Gentle Tolerance

Civilized states and well socialized populations suddenly succumbing to racial divisions surprise us all. We would truly like to believe that civil societies in the developed world are now above racist and violent demonstrations against ethnic groups. We pride ourselves on our collective humanity, our willingness to co-operate with one another, our obligations to empathize with those whose living conditions are sub-par to our own, and our need to assist them, when possible.

Australian universities earn a sizeable income from inviting East Indians to study there. And, as a result there is a good-sized community of young Indians living in Australia, studying in universities there, and depositing goodly sums of hard cash for the country and its institutes of higher learning. So it's more than a little disturbing to learn that Indian students studying in the southern state of Victoria have been the victims of violence.

These are race-engendered attacks against Indian students by Australian thugs. And their incidence has not sufficiently induced the government to adequately respond to the situation. The Indian High Commission has asserted itself to demand greater protection for Indian students in Australia, encouraging the state to enact new laws to crack down on such hate crimes.

And there is the problematic position of Roma living in the Czech Republic and Hungary, where the Roma are considered to be an inferior group of people, and they suffer lifelong indignity and persecution. So much so that they see no future for themselves and their children living in these European countries thought otherwise to be exemplars of civility. But are they, really?

In Italy now there have been clashes between locals in Calabria, and African immigrants. Violence erupting when hundreds of mostly African farm labourers protested after several of them had been shot at by local white toughs. Illegal African immigrants work in the region as day labourers on farms, living in poor conditions, exploited by organized crime.

Racial persecution in Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Australia. Violence against ethnic groups different than the majority populations of these countries. Xenophobic fears and racial epithets resulting in violence and the degradation of the human spirit.