freediver wrote on Jul 4^th, 2007 at 3:37pm:


No, John Laws is straight.  Look it up, Alan Jones is a Homosexual.

Non racists tend to be non agressive, progressive thinkers who put forward their arguments in a logical compassionate way. And by the nature of compassionate people, they are not going to tell other people how to think. Is this why racism is tolerated?

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Compassionate... yes....

But 'logical?'

As far as I know... I've never tried telling someone what to think. 

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My apologies.

a national shame:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking-news/racism-hits-nonenglish-speakers-health/2007/09/17/1189881356288.html

Racial discrimination is putting at risk the mental health of many Victorians, a new government report has found.

The VicHealth report, More Than Tolerance: Embracing Diversity For Health, was based on a survey of more than 4,000 people.

It found almost two-in-five Victorians from non-English speaking backgrounds reported they had been treated with disrespect, insulted or called names because of their ethnicity, with a small proportion of those saying they experienced discrimination often.

Of those who reported racial discrimination, 40 per cent said they suffered discrimination at work, while 30 per cent were discriminated against in an educational setting, the report said.

Almost 45 per cent said they had a bad experience with racism at a sporting or public event, while 19 per cent said they experienced racism at the hands of police.

About one-third of Victorians said they could identify cultural or ethnic groups they believed did not fit into Australian society.

The report revealed that those who suffered discrimination were more likely to suffer poor mental health, smoke and misuse drugs or alcohol.

The findings tally with previous studies that showed an association between discrimination and heart disease, diabetes and low infant birth rate, VicHealth chief executive Todd Harper said.

People from migrant and refugee backgrounds continued to suffer "unacceptably high levels of discrimination, in turn affecting their health and well-being", he said.

Former Australian Medical Association president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, who is a GP in Melbourne's west, and who will help launch the report, said the report found a strong connection between racism and poor mental health.

Mr Harper said while the statistics on racism were striking, there was also good news in the report.

"About 90 per cent of Victorian agreed that it was good to have a society made up of different cultures, so I think that there is a fair bit of support that we can build upon here," he said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Discrimination-sparks-poor-health/2007/09/17/1189881383572.html

More than 40 per cent of Victorians are either born overseas or have a parent born overseas.

But the report revealed that Victorians were embracing diversity, more willingly than people from Queensland, New South Wales and other industrialised countries.

"Preventing discrimination will provide social, economic and health benefits for all Victorians," Mr Harper said.

Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, the former Australian Medical Association (AMA) president, said evidence from the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed culturally based discrimination leads to violence and trauma, affecting people over generations.

That's the plan DT. Of course, you could save us a lot of taxpayer funds and just stop harassing them.

Have I ever given any indication that I call people of different races names in the street?

You don't honestly think that racism needs to be so blunt to have a negative impact on scoety, do you?

perhaps they get discriminated agaisnt because the people working in health find it hard to communicate with them dure to language and perhaps culteral background. and in a busy shift they dont wanna put up with it?

or perhaps they are racist.