In Australia most racial discrimination has been directed against our First Peoples, initially by driving them off their land, and then discriminating against them by government policy and under the justice system. The effects of discrimination are reflected in the sharp difference between Indigenous Australians and others in wealth, health, access to education, employment, respect for culture, representation in prison, and agency in their living. Underlying these things are an ingrained and unacknowledged attitude to Indigenous Australians as inferior and the denial of our history and of the need for reconciliation.
In this case the historical denial of rights and the pervasive discriminatory attitude that flows from it have affected tangibly the health of Indigenous Australians. They have also affected the spiritual health of non-Indigenous Australians. It inevitably coarsens other relationships, too.
When we look more broadly around the world at the extent and growth of discrimination against immigrants, racial, religious and tribal minorities, people who are poor and with other disadvantage, we can easily give way to lament for a kinder, past world. But we need to move beyond that to hope and commitment.
In the words of ‘Flower of Scotland’ we can say:
Those days are past now
And in the past they must remain
But we can still rise now . . .
Our rising begins with small actions and recognitions. A moment’s thought will show that despite our best-efforts discrimination is common. It occurs whenever we treat some people worse than others because of some quality that is irrelevant to our exchange. We can resist it by simple and gracious actions. If, for example, someone asks us for directions to the nearest station, we should answer them with a smile regardless of their religion, their race, the school they attended, their poverty or wealth, any disability they have, the colour of their skin or their fluency in our language.
The Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21 March) and the Day for Zero Discrimination (1 March) are occasions for noticing and celebrating small gains. In recent years sportspersons who have drawn attention to racial abuse have made it less acceptable to display racial prejudice overtly. That has made us more aware of the extent of discrimination, as well as more ready to call it out. Similarly, there is much more acceptance of persons who are gay or divergent in gender, and greater appreciation of what it is like to live with mental or physical disability.
We need to build on these improvements whole continuing to unmask the prejudice that gives birth to discrimination. That in turn will enable us to see the inequality that fosters prejudice. To end discrimination, we need to change society.