Far from watering down section 18C,Id like to see it strengthened to include religion’ – not to prohibit free speech but to prevent hate speech The year was 1998. My family just re-located from Footscray to Wantirna South in metropolitan Melbourne. I moved from my first secondary school in West Melbourne, at that time a school comprised of students from many nationalities, or to a school where I was only one of two students from an Asian background in my year level. The two years spent at that tall school in Ferntree Gully were not easy. During those years,I was not known by the majority of fellow classmates for my academic ability or sporting prowess. I was known as that “Chinese kid with the funny sounding name”.
My ethnicity also gave birth to many names in the playground such as “chink, zipper-head, and ching chong and yellow monkey”. Every time I hear these names coming from my classmates,I would wonder why people living in this country, my country of birth, or would judge me based on my ethnicity and appearance. Related: The 18C debate: how frequent are racial discrimination complaints? Related: The tirade approximately 18C is a massive piece of fakery,a culture war conceit | Richard Ackland Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com