iS iT TrUe tHAt MelBOurne HiGHSchool ScHOOl is a rAcist ScHool?

[Jessie_mCPHERSON]

i heard that you get called curry and stuff there if you look indian
is this true?

how can we stop racism in australia?
i think it's horrible how all the smart kids r becoming racist...

[nacho]

yea,
my brother who goes to melbourne high was persecuted by a group of asians in biology once. they did all these experiments and stuff to him
now he's korean

racism is well and thriving in melbourne high school,
the brilliant minds of tomorrow have been plagued and we need to do something to stop it before we are all doomed

i also have suspicions of the user "Mao" and what his true intentions are..

[shinny]

It's not really racist. Well, it is, but because the majority of the people are cultured anyway, it's mutual racism. A generally accepted break down is that one-third of the school is Asian, one-third Indian/Sri Lankan etc, and one-third 'White' (Aussies, Europeans etc). Everyone's aware of the cultural stereotypes of each group and we all played along with them and didn't get offended because we know everyone's joking. Hell, even the teachers would crack the same racist jokes but it's just part of the culture of the school because the majority of people are cultured anyway. You can't really discriminate when no one in the school is a majority in itself - each group alone was a minority when compared to the remainder.

I remember my English teacher who recently came from America was shocked at the dynamics of the school, since yeh, it was pretty blatantly racist with people just calling each other the curries, Asians, Jews etcetc, and she compared this to calling someone nigger in America where that'd pretty much get you bashed or worse immediately. But yeh, it's just mutual acceptance. The label is something used more affectionately rather than with malice. This then contrasted with coming into uni where me and a few other friends from MHS, as well as a few other schools with a similar culture (Haileybury comes to mind) realised that we couldn't be overtly racist to anyone anymore and get away with it. Was initially quite hard working around that awkward moment when someone actually got offended by the word 'curry' =/

But honestly, it's actually the opposite of true racism. It's kind of paradoxical racism I guess because we only make racist comments because we don't actually see race as something to be ashamed of or to be much considered. You end up just getting so caught up in the multi-cultural nature of the school that race seems like a non-issue anymore. It's really because we know that everyone's not racist that we are able to crack these sorts of jokes, since we all know that we're all kidding and it's just some light-hearted humour. This is just my (poor explained) take on it, but I'm sure most other MHS boys would agree with me, or at least have a vague idea of what I'm talking about, on the dynamics of the culture. It's pretty difficult to explain really; it's something you need to experience yourself to understand.

[taiga]

You will find that in MHS that term is never used in a derogatory manner.

That said, I think you're just trying to poke fun.

[99.96]

It's not really racist. Well, it is, but because the majority of the people are cultured anyway, it's mutual racism. A generally accepted break down is that one-third of the school is Asian, one-third Indian/Sri Lankan etc, and one-third 'White' (Aussies, Europeans etc). Everyone's aware of the cultural stereotypes of each group and we all played along with them and didn't get offended because we know everyone's joking. Hell, even the teachers would crack the same racist jokes but it's just part of the culture of the school because the majority of people are cultured anyway. You can't really discriminate when no one in the school is a majority in itself - each group alone was a minority when compared to the remainder.

I remember my English teacher who recently came from America was shocked at the dynamics of the school, since yeh, it was pretty blatantly racist with people just calling each other the curries, Asians, Jews etcetc, and she compared this to calling someone nigger in America where that'd pretty much get you bashed or worse immediately. But yeh, it's just mutual acceptance. The label is something used more affectionately rather than with malice. This then contrasted with coming into uni where me and a few other friends from MHS, as well as a few other schools with a similar culture (Haileybury comes to mind) realised that we couldn't be overtly racist to anyone anymore and get away with it. Was initially quite hard working around that awkward moment when someone actually got offended by the word 'curry' =/

But honestly, it's actually the opposite of true racism. It's kind of paradoxical racism I guess because we only make racist comments because we don't actually see race as something to be ashamed of or to be much considered. You end up just getting so caught up in the multi-cultural nature of the school that race seems like a non-issue anymore. It's really because we know that everyone's not racist that we are able to crack these sorts of jokes, since we all know that we're all kidding and it's just some light-hearted humour. This is just my (poor explained) take on it, but I'm sure most other MHS boys would agree with me, or at least have a vague idea of what I'm talking about, on the dynamics of the culture. It's pretty difficult to explain really; it's something you need to experience yourself to understand.

To summarize, in shinny's opinion piece, he contends that MHS is not racist.

[Water]

You will find that in MHS that term is never used in a derogatory manner.

That said, I think you're just trying to poke fun.

You'll see that in "most schools," they will share the same culture.

To Summarize: No one gives a shit.

[luken93]

You will find that in MHS that term is never used in a derogatory manner.

That said, I think you're just trying to poke fun.

You'll see that in "most schools," they will share the same culture.

To Summarize: No one gives a shit.

Damn straight.

It's good that you care about racism and all, but no offence, good luck finding a solution.

[DisaFear]

Any form of 'racism' at MHS is usually a humourous thing, I really think actual racism is a bare minimum at MHS. The amount of different races at MHS really sets you up for future interactions with people, I've seen students from other schools with not many diverse cultures not knowing how to react/respond to people from other cultures (does that even make sense?)

Eh, whatever, the cultural diversity is a good thing at MHS, and racism is low. Yea

[Russ]

You can't really discriminate when no one in the school is a majority in itself - each group alone was a minority when compared to the remainder.

Of course you can. I have no idea about MHS but you can discriminate against a majority.

[shinny]

You can't really discriminate when no one in the school is a majority in itself - each group alone was a minority when compared to the remainder.

Of course you can. I have no idea about MHS but you can discriminate against a majority.

Well, you'd pretty much get discriminated right back at you. What I meant was discriminate...uhh, effectively? As in without significant consequences or resistance.

EDIT: By the way, interesting topic to consider for anyone doing I&B.

[Eriny]

It's not really racist. Well, it is, but because the majority of the people are cultured anyway, it's mutual racism. A generally accepted break down is that one-third of the school is Asian, one-third Indian/Sri Lankan etc, and one-third 'White' (Aussies, Europeans etc). Everyone's aware of the cultural stereotypes of each group and we all played along with them and didn't get offended because we know everyone's joking. Hell, even the teachers would crack the same racist jokes but it's just part of the culture of the school because the majority of people are cultured anyway. You can't really discriminate when no one in the school is a majority in itself - each group alone was a minority when compared to the remainder.

I remember my English teacher who recently came from America was shocked at the dynamics of the school, since yeh, it was pretty blatantly racist with people just calling each other the curries, Asians, Jews etcetc, and she compared this to calling someone nigger in America where that'd pretty much get you bashed or worse immediately. But yeh, it's just mutual acceptance. The label is something used more affectionately rather than with malice. This then contrasted with coming into uni where me and a few other friends from MHS, as well as a few other schools with a similar culture (Haileybury comes to mind) realised that we couldn't be overtly racist to anyone anymore and get away with it. Was initially quite hard working around that awkward moment when someone actually got offended by the word 'curry' =/

But honestly, it's actually the opposite of true racism. It's kind of paradoxical racism I guess because we only make racist comments because we don't actually see race as something to be ashamed of or to be much considered. You end up just getting so caught up in the multi-cultural nature of the school that race seems like a non-issue anymore. It's really because we know that everyone's not racist that we are able to crack these sorts of jokes, since we all know that we're all kidding and it's just some light-hearted humour. This is just my (poor explained) take on it, but I'm sure most other MHS boys would agree with me, or at least have a vague idea of what I'm talking about, on the dynamics of the culture. It's pretty difficult to explain really; it's something you need to experience yourself to understand.

I got what you're saying, like MHS is 'post-race' or something like that. I know nothing about MHS, but surely in an environment where race and stereotyped differences between races, wouldn't it then be easier to have tensions about race and some degree of segregation (even if it's self-segregation)? I suspect that MHS has a fairly unique population though and I'd accept what you'd have to say on it.

[shinny]

There's definitely some sense of segregation in terms of the cultural groups largely sticking together for the most part, but I wouldn't say there's any tension between groups. I think the lack of tension is due to other factors though - the academic nature of the school, general school pride, respect for the community (quite a large thing given almost every student takes public transport) etc. It's hard to deconstruct and understand it. I see your point though and can imagine a similar composition in another school ending up quite messy.

[acinod]

Racism is only an issue if you turn it into one.

And on the point of segregation, it does remain true that the majority of us prefer to hang with our own race. However that does not mean we hate the other races. We are actually really accepting of them and although we all make stereotypical remarks at each other, we all know that we are joking and have a good laugh. It's just that we prefer to hang with our own race because we usually have similar interests and can relate to each other. Like I said, racism is only an issue if you turn it into one.

[Charmz]

I would say there'd be more racism in country schools where there are Asians who haven't been to primary school with the rest of the students.

[Truck]

Ye ShImMy Is RiGhT, BuT wRiTiNg LiKe ThIs mAkEs Me WaNt To ShOoT yOu.