Would I get lots of RACial slurs in Australia?Aussies please?

Question

Hi I am planning to visit Australia I am Greek and Italian mid toned olive skin with blue eyes after seeing those riots in 2005 i was just curious if i would get any racial remarks or insults thanks. ( BTw i am not trying to say Australia is a racist country) all opinions much appreciated

Answer 1

Australians are very accepting of different nationalities and cultures, and have very large Greek and Italian populations. You will just look like any other Aussie.

1/5 of Australians were born elsewhere, and they come from absolutely everywhere. The vast majority of Aussies are not racist.

Answer 2

In the 1960's and 1970's people used to use the term "Wog", "Dago" and "Ding" to make slurs to the large number of Italian and Greek migrants, but now a days those terms are used by the descendants of those same migrants as a badge of honour.

And the descendants of those Italian and Greek migrants would be considered to be indistinguishable as "Australians" by more recent migrants.

The riots involved an entirely different ethnic group of the Arabic race from Lebanon. They are much more recent immigrants who came here after the "White Australia policy" was removed in the 1970's.

Answer 3

I'm of Italian heritage and occassionally cop a "wog" comment but it's usually from my friends said in good nature. We all give each other sh*t.

It's very multicultural here and I think the riots in 2005 shocked everyone. There's olive skinned, dark skinned, Asian's, Arab's ... most people here are pretty open minded. You'll be fine.

Answer 4

No we are actually very muticultural and in fact Melbourne has the largest Greek community outside of Greece ,the riots where an exception rather than the rule and it was more of a turf war for some hot headed teenagers ,please read the article in the following link which explain how far the kids involved have come, http://www.youthcentral.net/forums/showt...

Answer 5

No, if you are good looking its more likely that you will get asked out.

Answer 6

The simple answer is no.

I think you'll be surprised how well you fit in here.

Have a good holiday.

Answer 7

Girl,I just got back from Australia 2 weeks ago, and I'm African American, so I was like wtf am I getting into, but they really welcomed my culture and most of them like African Americans.  Plus most of the people I met there were Greek or Italian, believe me you will fit in perfect, maybe too much, you won't feel out of place at all like I did. The people in Australia are really sweet and super cool anyway!!!  Just watch out for the old people they seemed to be the rude ones that used that old school talk.  They kept calling me "colored", I was about to have a moment, but I remembered that I was in another country(I'm so taking for granted you're American).  ANyway, you will have fun!!!!

Answer 8

generally speaking....... Australia is a very multicultural country, and a laid back easy going country.

the riots you seen on t.v were provoked by a small number of extremists, its not an every day occurrence!

i am an Aussie born and bred! and the thing with most Aussie's is they stand up for themselves and what is right, they don't shy away from an argument. Australia is a great country with great people, I'm sure if you come here to live or for a holiday you will love it and wont want to leave.

Answer 9

no, you would fit in really well. Theres a large population of Greek & Italian people here, as well as a lot of other cultures. You'll probably meet a lot of friendly people! Enjoy your holiday here!!

Answer 10

no

Answer 11

Prob not in Sydney and Melbourne, as these have sizeable Greek and Italian communities.   In fact Melbourne boasts more Greeks living there than anywhere else outside of Greece itself.   Greek and Italian culture has permeated Australian society for more than 50 years.   I doubt anyone would notice or even care about your Mediterranean heritage.

Note that the riots were instigated when members of one outspoken minority group did an unprovoked attack on a couple of volunteer surf life savers on a well known Aussie beach and then declared the beach for their group only.   It is not surprising that the young people of Sydney got upset at that idea.  Unfortunately they took the law into their own hands and we all know the result of that.  This is not a normal situation in Australia.   There were specific events prior to this that created  a whole chain of events that sparked the whole thing off.    

Normally Australians don't care about ethnic heritage.  We have very strong laws against racial vilification and discrimination.    We do however have a problem when people from other cultures demand we give up our culture so they can be happy.    When in Rome do as the Romans do, I say.

Answer 12

If you are Greek you will feel completely at home here.We have a very large Greek population actually we have a very large population of everyone and the riots you are referring to were not indicative of our Country that is why such a big thing was made of it , as it so unusual for us to have a such a thing and even the people involved were very sorry that such a thing happened.Welcome to Aussie.

Answer 13

There are lots of greek immigrants in Australia and we are used to them being around, and don't treat them in any way negatively (in general). Try to get a hold of "Wogs out of work" before you come, it will give you a humourous glance at the life of greeks in Australia.

Answer 14

We're a multicultural country. You will blend in as well as anyone else! Australia has a very large Greek/Italian population and they are treated like anyone else. No one even thinks of one's race when chatting.

However, like all countries, there will be a small group who are like this. In general, we're accepting! :)

Oh, if you're coming to Sydney, visit Leichardt, it's a very Italian area! :)

Enjoy your stay!