Are Australians racist? I’ve been trying to bait them for years

That Australian Jews are concerned, even scared, by events locally and globally since October 7 is no surprise. “See, they hate us,” is a common lament, a confirmation of what Jews have felt for millennia, for good reason, but has rarely previously been felt in Australia. 

Over the past few months, we have seen a synagogue burned and two others attacked, antisemitic graffiti, cars set on fire and even two nurses boasting about killing Israelis. Such cases reignite a latent pervasive fear. 

But are these cases a reflection of a broader antisemitic feelings among Australians or limited to a relatively small number of disgruntled individuals. Is Australia a racist country? 

In hundreds of focus groups and interviews over 25 years I have asked this question of a representative sample of Australians. In each case their common response was a resounding “yes, we are racist”. Then I tried to break down the generalist opinion by asking for examples. I asked those with an obvious minority appearance, to share anecdotes and experiences. Most had experienced some kind of racism, their answers, however, were mostly unremarkable. Things like, ‘Someone shouted at our family at a picnic’ or ‘We were walking along and a car stopped, and someone screamed some racist things at us’.  

While ugly and intimidating, these cases merely signify that we are a society with some horrible people in it, and not that we are necessarily a racist country. 

In these discussions, I tried to create an atmosphere that would enable people to express controversial views, to see if I could uncover racism. With rare exceptions, I couldn’t bait people to be racist. There is just not significant deep racist sentiment out there. The anonymity of on-line communities allows for the flourishing of racist commentary, which is disturbing and hurtful but unrepresentative.  

Migrants in my group discussions sometimes reflected that if we wanted to see real racism we should try being black in Russia, China, or even India. Indeed, try renting an apartment in Tel Aviv if your name is Mohammed Hussein. 

By contrast in Australia any time someone is racially abusive on public transport they are strongly condemned, and video of the incident goes viral. And there are cases of conspicuous anti-racism. Consider the Murugappan family hailing from India, whose asylum process took years and the welcome they received from the Queensland town of Biloela – which is made up of 85 percent Anglo-Australians. 

When talking about migrants, Australians say there is only one thing they expect of them upon arrival - to leave their conflicts behind. To a remarkable degree, that has been the case. For many, including Jews, this was the very reason they chose Australia as their home. Historian Geoffrey Blainey coined the phrase “tyranny of distance”, the title of his 1966 book. For Jewish post war migrants that was a good thing. 

There is one incident of racism which is embedded into the minds of Australians old enough to remember and which has become the yardstick used as proof of our racism – the Cronulla race riots in 2005 in Sydney’s south. On that day, several thousand young Anglo-Australians clashed with young men from Middle Eastern backgrounds. The violence spread from Cronulla to other suburbs through text messages. The result was two stabbings, universal condemnation and a shocked nation. As bad as it was, that was the end of it, and it was 20 years ago. 

The anti-Israel protests and antisemitic attacks across the country are another exception, but it is important to note that they have been largely rejected by ordinary Australians.  Indeed, since 9/11 being Muslim in Australia has been far more difficult than being openly Jewish. 

The main racism issue in Australia is undoubtedly the institutionalised racism experienced by Indigenous Australians. A paragraph or two here would just not do justice to the issue. Suffice to say it is an ever-present stain on our nation. 

But for the rest of us, freak attacks and occasional outbursts are not evidence of widespread Australian racism.  If you seek proof that ours is a largely tolerant multi-cultural society you need only walk into any workplace, classroom, medical practice, park or café. 

During the 2000 Olympics Fosters beer produced an advertisement explaining Australia to the world. Australians loved it, particularly when the narrator says, “My brothers are the Smiths, the Wilsons, the Santarellies, the Costis, the Wongs and the Jandamaras.” 

So, what do Australians really think of Jews and Israel? The answer is best captured by quoting Vladimir Putin when he attended the APEC summit in 2007. Asked what he thought of Australia he responded, “I don’t”.  

 If you find that hard to believe, ask yourself when you gave a thought to Uyghurs, Rohingya, gays in Uganda, women in Afghanistan …. My bet is you haven’t.