Gratuitous Commentary on Race Relations

Carlos's brother in law had told us that white people generally seem to see themselves at the top of the racial hierarchy in perhaps a more obvious way in Australia than in other places and thinks that Asian women are not really seen as leaders here--at least in his work setting. But I was still a little shocked one night when I crossed paths with an older white man and got slightly mixed up about who was going which way, that man aggressively barked: "Piss off you g**k!!" I hadn't said anything to him and I may have even said a quiet excuse me before what he said because it seemed like one of those situations where both persons are not sure which way to go to avoid running into each other. In another setting while not pushing the baby in a stroller in an unknown neighborhood at night, I would have retorted something back. But it didn't seem like quite the place and time to lecture someone on race relations (even with Mr. third degree black belt by my side). 

Anyways, I haven't read much how racism in Australia manifests, but I always find it interesting how long it might take in a new place for these types of overtly racist encounters to happen. Says something about the place and the society. Three days in Sydney. 

Interestingly, Carlos happened to see the following flyer posted in a couple of the neighborhoods that we walked through: