Marcelo Rossi is a first generation Australian from an Argentinian background. He says multiculturalism is about finding the best in every culture and adapting it to the Australian way of life. This is his story.
My family arrived in Australia on the 3rd of August 1979 from Argentina. My father decided to come to Australia because the Australian government was looking for skilled migrants. I was five years of age and my brother was seven.
The prospects in Argentina at the time were bleak, the military had taken over and my parents believed a better life would be found in Australia. We lived in a government-funded hostel in South Coogee for six months before being relocated. During my childhood we were constantly surrounded by families of similar background. My mother would look after the children of these families, whilst their parents and my father worked.
I first experienced racism, in the 6th grade at school, when another "Australian" kid, teased me for playing "wog ball" - soccer. My father taught me to stand up for myself and on this occasion I did, with my fists. After many fights and playing the “Aussie game” - Rugby League, I was left alone, “respected” if you will. However other "weaker" ethnic kids would be teased and bullied.
I recall an incident of the "Wogs versus Aussies" fight which became quite serious and other similar fights that had taken place at other schools. There was also an incident around the same time as the Falkland War when a few of the Argentinian kids fought with the Anglo Saxon kids after taunts about our background became rife.
These experiences definitely shaped how I interacted with others and who I chose to mix with. It was sport that broke down many barriers for me and helped me interact more with non ethnic kids.
Due to my parents' struggle with English I noticed that certain sectors of society would treat them with disrespect. Surprisingly this often occurred when dealing with other immigrants rather than with the Anglo-Saxons. I noticed that people of ethnic background would be more racist towards my parents than “True Blue Aussies”.
A recent incident of racism occurred in my social circle when some “hoons” were driving around Brighton Le Sands and a mate of mine commented "bloody wogs". I asked him "You do realise that I am a wog?", to which he responded "No you're not! You're Argentinian - that is not a wog".
I feel racism is part of our current culture in different ways to how I experienced it in my youth. It is now seen as exotic or cool to have a European or Brazilian background. The new target seems to be people from the Middle East or Asia. I believe that accepting other cultures and their differences is key to reducing racism, as it is accepting the Australian way of life.
We cannot live in Australia exactly in the same way as we would have lived in our country of birth, instead as immigrants we need to find a middle ground to embrace old and new migrants' cultures.
Multiculturalism to me means to find the best of every culture and adapt it to an Australian way of life. This approach is often not being embraced as too many cultures try to change everything about our current way of life to make it more similar to how it was back in their “home country”. This is what often triggers clashes amongst people of different backgrounds.
Racism is not shrinking, rather it is merely shifting. Racism is not only about your cultural background but also about your economic status and which specific country you come from. How often do we hear “look at that bogan” or “they must be from the west” when referring to other people?
I am proud to say that in my current community in the south of Sydney I have not experienced any form of racism and hope that my children will never experience it either.
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