Link back to commentThanks again for another interesting article Peter,
It is a rather long article with many points raised, so I thought I would tackle just two points.
The first is regarding Hanson's 'It's OK to be white'. It is my understanding was the objection had very little to do with the statement, but with its association, which was apparently with internet white supremicst trolls. So, it seems the objection was not that she was claiming its OK to be white, but that she was utilitising a white supremicist slogan. Similar can be said of Fraser Anning's 'final solution'. These words, on their own, mean very little at all, but it is the association that is the source of the outrage.
The second point I will address is the concept of 'white privilege', and your comment on Di Natalie's point about 'white people winning the lottery'. My feelings on this concept is that it exists on a spectrum of legitmacy, and that Di Natalie's statement falls on the illegitimate, and in fact lazy, end of the spectrum. However, can we really say that even in today's modern world, that having the attribute of being white either comes with no advantages or doesn't come with the absence of disadvantages? To give Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory as an example. As we all know many of the plights of Indigenous Australians in the NT were inherited from the acts of our predecessors. So, as a white person this is a disadvantage I have not inherited, therefore it is a privilege. I don't see how being self-reflective about such facts require the feelings of guilt or fault (this is where I see your grievances with how the concept is utilised by those in the media, but I wish to not throw the baby out with the bathwater on legitimate concepts) . A further point, I am not sure where you stand on this Peter, but as a determinist I think all of us are winners and losers of the natural lottery, so given our not so distant racist past, it is hard to see how the colour of skin we are born with would have no effect on how much we win/lose in the natural lottery.
Thanks again, once again a great topic,
Andrew.