I have just read your article regarding multiculturalisim and how you spoke of how the vietnamese are a model minority. The social and cultural elites in Australia usually live in affluent suburbs, commute in cars and are not really exposed to living with poor immigrants in outer suburbs of our major capital cities. Suburbs like Dandenong, Noble Park, St Albans, Broadmeadows etc. The crimes stats show that the percentage per capita in these area’s shows a very high represetation of new arrivals particularly east Africa. I myself have worked in a mental health service in the sth east suburbs of Melbourne and found it exhausting and utterly fruitless trying to help these new African arrivals address their mental health issues. Our budgets were stretched due to a large influx of referrals from African cultural backgrounds. The trauma they have had to endure is horrific. The stories that I have heard, especially from Sudanese women is especially distubing. The incidence of sexual violence is extreme. What we are left to work with are people who are covered in jagged edges of pain and memories of horror. And then they are meant to casually and calmly intergrate into society in the outer suburbs of Melbourne. The federal government are effectively dumping these needy people into our local communities well before they have had their issues addressed. I feel that a vetting program to ensure that the arrivals are not ticking time bombs just waiting to overburden our already overstretched health and justice systems. Plus an SRS hostel based system that allows new arrivals from traumatic backgrounds to check back in their hostel at night to talk with caseworkers about how their new experience in a new country is going, because the current system is way underfunded to do any justice to helping these desperate people start new lives. If the feds cant do it properly, then they shouldnt do it at all.

That’s placing me in time! The notion of unintended consequences is a central part of most historical analyses, where the larger flow of time (the longue duree) confronts the intricacies of individual lives and circumstances. The most famous “theory” would be existentialism and the best known example is a short story The Wall by J-P Sartre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wall_(book))

Andrew

You tutored me for Sociology back at UNSW in the early 70s!! Can you recommend a philosopher / theorist who writes about the way small things in life have a ripple effect on many people? The sort of ideas from the film ‘ Babel’ or ‘ Crash’….I need this for one of my English students in high school. hope you are well and staying healthy…call me if you wish on 0417264084…

A quick note about your quote in today’s Fairfax opinion piece.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/toowhite-tv-must-tune-in-to-the-real-team-australia-20111125-1nz8l.html#ixzz1emqs0QpD

I’ll preface my remark by stating that I am an advocate of high immigration levels to Australia, and a lover of the diversity of Australian urban society, whilst generally suspicious of the multiculturalism and race relations (and race grievance) industries. I am not familiar with your work so I don’t know whether you belong to this industry or not.

As for the article, I agree with it’s general thrust that most television in Australia regrettably does not reflect our multicultural society. I am not a fan of tokenism, enforced cultural rules or quotas, but I believe a more accurate and realistic portrayal of our society’s diversity is in itself a good for no other reason that it allows all of it’s members to feel they are a part of their new home, welcomed and appreciated.

My issue with your quote is that, while a concern, this is very very far from “racism at its most systematic, unselfconscious and destructive.” Note that my argument is not “there are bigger things to worry about” rather, that such strong language should be reserved for higher, more obvious, more pernicious and more damaging forms of racism, such as violent racial supremicist groups, discrimination actually enshrined in law, and so on. You leave yourself no headroom to describe worse crimes in a way they deserve. You also run the risk, if you truly believe this is the worst form of racism, of not being taken seriously.

Just a thought. Feel free to contact me if you feel I am unfair.

Regards,

James.