materialworld:

(via the tiger’s mouth · The real face of White Australia)

In October 1911, the Sydney Morning Herald published a short article under the headline, ‘An indignity: photographs and finger-prints’. The article discussed the situation of Charles Yee Wing, a wealthy and respected Sydney businessman, who had asked to be exempted from having to supply his handprint and photograph as part of the process of being issued a CEDT.

Yee Wing had travelled before and was well-known to Customs officials. … Yee Wing’s primary objection was that the officials insisted upon photographing him, in various positions, ‘just like a criminal’.

+++

As part of our Invisible Australians project, Tim Sherratt has recently been experimenting with facial detection technology to automatically extract and crop photographs from CEDTs. You can read Tim’s discussion of what he’s done over at his blog. After extracting 7,000 photographs from Sydney series ST84/1, about a seventh of which is digitised in RecordSearch, Tim built an interface to display them as an interactive wall of faces. As Tim was putting it all together, I thought of Sophie’s critique of the use of photographs of Chinese people in the Forgotten Faces exhibition and of the way the images had been assembled together in rows as a kind of rogues gallery. I also thought of Charles Yee Wing’s comments a hundred years ago about the indignity of having to provide his photograph for a CEDT.

Could the same kind of criticisms be levelled at our wall of faces as at Forgotten Faces? Are we representing our subjects as more than passive victims of a racist bureaucracy? Are we using their images respectfully and decently? Are their images able to be understood by our contemporary audience? And how should we acknowledge the resistance and opposition of people like Charles Yee Wing?

Kate Bagnall on the ethics of using POC imagery/records obtained coercively, in media addressing racist coercion and ommission in historic archives.

Invisible Australian’s is an online gallery project, documenting the thousands of Chinese, Malay, Japanese, Afghani, Indian and Syrian people subject to state surveillance - as migrants at the commencement of the now infamous White Australia Policy.

+ the archive they’re creating counters white nationalist denial of POC contributions to nation building. Their ‘about’ page states: “They celebrated Federation. They fought at Gallipoli. They struggled through the Depression. And they battled for freedom in the Pacific.”

Whatever you think about the links between militarism and nation, this and the photos of families of primarily Asian Australians who served in military and civic roles are a visible counter to current aggressively ahistoric, white nationalist myth building around Gallipolli, the ANZACs etc.

-although these people are now deceased, their descendents may recognize them, using the gallery. You can access the project via a blog - which does have posts describing lives and politics at the time of the photos - acknowledging whatever is known about the subjects, their self perception and how this was disregarded by the WAP. Or you can access a photo browser that directly clips photos of these people with their original migration dept. ‘Excemption from Dictation Test” paperwork.*

That part - the separation of any subjectivity, context, consent etc. from what remains a demeaning white supremist mode of archiving - remains jarring and ethically dubious imo. 

- otoh, much work being done in Asian Australian histories is very academic or highly localized and not public searchable atm. I suppose the thing this prompts and why I’m tumbling it is, because there is a lot of scope for online curation in addressing the legacy of the WAP, just thinking about the how, who, where aspects.   

*dictation tests were English language skills tests that Australian immigration staff could apply randomly at the border. They were manipulated to discriminate against POC or non-British migrants, to whom they were given far more than white Brits, although they could involve esoteric questions that even mother tongue English speakers probably wouldn’t know.

najalater:

thesavagesalad:

Some information regarding to the health and well being Aboriginal Australians. 

Because some douche in the tags seems well convinced that the community is “thriving” 

Close the fucking gap.

ourcatastrophe:

contains graphic descriptions of racist violence. 

The 24-year-old student calling himself “Xuanhao” wrote on his Weibo microblog that he and his friend were on a train heading to the Wolli Creek in the south of the city at about 11:45pm on Sunday when a group of Australians rushed into their compartment, trying to rob them.

“They wanted money so we gave them money. But then a caucasian woman sitting opposite told the robbers she just broken up with her boyfriend who had taken her purse,” the student wrote.

“She pointed to us and shouted to the robbers: ‘Rob them, they are Chinese, they are rich’.”

The student said the robbers then started beating them, breaking his nose and the jaw of his friend and repeatedly calling them “Asian dogs.”

…”It was the second time that I took a train in Sydney. I thought there were policemen in each compartment so I tried to run and screamed loudly for help, but the robbers pulled me back and beat me,” he wrote.

“There were no policemen in the train, but there were many other people and even train crews.” He said no one had offered help.

this is all-around horrifying, but I particularly want to highlight just how dangerous the idea that “international student = rich” is. 

leonineantiheroine:

vivianemae:

everythingbutharleyquinn:

leonineantiheroine:

http://m.news.com.au/TopStories/pg/0/fi1171757.htm

A POLICE officer unleashed a series of savage blows to the head of a teenager bleeding from a bullet wound to the neck during a brutal arrest early yesterday.

Moments after he was pulled from a mangled car wreck in Kings Cross, Sydney, shocking footage shows police repeatedly striking Troy Taylor before dragging his limp body across the street.

An officer then places a knee on the teen’s blood-soaked back to handcuff him.

The 18-year-old, one of two teenagers shot by police during a dramatic chase, is then left lying in a pool of blood as dozens of stunned bystanders look on.

The teenagers, one just 14, were in a serious condition in St Vincent’s Hospital last night.

—-

All of the boys and young men are Aboriginal. Yep they did the wrong thing by driving the car onto the pavement but also they seemed to be frightened of the police and there was no need for the cop to bash the kid after the car crashed. 

This is what Mick Mundine had to say:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/mick-mundine-horrified-by-video-of-arrest-of-shooting-victim-troy-taylor-in-kings-cross/story-e6freuy9-1226335217914

“ABORIGINAL elder Mick Mundine was shocked and stunned by the way police arrested shooting victim Troy Taylor, 18, describing it as “pathetic.”

“It’s very wrong - this has to stop,” Mr Mundine said.

The respected Aboriginal community leader watched the dramatic and disturbing video footage in the offices of The Sunday Telegraph yesterday.

“I mean, how are they training them? What’s the training for? Where’s the commonsense?” said an emotional Mr Mundine, who is working with respected Redfern police commander, Superintendent Luke Freudenstein, to calm tensions in the inner-city suburb.

“They never had guns in the car, so why did they even shoot the kids?”

White Australia has this baffling conceit this is not a racist country.

HOLY FUCK

you know the story I heard on Twitter from the mainstream media?

Their line is that these teen’s struck a 29 yr old woman, then was revving the engine with cops telling them to get out, with the woman still under the tyres, and so they were shot at.

Obviously the video shows otherwise.

I hate mainstream media.

Hi everyone,

Via the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on Facebook, more info and rally:

“Via Raul Bassi

THIS TUESDAY 24TH AT 1.30 NSW PARLIAMENT HOUSE

Dear friends:
Indigenous Social Justice Association is calling for an emergency rally this Tuesday, the 24th, at 1.30, at the NSW Parliament House to demand two points: first, stop the police investigating police and second, organize a credible independent investigation to start to give justice to the victims of police violence. The footage of what happened has been publicized in couple of the papers and is graphic enough. (See at the bottom.) The way that these young aboriginal people have been treated by police is anything but human. They were injured people, couple with bullets, incapable of offer any resistance, let alone been of any danger to the officers. Never the less couple of them, already bleeding, one in coma, were thrown from the car as a sack of potatoes, handcuffed and in some cases repeatedly beaten.
The police, even that has presented different versions, is justifying all, the Assistant commissioner said yesterday that the shootings were justified because there were people in danger with the car running on the footpath. The Police Association has said that they will be backing the police offices regardless. The police also, have said that they recognized the suspects. So quick questions arise. Why instead of shooting people 13 and 14 years old, that they knew, they didn’t try to stop the car shooting the tyres?
So, even still none has die and is our heartfelt wish none will, are we confronting another similar situations to TJ or Roberto Laudiscio Curti?
So came on Tuesday to tell the government, the parliament and the police, that we had enough and we demand justice.
Family members of the people involved, have invited to participate of the rally.
More information Raul Bassi 0403037376”

Also these young people are from western Sydney. 

echeveria:

searchingforknowledge:

thesavagesalad:

thesavagesalad:

TW: talks on genocide, racism, privilege denial, Australians who don’t know history

Namely those who are quite upset by the PM losing her shoe and have now resorted to engaging in hateful rhetoric directed at the Australian Indigenous communities.

I’ve noticed a few trends going on in the racist, ignorant and possibly written-in-an-inebriated-state, rage posts. And it’s only fair to address these things.

1. There is this misunderstanding that the genocide and ill treatment of Indigenous Australians “happened” 200 years ago. Allow me to correct you (Aussie to Aussie of course, because some of you seem rather flustered when a non Aussie attempts to address your racist disposition)- The Genocide and ill treatment of Indigenous Australians STARTED roughly 200 years ago.

The effects of the genocide, the negligence and abuse by the government, the ongoing institutional oppression of them is still happening today. Whilst you were mourning over the PM’s lost shoe, the NTER was (and is) still running. Police brutality against Indigenous Australians is still happening. The rates of infant mortality, sexual abuse and assault are still disproportionately higher in comparison to the general population. If it comforts you in the slightest- the PM will get another pair of shoes. However, these issues will not experience such an instant fix.

2. Many of you seem quite upset by the fact that Indigenous Australians can access a free education. Now this surprises me because we do have government schools where education is free (and if there are certain payments to be made, government subsidies can still be applied for) which is available to all Australians. And even up to a tertiary level (though the HECS is far from perfect) there are still ways of lessening the financial burden- provided by private and public institutions which all Australians can access.

3. Since we’re talking about university, I’ve also observed a lot of anger due to the fact that apparently Indigenous Australians can get a “free ride” into university because they apparently “swim in” scholarships.

Again- if you actually took the time to research our nation’s Universities, you’d notice that despite there being 2-3 max Indigenous focus scholarships per uni, there are plenty more scholarships on top of that which any Australian and apply for if you meet a set of requirements (and fun fact, even the Indigenous focused scholarships have a set of requirements to meet as well). Also, another point to be made- Indigenous Australians are not exempt from HECS.

4. Many of you seem quite bitter about how Indigenous Australians apparently get free-to-access dole. And the fact that you cannot access such magic dole which you seem to blame Indigenous Australians for. In the time that it took for you to write your hate post, if you had done some research- you would have learnt that applications  for the dole are open to all. It doesn’t mean that you will get the dole (because you have to meet certain requirements to qualify for it) but the same way your application will go through a process of assessment- so will an Indigenous Australian’s ( and they must meet a set of requirements as well). And where there will be some application that will be accepted, there will be those which will be rejected- the same applies to Indigenous applicants as well.

I would go into further detail on the numerous ways the Indigenous community here has been abused by the government institutionally and individual wise, or the 5 acts of genocide this community has experienced- but the Prime Minister losing her shoe, or a flag being burnt (because those who wrapped themselves in the flag as they participated in the Cronulla Riots are not offensive at all.), or you not knowing that you can access a lot of these things which you accuse Indigenous Australians for- is clearly more important than all that.

Reblogging again because there is a hate post on how Indigenous Australians Are The Worst because they can get cheap milk in Western Australia.

Fun fact: EVERYONE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA CAN GET CHEAP MILK

$2.00 FOR 2 LITRES WHAT A BARGAIN YOU PEOPLE ARE RUNNING OUT OF EXCUSES GO TO FUCKING COLES BEFORE POSTING THIS SHIT

They steal and kill and murder and take entire countries…and complain when a few drops of what does not belong to them is sparingly and with much backpatting “given” to the original owners and inhabitants. If I could get  a superpower, it would the ability to induce the missing conscience that so many white people appear to lack.

Here’s the event that the original post references. This Aussie wants to print out the OP and hand it out to everyone.

More FACTS here:

Mythbusters (debunking myths about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)

Some questions and answers about Indigenous peoples, migrants and refugees and asylum seekers

milkeemountainmama:

and one last thing—that’s my number one pure venom spitting hatred for all scifi/fantasy books in the world—the idea that white folks are survivors and resourceful enough to survive in the face of the apocolypse or some other world shattering event— and people of color either don’t exist or exist in this weird other sphere that rarely if ever crosses with the white survivors. the one thing I really admired about the hunger games is that the author at least acknowledged—it only makes sense that a *certain type* of white person will survive under conditions like what is presented—and it’s those who survive off of their privilege and/or those who have historically been treated most similarly to people of color (poor whites).

i *loved* how Rue was written in this story—and oh, yeah, i totally fucking cried my goddamn eyeballs out when what happens happens—i was looking forward to a long interesting relationship between Rue and Katniss. and the gift of bread thing?

**drying heaving sobs into my blanket.**

but all those good feelings shriveled up into a dry puff of dust at how Thresh was written and how he was treated and how Katniss used her relationship with Rue to save her own ass.(which oddly enough, although it was infuuuuriating, it was a believable situation)

i just…don’t understand why it makes sense that the majority of survivors in sci-fi world are white, much less that the majority of **leaders** are white. and i need this to be clear: this is only partially coming from a “i want more diversity in story telling” framework. 

MOST of it is from a practical sense. from the logic of sci-fi/post apocalyptic storytelling—it simply doesn’t make *sense* that the majority of survivors/leaders are white. there has to be a reason to *explain* that—and most of these types of stories very rarely do.

and as such, i think it’s especially important for white folks who can only see “white” when characters aren’t fully described (or in some cases actually *ARE*) to wonder why they only see white.

all of us people of color have known for centuries you couldn’t survive without us there—that the only reason you survive is *because* we’re there— (I just read a testimonial from a woman who was a slave, and she says *exactly* that—if we wanted to kill y’all, you’d be dead, we know all your weak spots, we know you can’t survive unless somebody is putting your clothes on you and feeding you etc)…what does it mean that even today in 2012, white folks don’t clearly understand this yet? are still so certain that they would be smart enough and brave enough and strong enough and desperate enough to crawl under a fence to find food?

that they would even know that a fence exists?