Not too young to fight racism

By Lisa Macdonald

Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party were given a boost by their success in the June 13 Queensland election. Since then, Hanson's racist statements have become bolder and more outrageous — such as her announcement on July 14 that Australians made a mistake when 90% voted in 1967 to empower the federal government to enact legislation regarding indigenous Australians.

The response from the establishment politicians to One Nation's constant incitement of racism has been purely rhetorical. The Coalition government and Labor "opposition" still refuse to take any action to stem the racist tide.

As well, the mainstream anti-racism "movement", organised principally through Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation and the peak migrant rights bodies, has become almost invisible, having abandoned even the minimalist public protest activities against Hanson and her ideas it organised last year.

In contrast, secondary student members of the socialist youth organisation Resistance have launched into action, with a campaign of school walkouts and public rallies begun two weeks ago. A national walkout is being planned for July 24 (July 28 in Brisbane).

Predictably, the actions so far have been condemned by Hanson and many in the media as dangerous stunts involving "kids too young to know what they're doing" who are "being manipulated by older activists with a hidden agenda". Green Left Weekly spoke to 10 secondary student Resistance members about racism and why they are not too young to fight it.

EMMA CORRO, 18, who enrolled at Dickson College in Canberra at the beginning of this year, points out: "We might not personally be affected by racism, but we've got friends who are affected by it. A friend of mine got beat up.

"It affects everyone in one way or another because it divides people, and instead of worrying about the real issues like education and a decent standard of living, people are blaming everything on migrants and Aborigines, and those issues don't get sorted out."

Seventeen-year-old JUSTIN HARMAN from Cyril Jackson Senior Campus in Perth, explains: "You can see exactly how racism works in country towns like Meekatharra in WA, where I've been. People have very little access to services and high unemployment, and you see the tension that's created between different racial groups. While I was there, a road going into the town hadn't been fixed for 12 years, and the government stopped funding to it. They spent a minuscule amount on the Aboriginal community, but that was taken up by the rest of the town as evidence of the fact that white people were discriminated against. Really, it was this problem of everyone not getting much."

LARA THOMS, 14, from Mosman High in Sydney, argues, "Society doesn't need racism at all. It's only a few people who need and want racism, and they control the media so they can make people think that people with different coloured skin are inferior."

EMMA TO, a 13-year-old student at Glebe High in Sydney, agrees: "You're not born racist. Racism is taught to you,

From GLW issue 325