Peril
In Defence of the Bad, White Working Class
'For many of the white adults, like my parents, "Asians" had turned their neighbourhood into a frightening and uninhabitable place. It appeared no more dangerous to me than it had ever been, but I enjoyed a comparatively privileged perspective. I grew up in a multicultural world, so its "alien" aspects barely troubled me. My parents, however, did not grow up in such a world. They had never been wealthy enough to travel or to experience other cultures on their own terms. As a consequence, the creeping advance of a multicultural society – a reality-shift that they had no control over – frightened them.'
(Note: I found it interesting to read this essay alongside this short 2012 piece, 'Racist Violence and Social Class in Australia', by blogger Eurasian Sensation, a.k.a. Chris Mitchell, for Peril: 'the racism of the more wealthy and middle classes is often not as obvious and visceral as that of the less privileged. But what about its overall impact?')
Kill the Chicken to Scare the Monkey
'"You just don’t sound Australian." She tilts her head and looks me up and down now as Roberto steps aside. "You know…your accent! Doesn’t sound Australian!"
"It’s Aboriginal Australian," I say.
"Oh," she cocks her head, "sorry! Just didn’t sound like any Australian accent I know! That’s all. I thought I was the only Australian on the residency. Looks like I’m wrong!" she smiles.'
#MeToo and the Uneven Distribution of Trauma
My experiences of abuse and harassment have never stopped, but I had quarantined all these experiences behind a cordon where they could be managed...
Then #MeToo unleashed them all.
I found it difficult to understand why this should be so, given that the issue of gender violence is never far from my mind. This, after all, was supposed to be the revolution that I’d been waiting for – yet I was left feeling isolated rather than connected, helpless rather than empowered.
Definitions from a Family Dictionary
I forget my language as I become fluent in English, my mother-tongue the victim of a slow and inevitable erasure. My mother’s family takes pity on me. One of four sisters, my mother watches placidly as I duck my head, my cheeks flushed.