fatvegan

I was reading an article about poor old Tamworth which is labelled "Cronulla-by-the-billabong". This is in the context of an extremely critical (but apparently not editorial) article of Tamworth's response to the placement of new Sudanese refugees. It made me wonder if Cronulla is going to be remembered as a time when Australians turned ugly and showed their racist side. As I remember it that isn't exactly what happened. I had the impression that white Australians fought with some non-white Australians over a couple of weeks and in many cases there were so many more white Australians that it looked more like a lynching. It wasn't a spontaneous outpouring of white racism - there was violence from all sides. And I don't really expect a racial group to respond peacefully when they're attacked (although it would be good if they did), but I don't think it's entirely fair to look at that period as a totally white disfunction.

I also feel a bit sorry for Tamworth. They are claiming there are higher crime rates amongst immigrant communities. While I don't necessarily believe that, isn't it possible? In Sydney there is strong evidence that crime rates are higher for Middle-Eastern young people. Whether that's justification to not let in other people from that demographic is debatable but it's a conversation that needs to be had. The media have swept away their complaints and labelled them all "small-mindedness". If Australia has the right to decide who will come here then so does Tamworth. I can't really imagine Tamworth voted for the liberal end of the Liberal party.

I would love it if Tamworth would open its doors and try to engage with the Sudanese. I would like to think that the solutions to some of the problems with racial integration could be in stronger communities. Maybe that's too optimistic. Tamworth seems to think so.

Whether you choose to engage or not engage it's an enormous amount of work to absorb visitors from such a different background. I don't know if we should criticise Tamworth because the nation has unsuccessfully attempted to make them do that work.