One but Many
EVERY Australia Day there is a stream of articles, letters to the editor and comments criticising young Australians who drape themselves in our national flag, have the southern cross tattooed onto their bodies and yell out “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie’’ like some sort of mating ritual.
More often then not, the criticism is followed by a smorgasbord of opinions about dangerous nationalism, the influence of the US and Howard’s culture wars, with a dash of the 2005 Cronulla Riots thrown in for good measure.
Those who sing the national anthem as they parade down the street call those who stay at home by themselves, un-Australian. Those who do not want to respond with ‘’Oi, Oi, Oi’’ call those who transform the national flag into a cape, un-Australian. From this cyclical whirlpool of discrimination always comes the one question: how does a ‘’real’’ Australian celebrate January 26th?
Does a barbecue, a beer and backyard cricket make someone Australian? Does hanging a flag out of the window or beeping at the signs that say “honk if you’re Australian’’ allow the boxes on the checklist to be ticked? It is on Australia day that we see the curiously tight grip that the myth of being Australian has on the public.
I am the last person who would wear an Australian flag as a skirt but I think we all need to keep our minds open to the multitude of ways that people can embrace being Australian. Some choose to parade down the street bursting into spontaneous renditions of Waltzing Matilda, while others get excited when they vote in an election for the first time. I’m conscious of sounding too much like the “We are Australian” Telstra advertisement that appeared on Television during the Olympics, but I don’t think there is one correct way of celebrating being Australian. After all, it is Australia’s unique diversity that we are all celebrating on Australia Day.
The expansion of the idea that something or someone can be labelled un-Australian can lead to a dangerous one-dimensional concept of national identity. This was exemplified in the type of ”them” and ”us” mentality we saw exhibited at the Cronulla Riots in 2005. With a colonial history and a population of 21 million, attempts to fashion a single, national idea of what it means to be Australian will never succeed. Whether it is with flags, barbecues or on the couch watching repeats of Gossip Girl – we should spend more time being grateful that we have something to celebrate rather than comparing, criticising and concerning ourselves with how it is done.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5, rated)
Loading ...
I think the problem comes down to the convenient over-use of the term ‘Australian’ as an adjective. Essentially, an ‘Australian’ is a noun: it’s a thing, a person that calls Australia their home. But when we start to use it as a describing word, a way of labelling social behaviours including dress, language, manner and food, we lose sight of the fact that nationality and culture are not the same thing.
I’m with you – there is nothing to achieve in glorifying certain cultural behaviors as somehow more or less ‘Australian’ than others.
I agree.
When ‘Australian’ changes from a noun – a resident of Australia, to a describing word (e.g. a person who looks like the Australian ‘norm’ – Caucasian) then an individual suddenly becomes able to describe themselves as more Australian than another. Such a situation creates a mentality of otherness and us and them – more or less the current situation in Australia.
Furthermore, it is a sad day when I view national symbols like the Australian flag and Southern Cross with negative connotations – I hope one day I will be able to once again embrace these symbols with pride.
I take the point that different people celebrate Australia Day differently, and that this should be encouraged.
However, such a “people can celebrate Australia day however they want” view can be problematic as it protects certain practices from criticism. For example, excessive flag-waving and hostility towards non-white Australians can be dismissed as just one way of celebrating Australia Day, rather than a disturbing phenomenon that privileges certain groups at the expense of others, raising important tensions surrounding Australian identity.
So, yes, different people may celebrate in different ways. But it’s important to not to uncritically accept harmful behaviour in the name of “diversity”.
Australia is a multicultural society. Everywhere we look we see others of different backgrounds, eating different foods, wearing different clothes and speaking different languages. It is this diversity that the modern day Australia has become famous for. However, with any gathering of humanity tensions are bound to form, whether real or imagined slights.
Yet, we need to remember Australia Day is a celebration of our nation and not something to fight about so if someone wants to wave a flag it’s their right to wave a flag, but if they do so in a way that is against the law then they will be charged. I am proud to be an Australian and never ashamed of my country.
Leave your response!
Recent posts
Most Commented
Recent comments