[Levendi]

http://www.thepunch....me-as-a-racist/
Everyone looks at my neck and thinks I'm a red-necked Indian-bashing racist.



The day before Australia Day, I caught the bus to work. Sitting up the back, sweltering in the heat and breathing in the sweat of the others condemned to the ride, I was tapped on the shoulder. The man behind me, breath heavy with booze, declared me a "sister of the Australian cause".

Confused and a little scared, I tried to ignore him. But the curious journo in me won out, and I asked him what he was talking about. Beaming and red-faced, he pointed to my neck, and THAT tattoo.

Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am the owner of a Southern Cross tattoo. When I was sitting in the chair pretending it didn't hurt, way back before the Cronulla riots and 'F**k off we're full' shirts swept the nation, nobody else had the tattoo. Well, almost nobody else.

But my first ink was destined to join a league of Asian symbols, dolphins and hip-adorning butterflies. Everyone has it. And now I hang my head low, because (according to everyone who doesn't sport a tattoo of the Australian icon) it may as well be a swastika. My patriotism has been mistaken for nationalism.

"I used to think of the Southern Cross as very Australian and to me it had the associated connotations of what it meant to be Australian. Now it seems to be the complete opposite. I hate what the Southern Cross stands for now. It's the compulsory tattoo for every racist, redneck f**k that hides behind this symbol that used to be quintessentially Australian," wrote Corro on a website forum.

Jonathon Green lamented that the meaning behind Australia Day disappeared "about the time people started tattooing the Southern Cross on their shoulder blades, chests and ankles".

And countless Facebook groups sprung up, demanding an end to the "racist" tattoo. It was even featured on cult site Things Bogans Like.

So while I was once proud of my patriotic ink, I am now ashamed to have anyone see it. My mum might have been wrong when she told me I would wind up looking like trailer trash, but she never could have predicted I would feel that way. Hell, no one could. And yet I do. I cover it up as best as I can, for it attracts the same evil stares as a drunk pregnant woman shooting up inside a jail cell. Seriously.

I wish my neck was big enough to add a little disclaimer – something that spells out exactly why I love my country enough to ink those stars on my neck. Something that tells the world that I love my country because it is multicultural, and not in spite of it. Something that slams racism with an iron fist, and then spits on the crushed remains. Something that tells everyone that yes, I can locate the Southern Cross formation in the sky and no, I have never draped an Australian flag around my back and hooned around drinking beer at music festivals.

I don't know the answers but I wish the Southern Cross tattoo could once again represent something more than hate. Maybe we all just need to remember not to judge a book by its cover, or tattoo as the case may be. Until then, it will be my cross to bear.

[ΜΑΝΙΑΤΗΣ]

If you're hot, who gives a shit?

[TZAKI]

Levendi, on 04 February 2010 - 09:47 PM, said:

http://www.thepunch....me-as-a-racist/
Everyone looks at my neck and thinks I'm a red-necked Indian-bashing racist.



The day before Australia Day, I caught the bus to work. Sitting up the back, sweltering in the heat and breathing in the sweat of the others condemned to the ride, I was tapped on the shoulder. The man behind me, breath heavy with booze, declared me a "sister of the Australian cause".

Confused and a little scared, I tried to ignore him. But the curious journo in me won out, and I asked him what he was talking about. Beaming and red-faced, he pointed to my neck, and THAT tattoo.

Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am the owner of a Southern Cross tattoo. When I was sitting in the chair pretending it didn't hurt, way back before the Cronulla riots and 'F**k off we're full' shirts swept the nation, nobody else had the tattoo. Well, almost nobody else.

But my first ink was destined to join a league of Asian symbols, dolphins and hip-adorning butterflies. Everyone has it. And now I hang my head low, because (according to everyone who doesn't sport a tattoo of the Australian icon) it may as well be a swastika. My patriotism has been mistaken for nationalism.

"I used to think of the Southern Cross as very Australian and to me it had the associated connotations of what it meant to be Australian. Now it seems to be the complete opposite. I hate what the Southern Cross stands for now. It's the compulsory tattoo for every racist, redneck f**k that hides behind this symbol that used to be quintessentially Australian," wrote Corro on a website forum.

Jonathon Green lamented that the meaning behind Australia Day disappeared "about the time people started tattooing the Southern Cross on their shoulder blades, chests and ankles".

And countless Facebook groups sprung up, demanding an end to the "racist" tattoo. It was even featured on cult site Things Bogans Like.

So while I was once proud of my patriotic ink, I am now ashamed to have anyone see it. My mum might have been wrong when she told me I would wind up looking like trailer trash, but she never could have predicted I would feel that way. Hell, no one could. And yet I do. I cover it up as best as I can, for it attracts the same evil stares as a drunk pregnant woman shooting up inside a jail cell. Seriously.

I wish my neck was big enough to add a little disclaimer � something that spells out exactly why I love my country enough to ink those stars on my neck. Something that tells the world that I love my country because it is multicultural, and not in spite of it. Something that slams racism with an iron fist, and then spits on the crushed remains. Something that tells everyone that yes, I can locate the Southern Cross formation in the sky and no, I have never draped an Australian flag around my back and hooned around drinking beer at music festivals.

I don't know the answers but I wish the Southern Cross tattoo could once again represent something more than hate. Maybe we all just need to remember not to judge a book by its cover, or tattoo as the case may be. Until then, it will be my cross to bear.

cry me a river :cray:

[ΜΑΝΙΑΤΗΣ]

TZAKI, on 08 February 2010 - 07:15 AM, said:

cry me a river :cray:

Have you no sympathy for the poor girl? Where is your heart?

[moniker]

hmm what about reports of some Police banning the aussie flag on cars on oz Day? And the reason wasn't coz it was posibly hazardous (ie the flag flying off and hitting another car) but that it might upset some people.. :scratch_one-s_head:



upset who?

This post has been edited by moniker: 08 February 2010 - 09:15 AM

[ΜΑΝΙΑΤΗΣ]

moniker, on 08 February 2010 - 09:14 AM, said:

hmm what about reports of some Police banning the aussie flag on cars on oz Day? And the reason wasn't coz it was posibly hazardous (ie the flag flying off and hitting another car) but that it might upset some people.. :scratch_one-s_head:



upset who?

Source? No offence, but that sounds like total bullshit. If anything, the flag is rammed down our throats by the authorities.

[TZAKI]

really i haven't had it rammed down my throat..

[ΜΑΝΙΑΤΗΣ]

TZAKI, on 08 February 2010 - 10:28 AM, said:

really i haven't had it rammed down my throat..

Don't you see it everywhere? I do.

[TZAKI]

no not really, even on Australia day I spotted a handful of cars displaying it but nothing major.

Near my place theres an old dude who has the Greek Flag up no one has complained.

[ΜΑΝΙΑΤΗΣ]

TZAKI, on 08 February 2010 - 10:41 AM, said:

no not really, even on Australia day I spotted a handful of cars displaying it but nothing major.

Near my place theres an old dude who has the Greek Flag up no one has complained.

I'm not talking just about cars. I see it flying off every public building.

[TZAKI]

i haven't notice, i'll start paying more attention.

[ΜΑΝΙΑΤΗΣ]

TZAKI, on 08 February 2010 - 10:45 AM, said:

i haven't notice, i'll start paying more attention.

Maybe the lebs have banned it in Sydney by fatwa? :ninja:

[TZAKI]

the lebs???????????

[moniker]

ΜΑΝΙΑΤΗΣ, on 08 February 2010 - 10:24 AM, said:

Source? No offence, but that sounds like total bullshit. If anything, the flag is rammed down our throats by the authorities.

oh I heard it on the radio while driving a week or so ago . From memory , I think it was 2GB talkback . They called and interviewed someone from the Police Dept . They had some caller who'd been stopped by cops and asked to remove it for that reason , and he was on air too .

[ΜΑΝΙΑΤΗΣ]

moniker, on 08 February 2010 - 11:50 AM, said:

ΜΑΝΙΑΤΗΣ, on 08 February 2010 - 10:24 AM, said:

Source? No offence, but that sounds like total bullshit. If anything, the flag is rammed down our throats by the authorities.

oh I heard it on the radio while driving a week or so ago . From memory , I think it was 2GB talkback . They called and interviewed someone from the Police Dept . They had some caller who'd been stopped by cops and asked to remove it for that reason , and he was on air too .

As if. Probably an inebriated redneck with a major chip on his shoulder.

[Arista Plus]

ΜΑΝΙΑΤΗΣ, on 08 February 2010 - 10:24 AM, said:

moniker, on 08 February 2010 - 09:14 AM, said:

hmm what about reports of some Police banning the aussie flag on cars on oz Day? And the reason wasn't coz it was posibly hazardous (ie the flag flying off and hitting another car) but that it might upset some people.. :scratch_one-s_head:



upset who?

Source? No offence, but that sounds like total bullshit. If anything, the flag is rammed down our throats by the authorities.

Agreed. It sounds fabricated for the purpose of stirring up "Nationalism" amongst those also wearing shirts that say "Australian Born & Bred" [eeek] and "Australia - Love it or go back home" [Ewwwwww].

Australian Flags were everywhere on Australia Day, including cars. I didn't assume that all those carrying the flag were of the Bogan variety who are against Multiculturalism. But I was also a little weary of the over enthusiastic.

The truth of the matter is that the Australian flag has been so abused & misused by the Redneck popuation over the last 5 years or so that it's connotations have completely changed. When my little cousin asked me if I wanted an Oz Flag Tattoo I politely declined. I just wasn't comfortable wearing it. Now if I was asked to tattoo a Greek Flag on 25 March, I'd do it with Bells on....a reason for concern? I don't know, but I'm being 100% honest.

And I'll be honest in saying that many Australians of an ethnic background also feel a little "identity crisis" sometimes. I know I sometimes do, depending on how "Nationalism" is portrayed.

[Arista Plus]

I guess I often relate more as being an Ellinitha than being an Australian, despite being born in Syd York [my new name for Sydney]. This is sometimes a little confusing for me. Sometimes I think to myself "what the hell am I?". Am I the only one that feels this way?

Are your values Australian? [if so, what are Australian values?] or are they Greek? Do you think like an "Australian" or do you think like a "Greek"? [if so, what's the difference?]. Should we even put a label on what we are? Australia is multi-cultural, so really...we're all Australian.

I just feel funny about waving the Australian flag. And I'm not sure why.

[ΜΑΝΙΑΤΗΣ]

Arista Plus, on 12 February 2010 - 11:42 AM, said:

I guess I often relate more as being an Ellinitha than being an Australian, despite being born in Syd York [my new name for Sydney]. This is sometimes a little confusing for me. Sometimes I think to myself "what the hell am I?". Am I the only one that feels this way?

Are your values Australian? [if so, what are Australian values?] or are they Greek? Do you think like an "Australian" or do you think like a "Greek"? [if so, what's the difference?]. Should we even put a label on what we are? Australia is multi-cultural, so really...we're all Australian.

I just feel funny about waving the Australian flag. And I'm not sure why.

You're right. Aussie jingoism has been running riot for several years now, and all it achieves is the alienation of people like us. When I was in Athens for the Olympics, the Aussies were always the most drunk, loud-mouthed and ridiculous charlatans. If that's what being an Aussie means, thanks but no thanks. I identify as an ethnic Greek with dual Greek and Australian nationality. No more and no less.

[moniker]

Arista Plus, on 12 February 2010 - 11:35 AM, said:

The truth of the matter is that the Australian flag has been so abused & misused by the Redneck popuation over the last 5 years or so that it's connotations have completely changed. When my little cousin asked me if I wanted an Oz Flag Tattoo I politely declined. I just wasn't comfortable wearing it. Now if I was asked to tattoo a Greek Flag on 25 March, I'd do it with Bells on....a reason for concern? I don't know, but I'm being 100% honest.

I dont think we should allow 'rednecks' and some incidents mispresented by the media to decide what a country's flag means, or even tattoos . Why would you decline an Oz flag tattoo? I guess I find that a little reason for concern . hmmm

Nothing wrong with enjoying the day and being enthusiastic about 'the lucky country' is there? Whatever cultural background we have, were all HERE down under .. and its a great place to be, no?

[moniker]

Arista Plus, on 12 February 2010 - 11:42 AM, said:

Do you think like an "Australian" or do you think like a "Greek"? [if so, what's the difference?]. Should we even put a label on what we are? Australia is multi-cultural, so really...we're all Australian.

I just feel funny about waving the Australian flag. And I'm not sure why.

I think like both, I think lol Ofcourse we get influenced by the fact weve grown up here ...I take a more anglo approach to some things and in others Im prolly very greek . I live in a hugely aussie/anglo area ..and everyones pretty cool and nice . In the whole time Ive lived in this area , Ive never once had a racial slur my way .

I guess we can only go by our personal experience. Id feel funny feeling funny about waving the Aussie Flag . Interesting eh?

I get irritated at greeks who despise Australia ... they can piss off to where they came from :P

This post has been edited by moniker: 15 February 2010 - 07:09 AM