What does that make me?

If this question was answered, I missed it - Would he have moved in if all the residents were aborigines, but the neighborhood looked okay?

The street is not populated mostly by Aboriginals. The small street is populated mostly by whites. The Aboriginal housing department over a period of time purchased about half a dozen properties in the street. These once nice homes are now little better than garbage dumps. The neighbours no longer take holidays due to the fact that they can longer leave their homes unattended for more than 24 hours. For many, sleep is a thing of the past. Most are trying to sell.........But nobody is buying.

I abridged the original story somewhat. I arrived at the property for sale and was concerned only with it. (I was pretty consumed with finding a home at the time). My parents arrived 5 minutes behind me and didn't even get out of the car. They just shook their heads and pointed to the house across the road, (car bodies, boarded windows) said this street is full of aboriginals, lets go. I didn't even think about it again until I started this thread.

<grins>

I really don't have much of a problem with the choice you made, so - <wave of the hand> -

but still, couldnt help noticing that that's quite an intense acquaintance you seem to have made with those neighbours on your 5-minute visit!

<grins again>

ok, err, since you brought up the Q yourself -

a) noone'll take offence at your decision to leave the option be after seeing the state of (some) of the street
b) some of us (me, for one) wouldn't really be bothered either if you hadnt bought the property simply cause you'd rather not live in a street full of Aborigines (Q of feeling at home, and all that)
c) the crux is, as I think you sensed yourself (as otherwise you wouldnt have opened this thread), in the extent to which a whole string of assumptions is immediately made, as in this quote (unless I misunderstood and you did spend some time talking with the various neighbours there).

Now, you may well be right about it being a rotten neighbourhood, considering the amount of houses for sale, and even about the Aborigines in Q having made it more of a mess. In the end, I'm sure, that's anywhere between a reasonable risk assessment and mere prejudice - and honestly, none of us (except for a fellow-Aussie perhaps) will be able to tell which of the two it is more. For sure nobody will mind that you werent eager to play guinea pig to see whether it wasnt indeed just prejudice. But still - that a first impression - some boarded up houses, messy yards, and some Aborigines - instinctively triggers such vividly imagined assumptions about the various terrors the White neighbours must be living under, must be a bit uneasy.

Always interesting to catch ourselves at our instinctive reactions in confrontations with the Other ...

This is a verrry interesting study in ...... something??? I am not sure what it is though. Anyone care to clarify??

babs, The reason this issue is difficult to identify, because it's part philosophy and part something. c.i.

It's definitely part BS......

Tres, I said "if" the residents were all aborigines, and the neighborhood was okay; and the question isn't complicated, and goes to the core of at least one of the matters here.

Awe shucks, snood, we were trying to give this forum a 'lil legitimacy. c.i.

What a wonderful group of nuts WE are

babs had to go and identify all of us on this forum. The problem is, I'm not embarrassed at all. c.i.

My parents know some people in the area. My information is first hand.

...and your reply to snood's question? (I'm curious, too.)

I believe I answered it before. Very theoretical-with a national population of barely 200 000 and most of them live in the Northern Territory.
There's actually quite a few these days who are returning to a more traditional lifestyle. That's another subject in itself.

Calling A Spade, A Spade.


I think the clarifying word is "Racist!"

"I believe I answered it before. Very theoretical-with a national population of barely 200 000 and most of them live in the Northern Territory.
There's actually quite a few these days who are returning to a more traditional lifestyle. That's another subject in itself."

The term "them" seems to be a lumping together and stereotyping. The proper term would have been "Aboriginal"

To see if any of this floats, I would ask Wilso how many acquaintances or friends of his, are Aboriginal?

Are the Aborigines allowed to intermingle and enter mainstream society in Australia, or, is it like Wilso comment and most Australians would just rather have them move back to a "more tradition style?"

You seem to be trying to prove something here, ferrous. You are not going to get there by saying ". . . or, is it like Wilso comment and most Australians would just rather have them move back to a "more tradition style?", when you can look at the preceeding post and see exactly what he did say. Lilkewise, what significance do you attache to the use of the word "them" instead of Aboriginal? Why?

I don't think ferrous is necessarily trying to prove anything, unless he's trying to prove one can get a straight answer to a straight question.

I'll try once more - Wilso, if the residents were all aborigines, but the neighborhood looked okay, would you move there?

Well, it's a judgement based on a significant misquote. I question it's validity.

There's also a danger in trying too hard to color Wilso as a "racist." As a minority, myself, I haven't seen anything to tag him with that label. All I can determine at this point is that Wilso is his mother's son. c.i.

snood, I found this:

Aboriginal people can do what ever they want.
Obviously ferrous has never had a negative thought about another person. Unfortunately when I see a street get terrorised, I want to dislike aboriginals, but when the government won't apologise for taking so many from their families over many years, I want to dislike whites, and when a suicide bomber blows up a shopping centre, I want to dislike palestinians, but when the Israeli's retaliate with gunships I want to dislike them, and when George Jnr wants to bomb anyone he doesn't like, I want to dislike America, and when Australia blindly follows, I want to dislike Australia, and if Captain Cook hadn't sailed into Botany Bay 233 years ago, we wouldn't be having this conversation, and maybe I'm a racist or a fascist, or a communist, or a nazi or maybe the world just friggin' sucks [/size]