One person sins, everyone pays

Dr. Charlie Teo is a world-renowned Australian neurosurgeon and the son of Chinese immigrants. He was chosen this year to deliver the New South Wales Australia Day speech next Monday. The NSW Australia Day Council just might regret that decision. While Dr. Teo claims that Australia is 'the best nation in the world' and one in which he is proud and happy to live in, he plans to mention in his speech that Australia is still very much a racist nation.

His controversial views stem from the experiences his daughter had during past Australia Day celebrations, in which she had been vilified by drunken Australians who mocked her for her Chinese appearance and told her to 'go home'. Dr. Teo, a two-time NSW Australian of the Year finalist and Order of Australia Medal also used the experience of a neurosurgeon from India who came to study with him as ammunition for his argument. The man told him that while he was standing on the side of the road waiting to cross someone spat on him and told him to go back to where he came from.
Dr. Teo also takes shots at the people 'targetted' by racists, claiming that immigrants sometimes bring it upon themselves. He says that some immigrants are misbehaved and disrespectful of Australia and its culture and so this makes it hard for some Australian people to embrace immigration. Dr. Teo wraps up his argument by claiming that, apart from Indigenous Australians, the rest of Australia are immigrants. Therefore, the view that caucasian Australians are the real Australians is wrong.

I can understand why Dr. Teo would make such statements. There are some pretty fervent racists out there who go by the 'F**k off, we're full' mentality and openly take shots at other people's culture, background and appearance. But for him to bring this up at an Australia Day speech is garbage. Not only would it be an insult to the spirit of the event but it would also serve as a slap on the face for the Australian people who are not racist. If this is the way Dr. Teo thinks, well then it's his opinion. Heck, I'm pretty sure that there are people out there who shares his view. But there's a time and a place for everything and an Australia Day Speech is not the platform to use if you want to air out some dirty laundry about a nation and its people.
Dr. Teo should also note that it was 'drunk' Australians who abused his daughter. It would be unfair of him to brand all Australians racist just because some drunken idiots who practice false patriotism had a go at his daughter. If he wants to think that way, then it's his opinion and he should be entitled to it, but he should keep it to himself unless he wants to start trouble or, worse, another race riot reminiscent of the 2005 Cronulla Riots.

For me personally, I won't go so far as to call all Australians racist but because of some people who think it is ok to make fun of others for their backgrounds and culture I am not surprised to hear that some people see Australians as rude and racist. Some people have lamented that getting a tattoo of the Southern Cross or Australian Flag, behaving in a typical 'Aussie manner' (enjoying a few beers at the pub, watching sport, enjoying a weekend barbeque, speaking in a thick Australian accent, being laid-back and free-spirited etc) and even just owning an Australian flag is now a burden since people look at them and instantly think 'Oh, there goes a bogan!' It's an unfair assumption but thanks to some people, they exist. If you go on Facebook and look up the community page Aussie Pride you'll see people who, when they're not talking about what makes Australia great (which is the likely purpose of the page's existence) they're making fun of other people and their culture and appearance, often with the use of racial epithets.

Moreover, and as Dr. Teo pointed out, some Australians also complain that some immigrants don't make an effort to embrace their new home, blatantly disrespect customs and are genuinely misbehaved. Fair enough, but when you hear stories of Australians misbehaving overseas, whether it is in Europe and ESPECIALLY Asia, such views kind of make you shake your head. Ok, so being a tourist and an immigrant are two different things, but when you go to another country, whether it is permanent or temporary, you are expected to be respectful of their customs and obey their rules.

I guess if there's one thing that Dr. Charlie Teo needs to understand it's that racism exist all over the world and that just because one person committed the crime it doesn't mean you have to condemn their entire community, especially during a national celebration.

But that being said, it is sad for people when one of their own acts like an idiot and ruins it for everyone else. In this case, there are people who think that Australia is a racist country just because some people seem to get a kick out of making fun of other people's backgrounds. Such a way of thinking is unfair and is far from the truth, but because of people who punish an entire community, race, culture etc for one person's stupidity others pay the price.

Finally, racist people exist all over the world and they come in different colours and backgrounds, they are not just caucasian. So if Dr. Teo wants to brand Australia as a racist country, how about doing the same to the rest of the world?