The Nulla Nulla
Tuesday, 13 December, 2005
I know everyone else has said it but somehow I can't help saying it too: after what has happened over the last couple of days, I'm ashamed to be an Australian. I think we're all in shock about the mob violence in Cronulla (and elsewhere), the shameful behaviour of Anglo-Saxon Australians and Middle Eastern Australians, the retaliation and counter-retaliation, and so on. My brain just can't accept the fact that such a thing happened in Cronulla—that such a thing happened in The Shire.
I lived in The Shire (Sutherland Shire for those of you who aren't Sydney-siders; it's that great mass of suburbs in the south-east of Sydney on the coast) for three years from the day I was married to the day we moved to Wollongong. I'm not a Shire native (although Ben claims that Blakehurst is practically The Shire anyway—it's just on the other side of the bridge)—I don't, as one of our assistant ministers at Gymea jokingly claimed, “hear the angels singing” whenever I cross Tom Ugly's Bridge—but I did love living in The Shire. It was the place where Ben grew up. In the early days of our friendship, we practically walked all over it—along the pipe at Jannali, to the Woronora where Josh lives on the river, near the stream on the way to Ben's parents house where Ben once threw his freshly-shorn hair, across the Kareela golf course, through Sylvania Heights, along the broken pieces of Box Road, across the empty lots behind Port Hacking High to Miranda Fair where I used to work, and, of course, around the headland at Cronulla past Gunamatta Park, ending with a milkshake, a smoothie or a spider at the Nulla Nulla—this café on Cronulla's main strip where Ben used to have Bible study on Friday afternoons after school.
The Shire, for all its Anglo-Saxon-ness, always seemed like a fairly friendly place. My view is coloured because all of Ben's friends used to live in The Shire. (Many of them still do). There weren't many Asians there and sure, customers used to stare at me blankly when I asked them if they needed any help (this was when I used to work at Dymocks and I suspect they stared at me blankly because I mumbled), but I was never treated unkindly because I was Asian and being Asian didn't especially matter.
It was a little different, growing up in Blakehurst in the late 80's when me and one other boy were the only Asians in our primary school. I remember walking home one day and this teenager on a skateboard, once he saw me, grinned cheekily, put his palms together and bowed several times like a China man while I looked on stonily. By the time I got to Year 5, the situation was different and there were a lot more Asians at school and a lot more Asians living around Hurstville. And my high school had a sizeable Asian population—my high school had girls from all different nationalities and cultures and it didn't matter to us where people came from or what colour their skin was. It didn't matter the way it mattered to some outsiders who came in one weekend and spray-painted the school with all sorts of racist things about Asians.
I know, I'm overreacting. I'm still in shock that such a thing could happen in beautiful Cronulla. When they interview 15-year-olds on the news, I can't believe some of the things they're saying. What's the matter with them? Hasn't the education system trained them to believe that all people are worthy of acceptance, no matter where they come from? That individuals are not responsible for what countries do? That violence and revenge achieve nothing? That you just don't do that to other human beings?
I suppose it's just another byproduct of our individualistic culture. We're taught not to see other human beings as people with thoughts and emotions; we're taught to see them as machines—as chemicals reacting against one another—as stereotypes—as expendable, as unnecessary, as abort-able.
Despite my horror, I do agree with John Howard that all of this isn't really about race. It's about fear and anger over the war in Iraq, September 11 and the Bali bombings. It's about hating the ones your friends hate. It's about division and territory:
Sydney has long been Australia's most divided city.
Those who live in the eastern suburbs rarely venture beyond the CBD if they can help it. Those from the northern beaches think they have found nirvana, the North Shore knows it has, and the western suburbs take pride in their mostly hardscrabble existence.
Most Sydneysiders would not live anywhere else, unless a Lotto win impelled them, and think it onerous to visit friends or relations in other suburbs. Many also do not like strangers. Some play upon that dislike.
...
Dr Evers thought that what perhaps the riot displayed most was the power of mateship.
“Most of those guys wouldn't have had a clue. They could be wound up by all the fascist groups in the world and wouldn't know. But they could have been there because one of their mates reckons the outsiders [needed] to be taught a lesson,” he said. “And, you know, all those young blokes driving to the beach suburbs in their cars from the western suburbs to fight are being driven by the same thing—mateship.
“You hate who your mates hate. In Australia, mateship is stronger than racism.”
(Source.)
Sydneyanglicans.net reports that various Christians groups are organising peace rallies to pray for Cronulla. It includes people from my old old church. Maybe God will use this to open up the way for some good conversations about Jesus.
Current:
Bible: Isaiah (ESV) 28/09/2010
seen: Tropic Thunder 26/09/2010
seen: The Life of Mammals 24/09/2010
seen: What a Girl Wants 19/09/2010
seen: Jerry Maguire 19/09/2010
seen: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 06/09/2010
seen: Tomorrow Never Dies 05/09/2010
seen: Nanny McPhee 28/08/2010
read: Mercury (Hope Larson) 27/08/2010
read: Spellcheckers Vol 1 (Jamie S Rich, Nicolas Hitori de, Joelle Jones) 16/08/2010
read: Solipsistic Pop Vol 2 (Solipsistic Pop) 16/08/2010
read: Chiggers (Hope Larson) 15/08/2010
seen: Josie and the Pussycats 14/08/2010
seen: Mr & Mrs Smith 14/08/2010
seen: Step Up 2 13/08/2010
Blinks:
How to recalibrate the home button on your iPhone.
Unsolicited manuscripts accepted by Pan Macmillan with certain conditions.
Thought Balloon is a group blog in which the writers tackle a new theme every week? month? with one-page scripts. This URL is for their Phonogram ones.
How to sew a zipper on a knitted garment.
Issues organised by tale.
Online magazine that publishes fairy tales that are not reworkings of old tales.
Journal that publishes fairy tale writing.
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Disqus comments
Other comments
Racism is a universal social phenomena. I think it grows out of partisanship more than anything.
I was shire born and bred, and I suspect it is the most anglo-centric place in Sydney. Other races were just invisible growing up.
More than the racial issue, though, is the Shire partisanship. The whole “God’s country” attitude which everyone else in Sydney finds so annoying.
I must admit, I still rather enjoy Shire partisanship at times. Whenever you meet someone from the Shire its like “Oh, you’re a Shire boy/girl?” and there is an instant rapport. I’ve encountered this frequently. Its almost akin to two Aussies meeting in a foreign country.
The whole cronulla thing was more about territorial defence than race. I remember 25 years ago the “bankies” were reviled - not because they were lebs (I didn’t know they were), but because they were “bankies”.
A message like “Reclaim OUR beach” was always going to resonate strongly in a place like the Shire. And once you get a mob together, the mob mentality takes over.
I’m glad the police have come down hard to restore order - that was exactly the right and appropriate response. Where a (secular) government goes from here, I dont know.
As Christians, we have to pray for the conversion of these young Muslim men. I really think it is a mission field ripe for harvest. And true peace is only found in union with Christ…
I’m not sure I’m as quick to say racism doesn’t play a role. And I’m quite convinced that there are racist elements in Australia; I felt particularly appalled by Australia during and since 2001.
I don’t believe that the events of Sunday and Monday can be reduced to a sole cause. This is a complex issue with a complex solution, and I think to ignore or downplay the issue of racism is not helpful.
I think, as Christians, we need to pray for all of our youth, not simply “these muslims”, but “those anglo’s too”.
Duncan’s right… sorry to disagree Craig.
I think my reaction was ‘how australian’ (read a disgusted tone), in stark contrast to our PM.
It’s also just that people band together with those they recognise as themselves. I remember my non-christian friends teasing and bagging some other friends, because they had the guts to say they were atheists(!).
Now, I didn’t agree with my atheist friends, but they had my respect. My other friends (who weren’t really very good friends) had simply found a point of difference - something they did with gays, those slower on the puberty train than them, and anyone deemed uncool, and exploited it. People exploit difference in order to let reign their uglier instincts.
It reminds of us of everyone’s sinfulness, and conversely, that God offers no favouritism. With him there are no shire-boys, no lebs, no aussies… But Christ died for, and loves, all of them.
Importantly, Christians still retain their cultural identities. Christians can celebrate their unity in the gospel, precisely because of their diversity - many nations, tribes and languages.
The problem with our liberal society, as Karen has pointed out, is that there is a homogenising force to liberal doctrines - it exerts a dog-whistle like pressure that forces people to be one of the mass, one of the market, which abhors anything different, anything that stands outside of its forces, which in turn creates the ugly parochialism that we have seen. You can’t fight it, it’s very much a part of the bones of our country, it is very Australian.
When you get down to it, there are points where ‘Australian’ as a ‘way of life’ as it is expressed by certain politicians, becomes an idolatry. Small wonder it’s uglier side is exposed from time to time.
Apologies for the long post.
I did not intend to say that racism did not play a role - I’ve just re-read my comment to confirm that.
In fact, my first sentence said that racism was “universal”. So I can’t accept I’ve downplayed it.
Where I disagree with Drew (perhaps) is in the idea that Australia is somehow “more racist” than other nations or cultures. I just don’t think this is true - racism is every where and in every time. It is a human condition.
I dont back down from my call to evangelism “these young Muslim men.” In fact, I repeat the call, in bold and with lots of exclamation marks! We (I’m talking Anglicans here) are already reaching out to Anglos. Not convinced? Visit one of our churches.
We are also do a pretty good job with Asian-Australians.
But I’m not aware of any effective mission efforts with regards to our Islamic community. And I really believe the “mossies” (as they call themselves) are a ripe mission field.
Apologies - I didn’t mean to give the impression that Australia is more racist… I was trying to argue that Australia is just as racist as anywhere else.
I was arguing for inherent sinfulness… but - particularly in the Australian response to the hurricane in New Orleans - there was an implicit assumption from many quarters that ‘we’re not like that’. I was simply trying to say, ‘Oh yes we are’.
The fact that I said it was Australian was based on it’s distinctive aussie flavour - that it was over a beach, and life guards, and surfers, and a bunch of other iconic aussie things.
I know of a few quite effective missions to the people you mentioned, but it’s not a good idea to post about them on the web. Ask me about it sometime…
No worries Drew - look forward to hearing about them!