burning, which is about Ku Klux Klan murders in the US in the 1960s.

The University of Technology Sydney's professor for Indigenous Policy Nareen Young. Picture: ABC

“If you saw that room in Mississippi Burning, for example, Australians would say ‘how terrible, oh that’s terrible that happens there’,” Prof Young said on air.

“The vitriol and racism and lack of regard and respect for those people on their land while those people were living off the bounty of it were appalling, and it seems to me the racism question … is the impact of that land being stolen, that is a racist act in and of itself.

“The racism and infantilisation of First Nations people in that town and the racism that they deal with day in day out is not being talked about and we need to talk about that.”

However, it’s not the first time Prof Young has raised eyebrows over comments made on the ABC program, after she hit out at former Prime Minister Scott Morrison last year for eating white bread.

“Who eats white bread in this country? Anglo men,” she said at the time.

“I think it shows a deep lack of understanding as to who works in this country.

“I think that there’s a deep intersection of race and class.”

Meanwhile, mayor Matt Paterson has demanded a retraction from the ABC, claiming its coverage of the town’s crisis was “categorically incorrect”.

“At the end of the day we had 3000 people come together who were demanding change, who were clearly fed up with what’s happening in Alice Springs and want to see change,” Mr Paterson told Today this week.

“What’s happened is the ABC cherry picked a few people within the crowd to get their view on it. It certainly wasn’t the way the meeting was run. It was categorically incorrect.

“The organiser of the event ran it very well, he was very sensitive, gave every person the opportunity to come up on stage and share their story, and so the article that’s been put forward by the ABC is factually incorrect.”

He pointed out that the “language of the reporting in this story is so important”.

“The level of anxiety in the community is extremely hard to describe already, Karl, because of what’s happening,” he said.

“This is just a kick in the teeth to the community … to people who want to see change and it is certainly not the way that this community is.

More than 3000 locals attended the crisis meeting. Picture: Facebook

“This isn’t about colour or creed. This is about everyone coming together and effectively seeing change and looking after the kids ultimately.”

Organiser Garth Thompson also vehemently denied there was any racist element to the meeting itself, insisting it was a positive gathering focused on change which was actually supported by many Indigenous elders.

“For the ABC to have their Indigenous Affairs correspondent report like that is astounding – they could have brought so much positive drive and support for the Aboriginal culture here in town, but they’re obviously not concerned with that, they’re more interested in making it look like a problem when it’s not,” he said.

“There was nothing negative about it whatsoever. It was inclusive of everyone.”

An ABC spokesperson told news.com.au in a statement on Wednesday that the national broadcaster was sticking by its reporting.

“The ABC’s long-running reporting on the issues facing Alice Springs has included a range of perspectives and will continue to canvass people’s views and experiences as coverage continues,” the statement reads.

“Many strong and conflicting views and opinions are expressed within the community, including some confronting views, and the news coverage reflects that and doesn’t shy away from it.”