Not safe for people of colour.
I was at Prahran Aquatic Centre; first time. I once went before but didn't use facilities - just sat with friends.
I was asked by a customer if I had "lots of kids". I smiled and said I was maybe a bit young. She then asked me if I was Indian. I said "I might be". She pressed me "you MIGHT be?" I stated that I was born and raised here and don't like commenting about my race because of stereotypes it attracts. She immediately said "Indians have lots of kids". I said that "this was an example of a stereotype I was trying to avoid". She said defiantly "that's not a stereotype, that is a statistic". I said "no, it's actually a stereotype". She cut me off by saying "you have issues, you bring those issues upon yourself and you belong in St Kilda, not here".
I reported this to staff. She stated that she agreed it was inappropriate and I said to her that I didn't really feel safe anymore in this environment. She kept telling me that they wanted the pools to be diverse. She kept offering me a free pass, which I eventually accepted.
I told her that casual racism was something I faced everyday. She also said "that's not Australian culture!" I told her indeed it was Australian culture and she said "I don't think it is Australian culture!" I said as someone who has blonde hair and blue eyes she isn't going to be able to discern racism that people of colour face, although she may be able to discern sexism. She agreed that she faces continuous sexism in her area of study.
Staff said she would talk to the lady. Linden advised me "I'm not trying to put you down" but that the woman was "trying to dig herself out of a hole about assuming I was old enough to have lots of kids and that's why she commented about you being Indian". I got lots of explanations that "she was trying to dig herself out of a hole and didn't mean any harm". Apparently the lady admitted that she was sorry - to Staff. No such apology was conveyed to me.
Staff didn't respond other than to brush aside when I said that her last words to me were "you have issues and belong in St Kilda" which doesn't indicate that she wasn't really all that sorry or trying to make up to me. I repeated this a couple of times and Staff who would just kind of ignore it, interrupt me and not respond. I also said that assumptions about race are not a valid way to dig yourself out of a hole. Staff would say "I'm not justifying it" but then would go on to justify it by saying "she didn't mean any harm and trying to dig herself out of a hole".
I was annoyed that this was accepted as an explanation of racial stereotypes: that "she was trying to dig herself out of a hole". Staff became incredibly defensive and loudly said "I didn't justify her, I just wanted you to REFLECT on what she meant and realise that she didn't mean any harm". Yet repeatedly justified her with that explanation.
This is classic behaviour towards people of colour. We need to *reflect* and understand that racist comments weren't meant to cause any harm.
I replied to Staff this reflected a larger issue. The issue of the perspective of people of colour being minimised, such that we are expected to understand stereotypes are somehow explicable and therefore their harm somehow neutralised. Let alone the comments that I had "issues that I brought upon myself" and should "go to St Kilda where the people are precious" - which Staff repeatedly ignored when I raised it. When Staff would say "she had a different story", I would ask her whether she denied what she said. Staff would simply respond by saying "she didn't mean harm". Staff never were able to deny the facts - but kept saying "she was trying to dig herself out of a hole and didn't mean harm".
I said to Staff this is why diversity in staff and not just clientele so important to create an environment that is safe for all cultures, not just representing one world view..
At this Linden absolutely exploded, told me I was being incredibly offensive for suggesting that the staff were not diverse. How dare I when they are "trying to create diversity". (My job as a person of colour is to reassure her and not challenge her). That she had given me a free pass and an explanation and I am supposed to "feel better". And that commenting on the importance of diversity is "reverse racism". She started accusing me of "reverse racism". I knew I had tapped into white fragility and ignorance. I explained to Linden that reverse racism isn't a thing. That pointing out that she is white and therefore unable to understand the harmful nature of stereotypes people of colour face is not "reverse racism", as evidenced by her "explanation".
At this point, staff hung up on me.
I have concerns that comments about lack of diversity and therefore lack of empathy are met with screams of "reverse racism" and I'm hung up on. read more
