Australian Eye - from my eyes

Delaqroux inc Updates

This post is going to be about a video we've watched in one of our EDUC373 lecture in Macquarie Uni. The title of the video is Australian Eye and it's on a dvd - doubt you'll find an upload on youtube or something - but yeah, here's my opinion on it. Dont like it, shove it.

Basically, the video is about this one program held by this lady (let's call her the facilitator coz i didnt note her name down) about white Australian privilege and discrimination. The program basically have the participants to be divided into two groups; those with blue-eyes (most consist of white Australian) and the brown-eyed ones (mostly consist of the other Australian- those with immigrant/non-Australian/aboriginal background). Now, things got a lil other-way-round inside the program. The blue eyes will be seated in the center of the room surrounded by the brown-eyes and they will be failed on several basis purposely, having their blue-eyes to blame discriminately every time. So in other words, its basically a program where the white Australians will be having some hands-on experience of being in the shoes of the discriminated minority group and will hopefully gain a great insight on what discrimination and social justice is like.

Now, by all due respect; I thought this program was a good one. After all, like Mr Atticus Finch once told me "you have to be in someone else's skin and walk around in it" before you really get to know how another person is feeling and being treated. But something from the video caught my attention - and its the Brown eyes. A group where I, if i attend that kind of program, will be in.

You might wonder "if the blue eyes are 'discriminated' or became the 'minority' in that class, who's the majority and the discriminator?". Well, they are the facilitator and the brown eyes. Now i thought this was all part of the process and that the only way this program would work is to get some highly discriminative group of people to look down on the blue eyes. After all, it's about getting hands-on experience for the blue eyes. But seriously, how the brown eyes acted during the whole program was... well... Let's just say they were being douches. Some of them were joining the 'fun' in poking at the blue-eyes failure along with the facilitator. Some were mocking at them for "not understanding how they felt". And when one of the blue-eyes were being a bit defensive about having to sit down and shut up while the facilitator mock her, one of the brown eyes claimed out loud that she had to sit down and shut up for years in her life but the blue eyes were being defensive about having to shut up for 5 minutes. Now, i perfectly understand how this brown eyed felt in her life but... i dunno, a lil bit of sympathy anyone? Read on.

At one point of the activity, the participants (both blue and brown eyes) had to write three words describing how they felt and how they felt on the opposing group. of course, the blue eyes wrote that they are scared, judged etc and they described the brown eyes to be dominating, controlling, relaxed, comfortable etc. The brown eyes described themselves almost the same way ("i felt relaxed, comfortable, and powerful" (accompanied by a really smuggy smile) but described the blue eyes, despite them (the blue eyes) being oppressed and powerless for the past couple of hours in the program, to be smart-asses, rebellious, smug, something about not knowing their place, arrogant (one lady who were to write three words mentioned four instead of three and the last two being "arrogant" and "smug-faced"). This point of the activity caught my attention. None of the brown eyes wrote anything among the three words description that shows sympathy to the discriminated blue-eyes. After all, they know how it feels like to be looked down on, discriminated, shover over, and oppressed. Why is there no pity in the eyes of the brown eyes?

If i am in that activity as a brown eyed, the three words i would write will be "I", "hate", and "myself". Yeah, i know how it feels like to be discriminated, and here i am discriminating another group of human being and enjoying it. I will hate myself for that.

That is my main concern after watching that video and the program altogether. The brown-eyes were having a good time mocking the blue eyes, joining in the fun of looking down on the blue eyes, and rubbing salt on the 'wounds' inflicted by the facilitator on the blue eyes. Yes, I am perfectly aware that the brown eyes had way terrible experience being oppressed because of their difference but being discriminated and oppressed before; does that give you the right for vengeance? I am surprised that none of the brown eyes participant felt disgusted with themselves for enjoying the feeling of discriminating the blue eyes - they were enjoying the saddistic pleasure of vengeance! There were several blue eyes who couldnt take the oppression anymore in that program and left - i am surprised the brown eyes were enjoying it when they should know how oppression really felt like. If i were in that program, even as a brown eye, i would leave. Oppression and discrimination is a disgrace, even if i am the one who are to give them.

So, something struck me at the end of the video. If in such case where the tables are turned, will the oppressed become the oppressor? This Australian eye program suggested that the answer might be a "yes". that's the fear that had the majority group oppressing the minority group all these while. If they ever let the world become an equal ground, where the minority group is given just as much privilege as the majority group, will there be a case where the minority group will oppress the majority? A real life example, note how the Asians are flooding over Australia in some excessive sense; there's a report on the news that had Australians not being able to get a job in their own country because employers of non-Australian origin are giving job opportunities only to their own people. That is one example where the minority group can discriminate the majority group if they are given the chance. So when Australian employers limit their job-giving to Australians, the non-Australian call it discrimination. Dont they realize that some of them will (and are) doing the same given the chance?

So, how do we really get an equal ground where neither the majority or the minority will be oppressors or the oppressed? Here's one suggestion; dont give in to fear if you are of the majority group and if you are of are the minority group, dont give in to fear AND vengeance. One good deed deserve another, an evil deed doesnt. Even if you have gone through hell all your life and finally made it to heaven, dont push those who are still in line. If you are of a minority group wherever you are - please take great note on this. Equality is not the task of the majority group but yours as well. Rising up to power - to show the majority group that you're stronger than them - is not an effort to equality.