1997 School Magazine

@irlli @ramnmr ~cuool ~rilibane 1997 --11[------ ~

If for no other reason than this, the United Nations assembly must consider carefully the motion put before it today. The rights of eve1y human should be inviolable and must be actively protected by such bodies as the UN. When debating this issue , member states are encouraged to put aside their political and social difference and are urged to act and vote in the best interests of their country, their people and each other.

events could never occur again, but they have. Even as the world moves towards the year 2000 and as international relationships become more cordial, there have been shocking examples of utter disregard for human rights. In this decade alone the world has seen at least one war of extermination fought, only halted when the UN stepped fo1ward to broker peace. The examples which come to mind quite freely are of the genocide and mass murder, which took place during the civil war in the former Yugoslavia and on the killing fields of Cambodia.

ALEXI DRENNAN

Racistn Gets Under Our Skin

( (7'm not racist, BUT ... I hate l "gooks"because they 're bad drivers. It's not a stereotype, it's the truth, so it shouldn 't hurt. " "I'm not racist, BUT .. . I hate "abos" because they take all our tax money and spend it on alco- hol. It 's the truth, why should anyone be offended?" Sound familiar? The irration- ality of these statements may sur- prise you, but it is extremely unlikely that you have never been present when a comment like this has been made. On Sunday 10th August, Katrina Vicke1y and Francesca Gasteen attended a seminar for senior seconda1y students organ- ised by the Shaping Tomorrow Today Association held at Deakin University, Geelong. The topic was racism. As Key Note Speaker, Basil Varghese of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, so succinctly put it, we are all one species, defined by different cultures, different philosophies and different life-

indulge in the same activities. Change and difference are the essence of today's society, and by segmenting people due to language, culture and appear- ance, we are essentially ignor- ing ideologies and intellectual philosophies that could help to create a far more superior soci- ety. Speaking in racial slurs is about as morally just as saying a woman's place is in the kitchen. Intellectual or physi- cal capacity being overlooked because of gender, is just the same as intellectual or physical capacity being overlooked be- cause of racial background. Each individual has different strengths and weaknesses and assumptions should not be made just because one is fe- male, or Asian or Aboriginal. We urge you to take a look into the heart of the matter, look at what is important about life. Is it colour? Is it religion? Is it race? We urge you to re-examine

Francesca Gasteen (L) & Katrina Vickey (R)

your own belief systems and help us to create a racially tolerant and just society.

styles. We should not be defined by language, colour and appearance. A truly homogenous society would be, to say the least, dull. People would all look the same , act the same and

FRANCESCA GASTEEN & KATRINA VICKERY

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