Angry Poetry.... mmmm.... our favourite!
We here at Are You Ready to Grumble are big fans of reconciliation and respect between the races (we love all people over 35s -its the young folk and hippies we hate) we just think that respect has to be earned and that at times common sense is ignored in favour of political correctness. This can and does promote abuse of process and breed resentment between the very people who are meant to be brought together.
This poem was submitted by a Grumble fan. We can't comment on the quality of the poetry but there is no doubt about the sincerity or the passion. We know enough about the author to know that he is a blunt speaking but very honest man. But we will leave the commentary for after the poetry.
Ladies and Gentlemen ......
The Racist in Me
Or
Much adoo about aboo
Born in 1952 and raised in Sydney's west,
of Australian-Italian heritage I was happy in the nest,
At the age of 5 like all of us I started at school,
There I was called a wog and not considered cool,
The other kids did not like the Italian side of me,
Daily they did assault, and never let me be
They kicked and punched, bit and scratched and threw stones to,
racial abuse was alive and well, in the land of the cockatoo,
The years they passed, I learned to fight, and stay on my feet,
by the age of 15 or so, I rarely got beat,
Over the years I got pretty good, so joined a boxing troupe,
All of the other boys were black, we made an awesome group,
I called them Abo they called me Wog, we did not give a hoot,
After all we were mates, we only fought for loot,
Lots of years have come and gone, now I am 53,
I am now a boxing coach, and the boys they fight for me,
I train them all big or small sexual preference religion race,
Boy girl young or old and any coloured face
At the Turner PCYC in the ACT,
We promote tolerance to all, and that's all right by me,
Early last year a blackfella came into my gym,
Hi said I can I show you how to begin,
I am already a coach he said I've learnt from pros from Sydney and the Nth Coast,
Then he dropped the names of famous fighters - all my mates he did boast,
Then he skipped a rope then hit a ball,
And punched a bag - not convincing me at all,
Well I don't know but it seemed to me,
He learned his skills from Rocky 3,
He turned up often to do some training,
He never worked hard his clothes with sweat never staining,
Instruction from me he never took,
He said my coaching was pretty crook,
He was rude and arrogant in the gym,
Bragging all the time - all about him,
Sometime in April he said to me I spoke to your boss today,
I have a program to begin without delay,
I work for juvenile justice black youth at risk,
Fine I said I work with any colour youth at risk,
But mind your own don't interfere with what I am doing,
Said he its only black youth at risk I am pursuing,
In two weeks time I'll bring them in there's 3 boys I am training,
We will be here for sure even if its raining,
Sure enough he bought them in and started his coaching,
But before too long it's my boys he's a poaching,
A Tongan man that I've been bringing on,
His potential is terrific and naturally strong,
Was the first he told him your nearly ready to go,
Come with me I'll make you a pro,
Then a couple of others in the next week,
But only black boys did he seek,
I told my boss - its me or him,
There is no room for two in the gym,
He is undermining my position as head coach,
With all the boys he's trying to poach,
For 4 years now I have held this position,
And all of my boys are in prime condition,
I would have made a long list,
To name all my medallists,
The boss tells me we'll have a meeting in the coffee shop,
To talk about it and get this rot to stop,
All with coffee outside in the sun,
We talked it out and it was not fun,
The boss said that's enough I have got the gist,
Of all the troubles brewing in our midst,
The blackfella seeing he was losing ground,
Another topic he quickly found,
Said he I want to hit you in the face,
3 months ago you said 'Abo' when referring to my race,
Stunned I said sorry it was not meant to hurt feelings,
I've used that word all my life in all my dealings,
He accepted the apology with two others as witness,
So I headed back to the gym to work on my boys fitness,
Next day I am called to office and the boss he counselled me,
On the use of that word and its unacceptability,
Sorry I said I did not know,
To shorten that word was a big no-no,
Why did not anyone before this say,
I would have stopped using the word without delay,
The next thing I learned he's not a registered coach,
So my boss again I did approach,
To cancel his program without delay,
If someone is hurt the insurance they will not pay,
For the next month or so we had peace and quiet,
Back to my boys concentrating on their skills and diet,
There was laughter and fun back in the gym,
Everyone was happier without him,
I thought great this is better,
Until all of a sudden I got a letter,
The Human Rights Office in the ACT,
Apparently I am a racist - they are gunning for me,
It said notification of an investigation,
Into a complaint of discrimination,
The blackfella had told them he was offended and victimised,
Embarrassed humiliated and vilified,
He wants a public apology,
Money and a written apology,
I responded saying an apology he already had,
And to ask again was pretty sad,
To brand me a racist for the use of a single word,
To me sounded pretty absurd,
But the Human Rights Office agreed with him,
And the process they did begin,
To conciliation I had to go,
To explain myself you know,
I told them I am no racist,
And to call me on there is no basis,
I shortened a word surely its no crime,
The Aussies do it all the time,
That word is not what it's all about,
In my mind there is no doubt,
He lied about being a coach,
And the boys he has being trying to poach,
He had lost ground ever since that meeting,
And this was revenge for that beating,
He was using this process as a tool,
But I'm the only one he did not fool,
So to get this fella to go away,
I had to right a letter without delay,
Within 3 days they wanted my letter,
To make this blackfella feel better,
So I wrote the sorry note and took it in,
But he would not accept it he said to do it a'gin,
So I amended the letter and took it back,
If he rejects it this time he's pretty slack,
This game I am no longer going to play,
If he rejects it this time see you in court I'll say,
Its been 3 weeks since I took it in,
And still no one did ring,
To tell me yes or no,
Is it off to court or not we go,
Well it took 4 weeks but the answer came,
He rejected it we are still in the game,
So I've written back to the human rights,
Said see you in court I'm still in the fight,
I am sick of all this nonsense over one word,
I've never heard anything more absurd,
I've been called wog all my life,
But for that I have never made strife,
What is wrong with this bloke,
He's definitely not like normal folk,
He wants to negotiate about the wording of my letter,
So to him it does sound better,
If the wording is so important to his mental health,
Tell him to write the letter himself,
So it is off to court or not we go,
He has another 60 days to let me know,
Well they put me under pressure over the following weeks,
My submission they did earnestly seek,
But I stuck to my guns I did not waiver,
Even though human rights were in his favour,
It took 71 days before the answer came,
He did nothing more so they dismissed his claim,
Well that is it there is no more,
It's over and that's for sure,
So what did I learn over this time,
I will tell you just to finish this rhyme,
Indigenous vagina you can say,
But if you say 'Abo' boy do they make you pay.
By PJ
I was going to simply post this poem and let people judge it on it's merits. But as always I can't help myself, I started to ask questions about the background to the poem and the way the Human Rights Office in the ACT works (I am sure they all work the same across this wide brown land). I talked to the poem's author to check some of the facts and to understand a little more of what actually happened. I also paid a visit to the ACT website to find out how these situations are handled. I think you know what happened. Yep sheer unfairness and stupidity of the process got to me in a big way.
What is not in the poem is the fact that the author is a godfather to an Indigenous child and he had support from the Indigenous community during the Human Rights Office process which would appear to undermine the 'racist' accusation that was liberally bandied about as part of the 'conciliation'. Unfortunately, one of the results of this process was that the author was no longer welcome as a coach at the Turner PCYC. It appears that on the basis of this one minor incident a previously well regarded and high successful coach was made to leave. A single incident which includes saying something upsetting should never result in someone losing their job. Injustice 1 / Fairness 0
In the interests of fairness and objectivity I invite the other person involved to give their side of the story and I promise we will give them equal space provided they answered the following questions. Why did he not complain at the time the comment was made? Why, after accepting an apology, did he complain to the Human Rights Office? Did the fact that he had been exposed as an unqualified boxing coach who was trying to poach boxers from a qualified coach have anything to do with his sudden feelings that he had been vilified? Does the fact that he was only interested in training kids of a particular colour mean that he is a racist? Why did he feel that he deserved money? Was the fact that he could not get any money from the process the reason he decided not to pursue the issue any further?
This is a fine example of what happens when the bureaucracy strays into areas where its presence is neither appropriate nor effective. Yet the Human Rights Office will boast about how they managed to 'successfully' concluded another case through Conciliation. I am sure this case will appear as such in their report to the ACT Government thus proving the necessity of their existence. I read in the newspaper the other day that something like 50% of their cases are 'resolved' through conciliation. If the situation depicted in the poem is typical of the outcomes and feelings generated by the Conciliation process then I don't think the Human Rights Office can claim to have 'resolved' any cases. Of course they make no mention of the negative results of their interfering and since I am sure they do no quality control checks on their process outcomes they would probably be blissfully unaware. This is of course the ultimate aim of any self respecting bureaucrat. Bureaucratic Self Justification 1 / Fairness 0
What would have been a fair outcome?
The situation here was that person A says something person B finds offensive. Person B tells Person A this in front of Persons C and D. Person A apologises and this apology is accepted by Person B. This is witnessed by Persons C and D. In addition Person A is counselled by Person C and admits the error of their ways and again exhibits contrition. As soon as these facts were known by the Human Rights Office that should have been the end of the matter. Anything else merely made the situation worse and helped to ensure that a sensible outcome was impossible. What earthly good was achieved by demanding a written apology? Why was this a better outcome than the verbal apology that was previously given and accepted?
I want my tax money used to deal with unrepentant racists, particularly those who promote violence. I don't want bureaucrats sticking their noses into a minor spat between people. Particularly when one of the parties involved has an obvious axe to grind. I want my tax money spent on a process that promotes social cohesion, self reliance and is structured in a way that prevents it being used as a platform for activism or as a vehicle for revenge.
Everyone, who is honest with themselves, knows that tolerance and respect cannot be legislated they must be earned and when they are they are given freely and unconditionally. Acceptance and cohesion between the various races that are fortunate enough to live in Australia will come from vigorous interaction. People need to get to know each other. This means they need to trade views, opinions and at times argue. Some people are better at this interaction than others and some people are going to be socially clumsy or even rude. This makes them human not racist.