A day to day acount of the whacky and wonderful world of Muggaz - i tend to be having too much fun these days, and often cannot remember moments due to debauchery - its time the internet repayed my loyalty by recording my antics.
Whose Responsibility?
Published on March 10, 2004 By Muggaz In International
I will tell you a story to help you better understand where I am coming from.

My office is located in North Richmond – we have been here for just over a year, and as far as offices go, this one is really nice, but the location really, really sucks.

When I go out for lunch to the same places, I greet the proprietors and I expect them to greet me, it’s all about developing a relationship with your customer, it took me about 2-3 months before the proprietors would look me in the eye and say hello to me… no matter how many times I was ignored, I still would say hello every day.

You want to know why this is. It’s because I work in North Richmond, and as an Anglo Saxon male, I am the minority in this little part of town, and it’s a scary thought.

All is good now, I get a smile out of most the store owners and clerks, but the fact that it took me three months with my personable attitude and demeanour, I am totally uncomfortable with that fact.

I tell you this story, because it’s a big issue for me, and I believe it requires a lot of work, but immigration policies need to be looked at because separate and intentionally isolationist communities are all over the cities of Australia, and I imagine it would be the same all over the western world.

Whose responsibility is it to get the immigrants to assimilate with our culture?

Melbourne is one of the most ethnically rich and diverse cities in the world, and I would not change that for anything. Predominantly we have Greeks, Italians, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Polish and Slavs, and I love them all. To defuse any racist allegations, I have no qualms with any of these people – I have been surrounded by different ethnicities since I was in pre-school – the colour of ones skin is not something that troubles me. It is though when I am the one being judged because of my skin colour in my own country.

I can walk down Victoria St any time of the day, and quite easily the odds will be that I am one of only a handful of Anglo-Saxons. I will walk down the street, and it’s my way to smile and say hello to people on the street, just spread a little happiness… Usually I will get a smile back or a hello from the other Anglo Saxons, but the Vietnamese look at you as if you are a stranger, and you should not be there.

They will also banter on in their language, if feels like they are talking about you directly amongst themselves sometimes – I may be paranoid, but I think it’s safe to assume at least 5 times when this has happened.

Australia has a problem with urbanisation. 90% of our population live in 20% of the land. Australia has a capacity for 10,000 immigrants a year at the moment, and I believe it should be more, but policy needs to be looked at. I think if people are coming to our country, it should be their responsibility to assimilate. Ignorance can not be an excuse. They are the ones who should go to English Language schools, and culture classes to some extent. Their should be initiatives where a local family sponsors an immigrant family, and they show each other the best of both worlds - and enjoy it together.

At the moment it is too easy for these little communities to develop and ostracise themselves from mainstream Melbourne. When the immigrants get here, they are all ushered to the same commission flats in the cities, and of course, are generally surrounded with people of their own ethnicity – I don’t necessarily disagree with this, but it just makes it easy for them to deal with people who only speak their language, and they are not forced to learn our language, way of life, and how to respect our culture.

At the end of the day, Australia is a democracy, and it is up to the people to allow the immigrants to come in – and I have to say, from what I see on a day to day basis, I am not impressed with these people coming to Australia and generally mooching of our welfare system without putting anything back into the community.

I can’t comment on the situation in the USA – but we have a big problem with thuggery amongst the ethnic youths. I wont say it is all the Vietnamese, but I will use them as an example because it’s what I see everyday.

On a corner near my work there are always the same young Vietnamese drug pushers… selling heroin and what not… and they have absolutely no fear because it is their home. Police are literally too afraid to do anything around that area, because they are simply outnumbered tremendously. It also seems there is a very strong gang mentality, and there have been countless incidents of stabbing and violence amongst young Vietnamese in Melbourne… When I go to a house party, and a car load of Vietnamese youth’s rock up, I am genuinely afraid that violence will occur on some level, and this is a warranted fear – let me tell you.

If this keeps happening, I am personally going to become quite vocal on the issue, and do my part to raise the questions that need to be answered – If the Ethnics aren’t going to make an effort to assimilate and become part of the diverse Melbourne community rather than a separate entity, then they can’t come anymore – it’s as simple as that.

They can have their own little communities, but I think they should be shuffled of to central Australia or something, where they can do as they please, and spit on the sidewalk as often as they desire.

Of course that’s not what I want, but unless these immigrants don’t make the effort and contribute something back to our society, that’s exactly what will happen. The Immigrants need to take the initiative to learn English, to mingle with Anglo Saxons and to appreciate the fact that we do want to help them, but it’s very hard when they don’t want our help.

All I want is to feel like a local in my own country, this isn’t deciphered by the colour of your skin, it’s deciphered by your environment, where you feel safe, and people say hello to you because you are a compatriot.

BAM!!!

Comments (Page 1)
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on Mar 10, 2004
I wonder if part of the problem is the government of Australia which allows people to come in without requiring them to learn the English language and the Australian culture As to looking you in the eye--that it probably a cultural thing. They may be doing what is polite in their culture but not in yours. I know from talking with new immigrants that moving to a totally diferent culture is overwhelming. In the U.S. most of the immigrants were paired with a sponsor who would teach them about our culture. I don't know if that is still true.
on Mar 10, 2004
Australian culture As to looking you in the eye--that it probably a cultural thing


I am aware of this... However, when people say hello to you, if the culture is to ignore people, and not even smile, i will make all moves necessary to make sure said culture is not welcome in my country.

That is just plain rudeness, and should not be welcomed anywhere.

Thanks for your Comments Sherye! Its good to know a respectful member of the community is reading my stuff, and commenting as well

BAM!!!
on Mar 11, 2004
Umm, there's no law requiring people to learn English to become American citizens either...

Cheers
on Mar 11, 2004
Do like the Dutch are doing and throw em all out. 20,000 refugees are getting the royal Oranje boot. These people never got a " green card" and have been wardens of the state_until now...Bye Bye.


Immigrants are caught up in the terror=suspect group at the moment, here it's like they are battening down the hatches expecting floods of economic refugees to take jobs and cost tax money. "Chinese takeways" or smuggling human-beings, are becoming more and more common.
So to prevent people from simply marrying a green card ( or the equinalent of) _you have to be over 21 and the non Dutch partner has to do what Sheyre says:_Learn Dutch before you get here and have a willing sponsor to support you( if the shit hits the fan) for 10 years after establishing res. in this overpopulated country.(NL)
Take it easy , Muggaz.
on Mar 11, 2004
Thanks for your comments guys...

I am not saying speaking English to immigrate is essential.. you dont have to speak English to come here... but you really must make an effort to learn once you are here.... There should be conditions of staying or something... I think depending on age, some sort of test should be taken after six months... Not only a language test, but a culture test as well... otherwise the boot.

Surely the oppurtunity of staying in Australia is incentive enough for these people to learn our language? but at the moment, there is just no requirement, because they can walk on down to the Vietnamese community centre - which is an excellent concept, but everyone is still in their comfort zones. The best way to learn how to swim is to throw them in the pool.

BAM!!!
on Mar 11, 2004
So, which aspect of American Culture do we test them on? Texas cowboy culture? Arkansas redneck culture? Oregon Hippy Culture? New York Culture? Southern Culture? Southern California Culture? Native American Culture?

Cheers
on Mar 11, 2004
Jeb,

I understand what you are saying, but there surely are some generic questions that Immigrants could answer...

Public Holidays, and what they mean... Influential Characters, and what they did.

Multi Culturism is excellent, dont get me wrong... but who's responsibility should assimilation be?

Thanks
on Mar 11, 2004
Is assimilation completely necessary?
on Mar 11, 2004
The thing is Muggaz, and I have first hand experience with this since I teach US history, there are a large number of Americans who don't know the answers to some of the basic questions you might ask. And, some native American groups find it offensive to celebrate a day for the man who helped bring Europeans to the world and eliminate most of those who were living here already.

But seriously, I challenge you to identify, tell me when they lived, and what they wrote, for most of the people on this list without looking them up:

Alexis de Toqueville
Adam Smith
Thomas Paine
John C. Calhoun
Boss Tweed

These five were the most often missed on my midterms, let's see if the politicalmachine and Joeuser crowd can do better.

Cheers
on Mar 11, 2004
Jeb - if i cared about America, i might know who those guys are... but i am in Australia, and i dont.

You really are missing my point to this article... it's not about who knows what, but is it the Govenrments responsibility to oversee integration of Immigrants, or do the immigrants themselves owe it to the accepting culture to do their best to assimilate?

Thanks
on Mar 11, 2004
Alright, governments responsibility. That's my two cents.

Cheers
on Mar 12, 2004
Could you be so kind as to elaborate on why you think its the governments responsibility?

I agree with you, but not to the same extent i imagine... What are some ideas that would help the immigrants assimilate within the community? how could you make sure it happened?

Thanks
on Mar 12, 2004
Free language courses, classes on historical concepts. I'm not so sure about culture, at least coming from the US because there are so many different cultures, but I'd imagine in australia something about the two dominant cultures there, Aussie and aboriginal.

Cheers
on Mar 16, 2004
i think a lot of people are missing the important point. we need immigrants to come to our countries. without them our economies would not prosper.

why should they assimilate these immigrants then? they are helping us, more than we are helping them, which by the way is very little.

sure they should learn english, but only because it would help them. free language courses would be great, but who says they have the time to take them? most of the time immigrants come to our countries to seek better lives. a lot of the time they are very well educated. however, when they come to our country, what do they get? they get the low paying, part time work. and because they get this poor jobs, they may need to take on two or more jobs to survive...and so now, how do they find time to take language courses when their main concern is getting food on the table.

we white people often don't recognize what minorites go through...its called white priviledge. when these "immagrants" don't say hi back to you, have you ever considered why? could it be that they have continually been faced with racism, and so when someone good intentionally says hello, they may be skeptical, until they realize you're sincere?

also why should these immigrants learn our holidays, most of them are based on religion, and if they do not share this religion, they do not, according to canada's charter of rights and freedoms, have to celebrate them.

have you ever considered why there is so much violence in minority communities? there is so much violence and drug abuse in communities with large minority populations because it is these people who are usually living in poverty. they turn to illegal activities, not because they are bad people, but because they have little or no alternatives.

im not very educated on this issue, but i do know that when i read your blog, it totally offended me. i think you need to put ourself in their shoes, and maybe you'd change you opinion.

peace.
on Mar 16, 2004
If the governments of USA and Oz should pander to immigrants in spite of native citizens, then can other countries pander to US and Aussie citizens in spite of their native ones?
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