Australia, 'racist, sexist, deeply flawed'

An article of the same title was published in The Age today. The columnist is a woman whom, stemming from Mel Gibson's drunken raving and Dean Jones' terrorist gaffe, made a weak argument on how Sydney is a city where you can "forget about popping out to the corner shop and coming back with a feast of Polish bread, Turkish cheese and Indian vegetables."

Hmmm... It makes me wonder how a person can make a strong statement like that considering that in her own admission, she had only been to Sydney once five years ago with an ex-boyfriend on a business. After a few days, she began to formulate her opinions.

I don't know. I mean, I myself do not like Sydney so much. Being a Melbournite, I guess that comes with the territory. Sure, the Cronulla riots were a clear indication that racism is still alive in some way. But, Miss Pool (the columnist who wrote the article) fails to acknowledge that every country has its own type of prejudice. The Philippines has prejudice against the destitute, South Africa has prejudice against Caucasian South Africans, Japan has prejudice against non-Japanese, and North Korea has prejudice against the West. Germaine Greer, writer and feminist extraordinaire, said "Australian racism derives from the same bottomless source as British racism - from universal ignorance and working-class frustration, reinforced by an unshakeable conviction of British superiority over all other nations on earth, especially the swarthy ones."

Do I think Australia is racist? In my personal opinion, not as much as people believe it to be. I mean, I live in a city where multiculturalism is encouraged and embraced so I may not feel it as much as people who live in remote areas or the like. Segregation is not practised, there is a massive amount of migrants who come into the country every year, and equal opportunity exists for everyone.

I guess Sydney is not so bad. Like every other big city, it has its flaws. But, Miss Pool cannot be viewed as a reliable writer if she bases her opinions from staying in the city inside a hotel for a few days. Don't you have to live or explore the city to have a real taste of what it has to off? Her opinions are nothing more than uneducate, ignorant dribble.