tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38898647.post9119671151191212260..comments2024-01-12T15:53:23.718-05:00Comments on the culturegeist: Indian Cricket Player Harbhajan Singh Suspended for Racist Remarks Against Australian Playerculturegeisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13452019070393454973noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38898647.post-74137987347114022752008-01-20T23:44:00.000-05:002008-01-20T23:44:00.000-05:00Really insightful observation, thanks for sharing ...Really insightful observation, thanks for sharing your thoughts and perspective.<BR/><BR/>A lot of people internalize assumptions about Australians and incidents like this illustrate how perception can distort the truth.<BR/><BR/>Australian dominance of the sport definitely brings increased attention and past infractions by their players can merge with cultural envy or other emotions and <BR/>become catalysts or triggering incidents that unleash realities that are often uncomfortable for people to express.<BR/><BR/>I've met people in New York who say Australians are generally prejudiced to people of color. <BR/><BR/>That goes against my personal experiences and encounters with Australians. People who've never even been there let alone know someone from the country casually toss baseless stereotypes like that that around.<BR/><BR/>The reaction by Indian layers officials and fans reflects the tone of prejudice that has and does exist in Indian culture - as it does in many cultures.<BR/><BR/>It just seems like the media doesn't focus on it that much. With all the outsourcing of labor Indians have gained a reputation of being a "model" culture.<BR/><BR/>Like many just assume Asians are good at math.<BR/><BR/>It strikes me as one of the uncomfortable truths people know about but avoid talking about.culturegeisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13452019070393454973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38898647.post-41132497547563211392008-01-17T00:36:00.000-05:002008-01-17T00:36:00.000-05:00It was interesting to read your blog on the cricke...It was interesting to read your blog on the cricket test in Australia. As an Australian with an ancestry dating back to Irish prisoners, I have been slightly perplexed that the majority of criticism has been focused upon the Australian team and not the Indian cricketers and specifically the, quite clearly, racist comment. Comments on various blogs from Canada to South Africa also focused on the Australian cricket team and their behaviour and at times took the larger step by including all Australians in their criticism. Perhaps it is because the Australian cricket team is good, in fact one of the best teams in the history of the game? But I also suspect it is media driven, which in turn fuels an ill-informed view of Australians in general. Perhaps it is also the fact that Australia has a peaceful past (excluding the English treatment of convicts and Aboriginals) and that other nations are quick to find wrong and slow to show support, purely out of envy? English cricket fans and tourists alike, each year, still proudly sing songs and make remarks hailing Australians as "convict scum" (in today's world our convicts would be called political prisoners), a remark which would surely be considered abhorant if only our ancestors had coloured skin...<BR/>Let's just hope that, in the future, the media and general public will help stamp out racism in all its forms and allow no room for "cultural" excuses.Greg Hardwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07406988300856921979noreply@blogger.com