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This past week has been a good example of the insidious racism of White moderates. The Australian screen industry is a niche but clear case of how racism in Australia functions - that is, with complacency, laziness, and complicity.
The @sydfilmfest has not released a statement about Mukbang. The media scrambled. Andrew Bolt came after myself and my POC colleagues. The @smh published a piece saying I "attacked" the film, which positioned me as an angry WOC baying for blood.
This is a micro example of how POC are vilified for speaking out against injustice, and how White people get away with it. How do they get away with it? Because White people do not hold other White people accountable for their racism.
Instead, they give each other air time. They apologise. They make statements. In short: they do nothing actionable or immediate. They do not care about race issues unless they directly benefit. What they care about is being cancelled, about being publicly shamed.
A POC friend of mine recently said something to me that I found enlightening: "White culture cares about the individual; we care about community and the collective." It's stuck with me ever since.
I stand with my Black, Indigenous and POC colleagues. And yet, we receive little to no support from our White colleagues who run our industry.
White colleagues, listen up: over this past week, your POC colleagues have been attacked, and the aggressors are getting away with it.
The @sydfilmfest is setting a precedent. Fat Salmon is setting a precedent. Eliza Scanlen is setting a precedent. Where are you when Andrew Bolt is attacking your colleagues? Where are you when Garry Maddox (a former @sydfilmfest board member) is fanning the flames?
I believe in second chances. I believe in allowing people time to self educate. But when a literal image of violence against Black people goes unchecked, unacknowledged, and is then COVERED UP to preserve a White supremacist system?
That is wrong. You have done a wrong thing. And you need to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
You're counting on us forgetting. You're counting on us becoming fatigued. That is not going to happen.