By The Stringer
March 6th, 2013
Noongar rights advocate and law student Marianne Mackay was lampooned by vicious racism on Facebook - the page has since been pulled down. A complaint was filed with
the Australian Human Rights Commission but little has come of it.
"Racists cannot keep on getting away with their malice and vitriol, it is
often far too hurtful and it is up to us to put a stop to it," said Ms Mackay.
The culprits who set up the Facebook page are not easily identifiable - they
beat Facebook's monitoring of racism and malice. The page with an image of Ms Mackay from an Aboriginal cultural gathering was captioned, "YOU C**** BETTER OPEN CENTRELINK SOON!"
The footer read "BOTTLE-O's HAVING A SALE!"
Hardened rights advocate Ms Mackay was hurt by the Facebook racism. "When it
was shown to me I broke down in tears."
Ms Mackay's image is well-known right throughout Australia having campaigned
on many rights issues in formal and informal settings and in having led a number of
Aboriginal rights movements.
She was the former Chairperson of Deaths in Custody WA joining the group not
long after losing the father of her eldest child as a prison death in custody. She was present at the Lobby restaurant incident on January 26, 2012 during the 40 year celebration of Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra.
"I have fought for my peoples' rights, for an acknowledgment of conditions many of us continue to endure as a result of what has historically been done to us, from
dispossession to apartheid, to inter-generational trauma and other consequences," said Ms Mackay.
Ms Mackay is tough and can deal with criticism but when it is ugly racism it cuts to the bone.
"Criticism comes with the territory of being in the public domain but it does not include accepting racism."
"It hurt to see the assumptions people have of my people, and it hurts to see what people are allowed to get away with," said Ms Mackay.
"If all that can be done is to tell them to pull down their racism, if they are allowed to get away with this type of ugly racism, then anyone can vilify and diminish anyone whenever they feel like it."
"This is not just racism, it's violence."
Ms Mackay lodged a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
The Facebook page was profiled as 'Aboriginal Memes (controversial humour).'
"As an Aboriginal woman I was humiliated by the assumptions that pervaded as
messages from the Facebook page - that I am a welfare bludger, that I am a drunk. That Aboriginal people are welfare bludgers and that we are drunks," said Ms Mackay.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics alcoholism is less of a problem in Aboriginal communities than it is in non-Aboriginal Aboriginal communities. The
majority of Aboriginal peoples do not consume alcohol, according to the ABS.
"The racism in that Facebook page was the type that has been shoved down our
throats by racists for the last century."
"They have used a photo of me at a cultural gathering. They have targeted me
and my people. They used beautiful photos of our people but with racist captions attacking us with a string of stereotypical vitriol," said Ms Mackay.
"I have held my head up over the years and ignored a lot but this goes too far. It upset me, actually I was devastated and it hurt family and friends, it hurt many in
our community."
"For the record I do not drink alcohol," said Ms Mackay.
"I should not have to defend myself like this. I do not visit Centrelink."
"I am so angry. I formally complained and hoped that someone in authority would make a difference here."
"The people behind this should be charged."
"When will a day arise when all non-Aboriginal people respect all Aboriginal
people? No non-Aboriginal Australian has gone through what our people went through at the hands of non-Aboriginal Australians and yet we have not degenerated to the ways of non-Aboriginal people - with civil strife and wars," said Ms Mackay.
The Australian Human Rights Commission responded that it was not able to proceed with further investigation of the matter because 1) it could not identify the culprits and 2) under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 if conciliation was not a prospect that the matter was not necessarily within its scope.
They advised that the matter could be brought to the attention of the Commonwealth through the Federal Court of Australia under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.
"I was disappointed in the Human Rights Commission but I will proceed to the Federal Court," said Mr Mackay.
Former Ethnic Communities Council WA president Suresh Rajan said that offensive material could be in breach of Sections 75 and 80 of the Western Australian Criminal
Code, and that he will discuss the material with WA police.
Mr Rajan has campaigned against various offensive and racist literature - a couple of years ago he called for a YouTube skit lampooning Noongar people to be pulled down. A Perth filmmaker's music video 'Flubba Wubba Jubba Noongar' was slammed by Aboriginal leaders but the filmmaker was acquitted in the Perth Magistrate's Court.
Simon Charles Barker pleaded not guilty to a charge of aggravated conduct likely to cause racial harassment.
Aboriginal Legal Service WA CEO Dennis Eggington said Mr Barker's acquittal was a clear example of why Australia needed a Bill of Rights.
During his trial Mr Barker claimed that he had made the video in a bid to lampoon the
stereotypical attitudes of white West Australians towards Aboriginals.
Magistrate Kevin Tavener said that while he accepted the video would have offended some people he believed it was made in good faith. He said the prosecution had
failed to prove its case and he accepted it was an artistic work.
The music video showed two men wearing afro wigs, with blackened faces, drinking, being chased by police and selling stolen goods to a pawn shop.
"I do not see any artistic merit at all in ridiculing a racial group who have suffered so much," Mr Eggington said. "To hide behind artistic merit is shameful. It's a disgrace."
Aboriginal leader Craig Somerville said, "I would invite him Mr Barker to perform that live before Aboriginal people and see the reaction that he got."
State shadow minister for Indigenous affairs Roger Cook said, "It parodies Aboriginal
disadvantage and in doing so provides the viewer with a generalised and ignorant depiction of Indigenous people."
"Enough with the artistic merit as a cover for racism," said Ms Mackay.
The YouTube clip, like the Facebook page, was pulled down - but the damage
done.
http://thestringer.com.au/racist-attack-via-facebook/#.UTepNTmQG_4
Comment by Laurie Forde:
This is the problem with people like Noel Pearson, Maria Langton and other
Aboriginal commentators describing welfare for Aboriginal people as "sit
down money". These racists take it as an imprimatur for their disgraceful
contributions.
Laurie
