Name: Here's what you told us about racism in Australia during the coronavirus pandemic - ABC News
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Here's what you told us about racism in Australia during the coronavirus pandemic - ABC News

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ShareThe ABC has asked readers to share their personal experiences of racism during the coronavirus pandemic and the response has been overwhelming.Hundreds of people from across the country wrote in to tell us they had either witnessed or been involved in racially charged incidents in supermarkets, on the streets and in their cars throughout the lockdown period.They said they had been coughed on, bumped into and insulted in public places.Many were completely alone when the attacks happened — others were surrounded by bystanders who sometimes attempted to defend them.Some say they are now too frightened to go shopping by themselves, or even take a walk around the block in their own neighbourhoods., and to report racist attacks to authorities.Here's what you told us about coronavirus-related racism.One of the most common locations where respondents said they had experienced racial abuse was the supermarket, one of the few places Australians have been allowed to visit during the lockdown.Sometimes the abuse consisted of dirty looks or derogatory comments uttered at a low volume, but just loud enough for the person to hear it — other times it was more blatant.Dyxi Mohammed from Melbourne described being verbally abused by a man in the deli section at her local Coles."All of a sudden I just heard some guy at the side yelling 'f***ing Asian," she said."I was just taken aback, and then I kind of looked at him and I was like 'what did you say to me', and he repeated himself again."Ms Mohammed said she walked towards the man to confront him, and he took a huge step back and told her to stay away from him.'[He said] something about the virus, started angrily ranting and swearing … I think I asked him if he was going to apologise, because that wasn't OK," she said."People walked by, saw him just yelling at me, and didn't come up and say anything or see if I was OK. They made eye contact with me and did absolutely nothing."A young female Coles employee eventually intervened and stepped between Ms Mohammed and the man, staying until Ms Mohammed finished her shopping because the man refused to leave.Louis from northern Sydney had a similar experience in the toiletries aisle of his local supermarket, while shopping with his young child."As I was looking at items on the shelf, I heard this [woman] getting louder and louder, and I heard words such as 'Chinese' and 'apocalypse'," he told the ABC."I think when she noticed that I turned my head, she started then chatting really loudly … 'It's all their fault for the virus', essentially."Louis — who is Filipino — said the woman became increasingly agitated but walked away very quickly when he turned around to confront her about her comments.He said other shoppers in the aisle who had witnessed the incident spoke with him about what happened after the woman walked off, a bystander response he said was helpful."I think the acknowledgement [from witnesses] after the fact was really quite supportive — it allowed us to just kind of brush it off and move on," he said."I think there should be information given out for general members of the public who witness an act of discrimination, and what they should be doing."Generally people in my community want to be supportive of minorities who are the subject of racial abuse. They just need to know what to do."Some respondents described being harassed by other drivers on the road and in car parks, and many more said they had racist abuse yelled at them from people driving past.People described having things thrown at them in the street and being harassed by other pedestrians while going out for a walk near their homes.Eli from Melbourne had a particularly awful experience when she was in her car waiting at a red light."This white Commodore with a green P-plate on it and four guys in the car started throwing eggs and burgers and wrappers and things at my car," she told the ABC."They were just shouting 'go back home', 'go back to where you came from', 'you dirty C-word, you dirty monkey'."Eli's partner was talking to her on speakerphone at the time and could hear what was happening. He told her not to engage with the men in the car."But they're right there, right next to me throwing things at my car, so I end up pulling down my window," she said.She asked the men what their problem was, but they continued racially abusing her until the light changed."They honestly started laughing when they saw my face — I think that was the worst part," she said."There's something so deeply shocking [about] having complete strangers point out such personal things about you."I didn't realise I was crying, so they all started laughing, and then they drove off, and then I pulled around the corner to have a bit of a cry. And then I washed my car and I went home."Julie, who also lives in Melbourne, described being verbally abused by two different groups of people while out on a walk with her 16-month-old daughter."Where we live there's a little creek and a bridge and a footpath where you can walk," she said."I stopped briefly just to show [my daughter] some ducks and then I just heard someone kind of scream at me 'get away, get off, get off'."Julie said an elderly couple had begun yelling at her, telling her to keep three metres away from them."They were just like 'you're not supposed to be here', 'you're supposed to be wearing a mask', 'stay away from us'," she said.As she moved away from the couple with her daughter, she said a man who appeared to be in his 30s also joined in and began shouting at her."It was just very confronting to have a group of people just yelling at me while I was there with my daughter," she said.While she initially thought the incident may have been purely about a fear of coronavirus, after she moved away from the spot, Julie said she saw the elderly couple stop to greet another older man who was out walking his dog."And they were probably less than a metre apart from each other … so that's when I thought 'oh, OK, I get it now'," she said.Since then, Julie said she has been reluctant to leave the house."If someone walks past me, I jump a little bit, I'm a bit on edge … I'm avoiding people now that I don't know. It has changed me," she said.Respondents gave a wide variety of suggestions for what could and should be done to address racism.The rhetoric used by Australian politicians was an issue that came up repeatedly. Many people wrote that they wished politicians would be more careful about how they spoke about China.There was concern politicians were not making it clear that their criticisms of the Chinese Government had nothing to do with Chinese-Australians or Chinese nationals living in Australia.Many respondents also said they thought mainstream media coverage of the Chinese Government — including by the ABC — also failed to make that distinction clear enough.Julie from Melbourne pointed to recent comments Victorian MP Tim Smith made about Premier Daniel Andrews, referring to him as "Chairman Dan", in an apparent reference to the Chinese dictator Mao Zedong."We're watching the news, we're watching our politicians having this kind of aggressive behaviour against China, but people don't distinguish China and the Chinese Government to the Chinese people, or Asians — they see them all the same," she said."Make it clear that it's not the Chinese people, it's not Chinese-Australians or Asian-Australians who have done this."Mr Smith told the ABC that community concerns about his use of the word "chairman" were "utterly ridiculous", stressing it was a reference to power-wielding communist regimes, and there was "no racial aspect to that at all".He said he was always clear his criticisms were directed against the Chinese Communist Party, not Chinese people or Chinese Australians, and said he condemned the recent rise in racist attacks."I condemn that racism completely and utterly — it's got no place in modern Australia," he said.Others said there needed to be more education in schools about multiculturalism, including the contributions migrants from Asian nations had made to Australia.Some said they believed heftier fines would help address racist abuse, but there was concern police did not fully investigate allegations of racist incidents when they were reported.Stella from Lower Templestowe in Melbourne said she was disheartened by the response she got from both Woolworths and the police when she reported a racist message written on a sign at her local supermarket.Someone had written "F** Asians" in large letters on a laminated notice, left on an empty shelf in the paper towels section.While Stella said the store manager apologised to her for the sign, she said she was told the store would not be able to investigate who wrote it — and when she contacted police, she said she was told they could not do anything about it either."The system currently is not good enough … There are publicly racist acts right now that fall outside the mechanisms we have [in place] to deal with them," she said.She said she thought a special hotline for reporting racist incidents would help, as well as a special police task force dedicated to investigating such incidents.A Woolworths spokesperson reiterated they apologised to the customer and immediately removed the sign from the store. "We want everyone to feel welcome in our stores and sincerely regret this wasn't the case on this occasion," they said in an email. "Our code of conduct makes it clear to all our team members that discrimination is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our business. We expect the same from our customers."Another running theme was the issue of representation in the media: A lot of respondents felt that if Australians with an Asian background were more visible on television and in the media, there would be less racism in society.Speaking to ABC Melbourne's Conversation Hour program on Tuesday, Victorian Multicultural Commission chair Vivienne Nguyen said while the coronavirus pandemic was likely leading to a spike in racist incidents, it was part of a broader issue."Racism existed before COVID-19 and it will exist post-COVID-19. It's a matter of how we as a nation, as a people, consider the seriousness of the issue — the impact that it has on the victims — and as a nation determine what we need to do about it," she said."And I'm not sure if we at this point are entirely clear and unanimous about what we need to do about it."Additional reporting by Erin HandleyWe know that incidents of racism have elevated anxiety in Asian communities across Australia and an increasing number of people are now looking for solutions.So, we want your help to get a better picture of what's happening across Australia; to hear from people who have been subjected to racism or seen it take place.Your identity will be treated as strictly confidential by the ABC, unless otherwise agreed with you, and any sensitive information you provide to us will not be published without your express permission.For details about how the information we collect during crowdsourced investigations is handled, see the .13 May 202013 May 2020Wed 13 May 2020 at 7:03pm, 13 May 202013 May 2020Wed 13 May 2020 at 9:24pmMore on:

ShareThe ABC has asked readers to share their personal experiences of racism during the coronavirus pandemic and the response has been overwhelming.Hundreds of people from across the country wrote in to tell us they had either witnessed or been involved in racially charged incidents in supermarkets, on the streets and in their cars throughout the lockdown period.They said they had been coughed on, bumped into and insulted in public places.Many were completely alone when the attacks happened — others were surrounded by bystanders who sometimes attempted to defend them.Some say they are now...

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Here's what you told us about racism in Australia during the coronavirus pandemic - ABC News

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