In today’s issue of The Australian, John Spooner has an article titled: Why should a satirist like Bill Leak be forced to explain himself? My heading “Honesty is not dead”, was prompted by one of the reader comments, which I will come to soon, but first, I was reminded of one of the things that astounds me most in this case when Spooner wrote:
I (Spooner) telephoned him (Leak) as soon as Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane invited anyone offended by Leak’s “racism” over a cartoon portraying an Aboriginal father and son to formally complain to the Human Rights Commission.
The Commissioner actually invited people to register offence! Is the HRC so short of issues that it has to resort to touting for business? Is it concerned that not enough people have considered the possibility of taking offence at Leak’s cartoon, and need to be prompted to do so?
Whatever, I was so impressed by the clear-sighted honesty of the following comment by “Peter”, that I thought it should have attention drawn to it:
I am Indigenous.
I work extensively with youths in disadvantaged communities.
In my opinion, the cartoon is not racist.
The content is salient in our communities and is a constant source of internal discussion and debate. Objections to the drawing of Indigenous people as caricatures are - frankly - absurd. People of any and all races are caricatured by cartoonists. It's what they do. The logical extrapolation is that cartoonists and their cartoons will be prohibited because of the risk of offence. Or that cartoonists may only draw people of their own race. Facile.
It is deeply irritating that so many people use my race to fortify their own political narratives. I am far from alone in objecting to being routinely condescended and infantilised as a helpless and hapless victim of a white society rigidly calibrated against me...as someone who needs wholly uninvited 'defending' by people who do so for their own moral vanity and whose understanding of our issues is purely in the theoretical. It is difficult enough to encourage our kids to take responsibility for themselves, to be accountable for their own outcomes and to claim pride for themselves without also battling the nihilistic dogma that world is malevolently, insurmountably against them.
Racism comes in many forms. Unsolicited paternalism is one of them.
I apologise that I'm somewhat repetitive with this overall message. However, I (and others) strongly believe that these views - which are more widely held in Indigenous communities than many people think - deserve reiteration. The fundamentals are non-partisan and apolitical. Being 'spoken-for' without permission or context as a political device, is unwelcome...and plain rude.
The italics were not added by me; they were in the original article.
Re: Honesty is not dead
Posted by Pete on October 27, 2016, 3:48 pm, in reply to "Honesty is not dead"
No, its not dead.. but it does seem to be more frequently in the comments section* (if the censors don't get to them first!)
* i.e. not from virtue signalling, leftist, liberal media "elites"
--Previous Message-- : : In today’s issue of The Australian , John : Spooner has an article titled: Why should : a satirist like Bill Leak be forced to : explain himself? My heading “Honesty is : not dead”, was prompted by one of the reader : comments, which I will come to soon, but : first, I was reminded of one of the things : that astounds me most in this case when : Spooner wrote: I (Spooner) telephoned him : (Leak) as soon as Race Discrimination : Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane invited : anyone offended by Leak’s “racism” over a : cartoon portraying an Aboriginal father and : son to formally complain to the Human Rights : Commission. The Commissioner actually : invited people to register offence! Is the : HRC so short of issues that it has to resort : to touting for business? Is it concerned : that not enough people have considered the : possibility of taking offence at Leak’s : cartoon, and need to be prompted to do so? : : Whatever, I was so impressed by the : clear-sighted honesty of the following : comment by “Peter”, that I thought it should : have attention drawn to it: I am Indigenous. : : I work extensively with youths in : disadvantaged communities. : : In my opinion, the cartoon is not racist. : : The content is salient in our communities : and is a constant source of internal : discussion and debate. Objections to the : drawing of Indigenous people as caricatures : are - frankly - absurd. People of any and : all races are caricatured by cartoonists. : It's what they do . The logical : extrapolation is that cartoonists and their : cartoons will be prohibited because of the : risk of offence. Or that cartoonists may : only draw people of their own race. Facile. : : It is deeply irritating that so many people : use my race to fortify their own political : narratives. I am far from alone in objecting : to being routinely condescended and : infantilised as a helpless and hapless : victim of a white society rigidly calibrated : against me...as someone who needs wholly : uninvited 'defending' by people who do so : for their own moral vanity and whose : understanding of our issues is purely in the : theoretical. It is difficult enough to : encourage our kids to take responsibility : for themselves, to be accountable for their : own outcomes and to claim pride for : themselves without also battling the : nihilistic dogma that world is malevolently, : insurmountably against them. : : Racism comes in many forms. Unsolicited : paternalism is one of them. : : I apologise that I'm somewhat repetitive : with this overall message. However, I (and : others) strongly believe that these views - : which are more widely held in Indigenous : communities than many people think - : deserve reiteration. The fundamentals are : non-partisan and apolitical. Being : 'spoken-for' without permission or context : as a political device, is unwelcome...and : plain rude. The italics were not added by : me; they were in the original article. : : :