Human Rights Commission highlights everyday racism in latest campaign
The Australian Human Rights Commission has launched its ‘Racism. It Stops With Me’ campaign, highlighting everyday racism.
In one of the two 30 second spots a man is seen holding the door open for a fellow colleague but declining to hold the door open for a colleague with a different skin colour.
What a load of crap these ads are. There would only be a ridiculously tiny minority of people of the age of the man in the lift ad that would do that in this day and age in a building like that.
Regarding the taxi ad, it is a fact that more than 50% of the taxi drivers in Australia were born IN INDIA and when you add in all of the middle eastern, African and other subcontinental born drivers, this is another pathetic stereotype that might’ve been relevant in the 1950s. The Human Rights Commission is a farce and a waste of taxpayers money.
@Danny The taxi ad and others are spot on. If you have not observed racism, them you must be in the minority or you are racist. I am a white male and a strapping lad; (aka: I wouldn’t know wtf it is like to receive racism, bullying or prejudice personally). I can only think that you might be intentionally trolling, or you just do not understand, aka: perhaps you are institutionally racist and ignorant with that?
Good day!
Spoken like a true whingey white bloke who has had a successful empathy by-pass (and I hope it was rectal).
If you’re not part of the solution then you are part of the problem.
If you don’t appreciate that Australia is a nation that aspires to equality and human rights, then please leave.
Made a few assumptions there about a supposed whingey white bloke. Are you against white people having a say? Are you also against critical thinking?
No, actually I think the press releases got mixed up here.
This is a series of comedy sketches that have been produced to satirise the PC Left and their loony assumptions that everyone (except them, via their holier-than-though virtue signalling) is a monstrous rapacious racist. We are all now meant to spiral into self-loathing, and curse our ancestors for being Caucasian.
Either that, or it’s self-gratification content for a Lefty porn channel 😉
@Mike
‘PC Left’
MIke, if you are referring to the ‘regressive left’ then that’s fine, they will bring down our society as fast as the ‘Alt Right’ are already bringing it down. Try not to get confused though Mike there is no room for racism in today’s society.
Said it in one, Danny…Serious waste of money on an obviously contentious ad in an effort to make sure the bureaucratic funding continues…
The Human Rights Commission needs to realise that people like Danny, Mike and Jim are triggered by messaging that promotes are more equitable and functioning society. When will someone stop and think about the message these ads are sending to retired, white, male ‘snowflakes’? Wake up Human Rights Commission, for people not used to having to share, equality feels like a deep and bitter loss. The HRC needs to be more mindful of the feelings of bigots in its future advertising attempts.
Couldn’t agree more Tristan.
Your the one thats triggered mate. As soon as there’s a debate you shut it down with the ‘white privilege’ argument. Your the snowflake. Also your argument only puts forward the position that im not interested in debating the points you make just simply shut up because your white.
More unintentional comedy – it just gets better – thanks Tristan!
As an asian male who grew up in Australia and has lived here for ~30 years, I feel the ads are dated, shallow and contrived.
The issue is not with highlighting ‘everyday racism’ or the messaging that ‘it stops with me’ (which I agree with), it is that the examples they have chosen lack any understanding of racism in Australia today. Both ads barely reflect the norm 20 years ago let alone today!
Further, using only white males as the perpetrator seems shallow. Australia is very multi-cultural, particularly Sydney and Melbourne. I think the ad creators will find racism transcends gender and ethnicity. I’d even wager that Asians (some countries are worse than others) are the most racist of them all!
Well said, my thoughts exactly. The problem is inherent in aus society but not as direct as these ads would suggest. It is a rippling undercurrent. Just this morning I saw a flyer for a stage show in Sydney called ‘wogs at work’. I kid you not. When this vernacular is used in everyday language there is a much more wide spread issue to contend with. Indeed, my 2nd generation expat friends in Australia even refer to themselves as wogs. The nation needs educating on what is acceptable.
At the risk of sounding ageist, to understand ‘Wogs at Work’ you need to be aware of ‘Wogs Out of Work’ from 30 years ago. It was racist-beating and culture-changing. I kid you not.
Well put @Reality Check
These ads are absolutely pathetic. Have anyone ever seen any situations like that the last 30 years? The few cowardly attempts at defending these ads speak volumes. Even the members of the Cindy Gallop Mob stay silent. Which is nice, of course.
Let’s be honest:
The most serious racism in Australia in 2017 is found in communities of people with a non-Western background. And, as these ads perfectly demonstrate, among PC leftists. The fact that the racism of the former group is never recognised by the latter is the most disgusting kind of racism of them all: the kind of racism disguised as anti-racism. By not treating these people like grown-ups, by not demanding the same kind of behavior from them as they do from their “own”, they’re infantilising and dehumanising these people. It’s the same way muslims aren’t criticised for their views on women and gays etc. And the authoritarian PC types are just to brainwashed and blended by their own imagined virtue to see it. It never seizes to blow my mind.
And, all politics aside, judging these ads as a communications professional: your honor, I’m offended. They’re not just bad, they’re JWT Opal card bad.
“[Has] anyone ever seen any situations like that the last 30 years?”
Yep – me. Lots of times.
Thank goodness for uber, because 5 years ago, my Tongan husband could not flag a cab down after about 8pm in the city. And when he’s been lucky enough to get one, a (non-white) taxi driver has actually told him he nearly didn’t stop because he thought he was a Pacific Islander.
I’ve had to ask my husband and an aboriginal friend to step back so I could flag a cab for the 3 of us after they unsuccessfully tried for 10 minutes. I got one straight away. So yeah, it still happens, maybe not to everyone, and maybe you don’t see it because you’re in the ‘right’ cultural circles?
Personally, I don’t love the ads, and agree they are dated especially in the professional world, but I’m sure a lot of people can relate.
Really disappointed. These are terrible and ham fisted in a time when we need clever and sophisticated messaging. This is a terrible complex issue – these ads are almost lampooning the issue.
Clever and sophisticated messaging you say, one that doesn’t lampoon or stereotype taxi drivers…..You’d never do such a thing, would you? #sergepricing #thinkersmell
Congratulations Mumbrella, you really brought out the nut jobs in the advertising business.
Seems like they are still bitter about the loss of income from the ban on ciggies ads.
How moronic. Defund the HRC now. It’s a waste of money and even lefties don’t appreciate their constant hectoring, as though the HRC sits on a higher moral plane than the rest of us mere mortals.
Racism in Australia and the world is not only perpetrated by Caucasian male people. Every culture and colour of person in this world has had to deal with racism. Yes plenty of racism has occurred in western countries at the hands of white people not just males females also in recent history with devastating results. But during this same period and today racism based atrocities have been happening in European Asian Indian Spanish Middle East cultures. And the same can be said about racism in Australia it’s happening but it’s not just at the hands of white Australia. For people to keep believing this isn’t true is ignorance and will never fix anything. But as long as the far right and far left are given all the media coverage by our no longer non biased media instead of concentrating media time on the decent activists to portray truths so we find real solutions instead of pointing at young white males 40 and under as the main aggressors when the truth is most white male racists in Australia are Malcolm Turnbull and bill shortens age or older. You can be sure old mal bill and tony shared plenty of racist times with their mates as young men as did their fathers and grandfathers. Us white under 40 Aussie males didn’t grow up with those same thoughts we grew up with mixed race friends and were not alive to be a part of all the really shitty stuff our so called forefathers did. Why are we being made the target?
So only white people are racist?
Just utter garbage. I think this is a real turning point. As a taxpayer I demand the HRC stops these disgusting ads, stops wasting our money, stops insulting us, and simply abolishes itself. The people from there can (try) to get real jobs. Enough is enough.
The thing with racism…
I’ve lived in Australia for the past 20 years of my not even thirty years life.
Sure I have some accounts of racism in Australia; but the worst experiences were from minority communities like myself. Esepcially from homogeneous cultures like mine, or other heterogeneous cultures with strong community identities like in the Balkans. On all accounts the worst cases of racism that I have experienced were derived from newly arrived immigrants who have had limited exposure to different cultures, aka other immigrants. This was way back 15+ years. Barely have I experienced anything of the kind from the “mainstream” Caucasian population to any memorable extent. Apart from the occassional bogans shouting at you of course.
I believe that such new arrivals to our country, who still retain very strong senses genetic mutuality are the worst offenders of racism. Just look at the “multicultural hubs” you see dotted around Australia. They are NOT multicultural; these new arrivals form a homogeneous cultural hub where the traditionally percieved “Aussies” per se, are being treated with reverse racism; whites become the minority. As the minority population grows, the so called “majority” are becoming no longer the majority. Look at so called multicultural hubs in Sydney like Eastwood, Epping, Chatswood, Burwood, Ashfield, Strathfield etc. Etc. Are they Really Multicultural?? NO!! They are merely ethnic hubs that have driven conventional definitions of “Australians” into minority status. How do you White Australians feel being in these suburbs?????
Wow. I didn’t see a “black woman” wanting to get into a lift. I had to have the ad explained to me. Even then… I still struggled to see a “black woman.” So do you need to be racist to identify racism?
I have tried to flag down taxi rides in Sydney & Melbourne, but once they realise I am only going a couple of suburbs, they drive off. I am tall, blonde, caucasion. Stop making a problem when there is not one.