Yes, we’re all a little bit racist

Small, embarrassing slights ensure people of colour in Australia feel they are here because white people allow it and they should be grateful …

A rally organiser leads a march from King George Square to South Brisbane at a Black Lives Matter protest. Picture: AP Photo/John Pye

IS IT just me or is everyone a bit racist?

I grew up in ’80s Australia. Grown-ups told jokes about aborigines and everyone laughed.

A “good” aborigine was a compliant one.

I’m still racist. White supremacy is not just the Ku Klux Klan. It’s me using words such as foreigner or New Australian to describe people who move to town.

It’s being taken aback to see so many Asian faces used in advertising these days or surprised if I see an aboriginal in a new BMW.

It’s an unconscious belief that our country is supposed to look white.

My mum admitted this week she sometimes hesitates to ask a charity client if they are aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, in case it offends.

She is 81 and recognised her in-built prejudice.

These small, embarrassing slights ensure people of colour in Australia feel they are here because white people allow it and they should be grateful — not painting signs and marching in the streets.

I went to the Black Lives Matter march at Cotton Tree. I wish I taped it.

Some of the stories were sad. But contrary to comments I have read from people who weren’t there, there was absolutely no hate.

There was a brilliant Welcome to Country led by local man Lyndon Davis, who spoke about what fish are running in our waters at the moment and what crops his ancestors would plant for winter.

He talked about his love of country and welcomed us all to this place, promising to talk fishing with anyone interested in a chat.

Jandamarra Cadd, an amazing local artist, spoke solemnly about the propaganda machine that labels aboriginal people angry and says, “Oh, here they go again”, yet never makes room to hear the trauma, isolation or vulnerability in the voices of aboriginal people.

A very cool, young school social worker talked about growing up with a white dad and black mum, never feeling like he could celebrate either heritage.

Young mum Tamika Sadler was called “weird” by her classmates because her skin was black but her palms were white.

She says she was never allowed to feel beautiful because she was aboriginal.

Every speaker was grateful to the people who came out in support.

There was a lot of love in the park.

There will always be people who wilfully misinterpret the meaning of Black Lives Matter — people who don’t believe that, in Australia, a black kid found with a joint in his pocket is twice as likely to be pursued through the courts as a white kid, that a black driver is four-and-a-half times more likely to be pulled over by the police, and a black woman will spend triple the time in jail as a white woman for the same crime.

That’s because we’re a little bit racist.

It’s time we said it out loud.

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