Racism makes me sick

etcom — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:13:24 +0000

Racism Makes Me Sick in Australia

ANTAR, Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation, have collaborated with The Body Shop to launch a campaign focusing on racism in Australia. The campaign “Racism Makes Me Sick” talks to the connection between racism and public health. Research shows that a range of health problems including high blood pressure and heart disease, depression, anxiety, low birth rate and premature birth can all be caused directly by people’s personal experiences of racism.

Did you know that 3 out of 4 Indigenous Australians experience racism in their everyday lives?

It’s a great campaign. Visit the site, sign the pledge, read up on the facts and then start speaking up. Everyone can do something about racism.

Hyphenated Identities :: Amalgamation or Assimilation ?

etcom — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:52:24 +0000

When we think about the term “The Melting Pot,” the connotations are that all the national identities that people of a particular place bring are melted together to form an amalgam, an alloy, that is different from any of the source identities.

This is the critical difference between amalgamation and assimilation. Even when there is a clear difference between the host society and the newcomers being incorporated, it makes a big difference whether the outcome of incorporating the ethnic group leaves the host society unchanged.

The host society assimilates the ethnic group by stripping off their cultural distinctives, leaving only their naked identity to be remade in image of their hosting culture. The host society amalgamates the ethnic group, by contrast, by melting both together to produce something new, including a new culture for the host society.

Where it becomes confusing is when we see the term ‘hyphenated identities’ being thrown about – this is the idea that a group can be both loyally Australian and still distinctively itself (that is, still identifying and belonging to its origin country).

“Pluralism” as a social theory was primarily developed by Horace Kallen in reference to ethnic groups in the United States. He described it as “a measure of allowing for some degree of cultural diversity within the confines of a unified national experience” Kallen attempts to express, with this theory, that each ethnic and cultural group in the United States is important and that their unique contributions add to the variety and richness of the American culture. His theory also recognizes that the dominant culture must be also recognized in the society. The recognition of the dominant culture is not part of all multicultural theories, but was a hallmark of Horace Kallen’s.

Kallen went on to argue that a person’s two identities are clearly in a hierarchy: in the case of the USA American is the overarching identity, modified by the hyphenated variant. In becoming Newcomer-Americans, the newcomers have clearly given up some elements from the old country. They have gained a new way of being Newcomers (whatever that means in a cultural sense).

In Australia we see ourselves as an international melting pot, so what relevance does Kallen’s theory hold for us here? Thoughts?

So what’s the skinny on Melting Pot Australians and technology?

etcom — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:46:33 +0000

In the game of targeting, what is the opportunity to hit Melting-Pot Australians with 3G technology?

1. Do these communities seek this technology?
2. What do they know about 3G?
3. What is the prevalence of 3G in their country of origin?
4. What is the level of adoption of new technology by this group?
5. What was the uptake of 3G when first launched in that country?
6. What do these communities do with their phones and how do they use them – do they go beyond talk and text and into downloading, web-surfing and entertainment?
7. What is the decision process for these communities when it comes to technology and choosing a service provider?

Lets look at 5 key communities to answer these questions:

Chinese Australians
Korean Australians
Filipino Australians
Arabic Australians (from Lebanon, Iraq,Iran, Egypt)
Indian Australians
Chinese-Australians

Do these communities seek this technology?
First, China is the world’s largest mobile telephony market with over 500 million cellular users. 200 million more than landline users. $10 Billion of revenue in 2007 came from data – representing 20% of all revenues. This is expected to grow to 30% of all revenue by 2010. This means that the relatives of Chinese-Australians in China are well-versed in mobile telephony and use their mobile phones to keep in contact with their Aussie-based family and friends. This also means that Chinese-Australians are keen to keep up with technology and are not afraid of seeing the mobile phone as their primary source of communication.
What do they know about 3G?
Enough to know that it is the future of telephony and already growing in China. They understand that it means more access to content and bandwidth BUT unsure about technical improvements like lowered drop-out rates and better coverage. They need a better explanation of real user benefits that make sense and make for better quality phone service.

What is the prevalence of 3G in their country of origin?
3G networks were deployed in China before the Beijing 2008 Olympics with a commitment of an additional $1Billion in infrastructure investment every year for the next 5 years from China Telecom and China Netcom. They are projected to add another $1Billion or revenue every month by 2009.

What is the level of adoption of new technology by this group?
50 million users in China are already using their mobile for Internet access and this number is expected to double in the next 6 months. 3G will be THE technology to deliver this. China Telecom is currently experimenting with all types of content – from mini-gambling games to news and info to some entertainment.

What was the uptake of 3G when first launched in that country?
So far, in just a few months, 10% of the owners of mobile phones have upgraded to 3G technology. This is easier to achieve in a country that doesn’t have the old-network infrastructure technology!
What do these communities do with their phones and how do they use them – do they go beyond talk and text and into downloading, web-surfing and entertainment?
Right now, 90% of revenues from data come from text messaging. China Telecom predict that this will fall to 80% over the next 18 months as other data forms start to be transmitted via 3G. Leading the charge with be mobile internet access, followed by content information data downloads.
What is the decision process for these communities when it comes to technology and choosing a service provider?
Chinese-Australians tend to stick with big, safe providers. Telstra is well placed to convert these users. They expect a nice bundled package for multiple family users and good deals for family and friends!
____
Korean-Australians

Do these communities seek this technology?
South Korea is THE leading country for mobile, wireless and 3G technology. It is considered THE world leader in 3G mobile technology. South Korea is an early adopter of triple play models, which provide TV, broadband Internet and voice telephony as packaged services from a single provider. The South Korean government is committed to transitioning the country to digital terrestrial, digital cable and digital satellite TV broadcasting by 2010. Additionally, e-services such as e-commerce, online trading, e-banking, e-government and online gaming will be key drivers of the converged environment in South Korea

What do they know about 3G?
Lots. If they are recent arrivals form South Korea, they are one big step ahead of their Aussie counterparts. Korean arrivals who are not recent to Australia will have heard of this digital landscape from friends and relatives in Korea.

What is the prevalence of 3G in their country of origin?
South Korea is considered a leader in 3G technology and has the world’s highest percentage of mobile users on 3G technology. 3G technology was available to the market in December 2003 BUT it has taken a few years for LG Telecom to launch decent (and interesting) content and services despite holding the 3G licences. In 2005, the Government of South Korea started to push this along and now the uptake is growing.

What is the level of adoption of new technology by this group?
About 50% of mobile users are connected to 3G services. In a population of 50 million, close to 40 million have a mobile phone. 3G usage varies from ‘engrossed’ to ‘dabbling’ but the trend-curve suggests that this technology and content for 3G is ‘with a bullet’.

What was the uptake of 3G when first launched in that country?
In December 2003 when 3G first came online in Korea, it was met with a little bit of ambivalence – mainly because there were no purpose build content services for the technology. Today, almost 5 years later, Korean content providers and Telcos get that this technology is driven by cool, interesting – as well as useful content. What do these communities do with their phones and how do they use them – do they go beyond talk and text and into downloading, web-surfing and entertainment?
South Koreans have gone beyond text and downloading – with Korean-Australians following suit. The trick is to make sure that there is relevant content- e.g. who will be providing a combination of Aussie AND Korean content! What is the decision process for these communities when it comes to technology and choosing a service provider? Korean-Australians need three things from their providers – trusted services, a fair price and interesting content from which to choose.

____

Filipino-Australians

Do these communities seek this technology?
The Philippines has forged ahead when it comes to mobile telephony and technology. Of the population of 91 million, roughly 45 million have a mobile phone. The Philippines company SMART (specialising in mobile telephony) offered a free-trial of 3G back in February 2006 and used this as a major acquisition strategy. Roughly a third of all subscribers are subscribing to 3G services.

What do they know about 3G?
Lots. Filipino-Australians know their family back in the home country are all over this technology – and they need to be as well. 3G services in the Philippines include video-calling, video-mail, mobile streaming, Mobile Eye (a remote access video), high speed mobile Internet access, video and audio downloads in film-clips, speed-dating and find-a-friend via video. Filipino-Australians need cool content options to try.

What is the level of adoption of new technology by this group?
This new technology has been around since 2000 but pushed hard since the beginning of 2006. In a country with a record or instability, Filipino’s pride themselves on having 21st century technology. This group wants to be better than equal to their western counterparts and willing to dabble and try what’s available.
What was the uptake of 3G when first launched in that country?
It took at least 4-5 years for content to equal the technology. Slow at first but pushed hard by leading mobile Telco companies like Smart. What do these communities do with their phones and how do they use them – do they go beyond talk and text and into downloading, web-surfing and entertainment?
Filipinos love to talk and text but there is a huge download of music – this seems to be the way in to Filipino-Australians.
What is the decision process for these communities when it comes to technology and choosing a service provider?
Filipino-Australians like to stick with the big providers if they can match the start-ups on price!

____

Arabic-Australians (Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Egypt)

Do these communities seek this technology?
Lebanese-Australians love the idea id mobile technology but in their country of origin, mobile penetration is low (about 30%). In Iraq it is 33%. In Iran it is also approx. 33% and in Egypt, this number is 30%.

What do they know about 3G?
Not as much as other markets
What is the prevalence of 3G in their country of origin?
Due to only recent deregulation and little competition (until recently) – the birth of 3G is a little slow to come to market…

What is the level of adoption of new technology by this group?
It’s getting there – especially as 2nd-generationers see what’s on offer and show their first-generation counterparts what’s on offer…

What do these communities do with their phones and how do they use them – do they go beyond talk and text and into downloading, web-surfing and entertainment?

Talk and text is it for now – will some downloading of music

What is the decision process for these communities when it comes to technology and choosing a service provider?
Arab-Australians pride themselves on nailing a good deal!

____

Indian-Australians

Do these communities seek this technology?
Indian-Australians are more familiar with the services that 3G can offer rather than the technology itself – especially the success of music and ring-tone downloads in India – via their family and friends.
What do they know about 3G?
Enough to know that it allows for content downloads – especially music. They don’t understand the ‘quality story’ of 3G.
What is the prevalence of 3G in their country of origin?
3G licences will soon be awarded in India. Currently 86% of all mobile phones in India are GSM – with 250 million mobile subscribers in India. The prevalent thinking of Telco experts in India is that 3G will ride the wave of music downloads and ring-tone downloads.

What is the level of adoption of new technology by this group?
Indian-Australians (in general) are fans of new technology – but it’s the benefits that this technology delivers that excites them – especially visual and audio content.
What was the uptake of 3G when first launched in that country?
Yet to happen in India…

What do these communities do with their phones and how do they use them - do they go beyond talk and text and into downloading, web-surfing and entertainment?

Talk and text is obviously big – but the runaway success stories are music and ring-tone downloads.
What is the decision process for these communities when it comes to technology and choosing a service provider?
Indian-Australians are all about choosing a Telco with the best ‘service’ packages. What type of value-adds can I get? – is a key question.

Exploring the appropriation of Asian culture

etcom — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:07:51 +0000

An interesting post from Angry Asian Man on yellow apparel: when the coolie becomes cool,

. . . Yellow Apparel is a student documentary project by Anmol Chaddha, Naomi Iwasaki, Sonya Zehra Mehta, Muang Saechao and Sheng Wang examining the cultural commodification/ appropriation of Asian items in the context of social position and historical experiences of Asian Americans. Think Madonna’s “Nothing Really Matters” video and Gwen Stefani’s whole Harajuku obsession.

This film was actually put together way back in 2001, but was only recently digitized and uploaded to YouTube. It was originally created for a class project, shot on Hi-8, and was never really intended to be shown elsewhere, but ended up screening at a handful of film festivals. Here’s the synopsis:

In examining the recent trendiness of Asian cultural elements, such as bindis, Buddhist beads, and Chinese character tattoos, ‘yellow apparel: when the coolie becomes cool’ (2000) asks whether this commodification of Asian culture signals the acceptance of Asian Americans into the cultural fabric of America.

Produced by a group of undergraduates at UC-Berkeley, the video forces the viewer to consider the contradictions between the current fashionability of Asian symbols and the history of oppression suffered by Asian Americans. For example, what does it mean that many white folks like to dress up as Asians while, at the same time, scientist Wen Ho Lee is systematically mistreated because of his Asian appearance?

Combining commentary and spoken word poetry, ‘yellow apparel’ presents the material with humor, pride, and passion.

The documentary also draws connections between these issues as they concern Asian Americans and the ways in which Black culture is appropriated while Black communities are marginalized throughout society. While explaining the appropriation of an exotic Asia as an attempt to fill the void created by a bureaucratized suburban lifestyle in America, ‘yellow apparel’ does not attempt to provide a clear-cut solution but rather a critical and informed examination of the commodification of Asian culture.

Obama bucks

etcom — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 05:40:25 +0000

Obama bucks

The latest newsletter by an Inland Republican women’s group depicts Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama surrounded by a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken, prompting outrage in political circles.

The October newsletter by the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated says if Obama is elected his image will appear on food stamps — instead of dollar bills like other presidents. The statement is followed by an illustration of “Obama Bucks” — a phony $10 bill featuring Obama’s face on a donkey’s body, labeled “United States Food Stamps.”The group’s president, Diane Fedele, said she plans to send an apology letter to her members and to apologize at the club’s meeting next week. She said she simply wanted to deride a comment Obama made over the summer about how as an African-American he “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.”

“It was strictly an attempt to point out the outrageousness of his statement. I really don’t want to go into it any further,” Fedele said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “I absolutely apologize to anyone who was offended.

Obama. Food stamps. Kentucky Fried Chicken. Why would anyone be offended?

You can read the rest of the article here

Dolmio’s puppet campaign

etcom — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:07:43 +0000

Taken from page 16 of the London Lite for 2/8/07

A controversial race story next to a cliche Dolmio ad which itself uses crude racial stereotypes. How unfortunate.

Image taken from qwghlm‘s Flickrstream

Forget black, forget white. EA is what’s hot

etcom — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:49:44 +0000

It stands for ‘ethnically ambiguous’, a term embracing a whole new generation, from US mega-stars to Brixton clubbers, who have grown up colour-blind

Article taken from The Observer by John Arlidge

Punjabe MC is booming out over the sound system at the Plan B bar in Brixton. It is 9pm on Friday and the stylish crowd are easing through the post-New Year’s Eve comedown with lager and Marlboro Golds. Twenty years ago, the scene would have been almost exclusively black, but tonight the crowd is racially mixed. When the DJ plays the latest Beyoncé track everyone gets up and dances. From the way they look and move, it’s hard to tell who is black, Asian or white.

Talk to any of the regulars at this popular south London bar and it soon becomes clear that race or colour is the last thing on anyone’s mind. As he sinks his Eastern European lager, Derrick Herelle, 32, who works in IT, says: ‘Here black and white people interact so much that you tend to lose the distinction. I feel as comfortable in a bar like this in Brixton as I would walking into the Ritz – and why not? It’s my city.’

Across the bar Nurj Khan, a nurse from Camberwell who is out drinking with her friend Sophia from Camden Town, agrees. ‘Trying to define people by the old race labels just doesn’t work any more. Look around you. Can you pigeonhole these people? To me, that doesn’t undermine the fact that culture and heritage are an integral part of life, but there is more to it than just colour.’

Herelle and Khan and millions like them are part of a new group, dubbed Generation Ethnically Ambiguous or Generation EA for short. While many blacks and Asians are casting aside the old ethnic labels as crude and outmoded, many white youngsters are embracing so-called ‘black’ lifestyle and culture in fashion, grooming, music, sport and language.

In America, the power of ethnic ambiguity has been recognised by both stars and advertising agencies keen to buy into the youth market. The actor Vin Diesel has said that his multiracial roots – his mother is Irish and his father’s race is unknown – have proved to be an asset, enabling him to play a wide variety of roles. And the ‘EA’ background of baseball player Derek Jeter has probably helped him become one of the most photographed of America’s sports stars.

Image-makers and marketeers have taken note. Elise Koseff, who represents children and teenagers who appear in advertising and TV, told the New York Times: ‘People think blond-haired, blue-eyed kids are getting all the work, but these days they are working the least.’

Not surprisingly, pop stars – always alert to shifting fashions – are playing with ethnic ambiguity. Beyoncé, a black American, often wears her hair blond, while Christina Aguilera – who is half-Ecuadorean – has cast herself as a Bollywood goddess.

Such ethnic ambiguity is of a piece with real demographic changes in America and also in the UK. Almost one million young Britons identified themselves as members of more than one race or of ‘no race’ in the most recent census, the first in which respondents could choose their ethnic origin. ‘Mixed Race’ is now the third largest ethnic minority group in Britain and is set to become the biggest over the next decade.

As blacks and Asians move away from colour-based labels, observers say that white youngsters are moving towards traditional black lifestyles, creating the new ‘blended’ youth. They point out that almost half the Top 40 albums and singles sold last year were by black acts. Indeed, black music is now so dominant that even white soul singers, such as Mick Hucknall and Jay Kay, win Mobo – Music of Black Origin – awards.

When it comes to image, white youngsters are just as likely to wear ‘black’ street labels, such as P. Diddy’s Sean John, as black youngsters. ‘Bling, bling’ ghetto fabulous style is no longer restricted to the ghetto. In the past, any white youngster who copied black style was dismissed as a ‘wigga’ – a term of abuse meaning ‘white nigger’. But now ‘wiggas’ are the norm.

‘Black urban culture has become the mainstream culture,’ says journalist and social commentator Paul McKenzie. ‘It represents the triumph of the immigrant black community.’

McKenzie points out that few black commentators raised an eyebrow when David Beckham was named the most famous black man in Britain last year. His superstar quality, money, passion for fashion and fast cars, love of garage music and his popularity among black youngsters marked him out as ‘a brother, trapped in a white man’s body’, a Channel 4 documentary said. Beckham has said he regarded the description as a compliment.

As with all social trends, the first people to pick up on the rise of Generation EA have been media and entertainment groups. Go for a walk down the high street or open a magazine and try to guess where the men and women who model the spring/summer collections come from: Britain, India, Mongolia, Somalia – or all of the above? From Louis Vuitton to M&S, uniformity is out. As fashion observer Peter Howarth, former editor of Esquire magazine, puts it, ‘the racially-indeterminate, melting pot aesthetic is very “now”.’

Among film-makers, the mixed-race actors are now in demand because, observers say, audiences enjoy the fact that they cannot work out whether they are black, white, Hispanic, Indian or some combination. ‘The fact that you can’t be sure who they are is part of their seductiveness,’ says London-based casting agent Melanie Ross.

After years of churning out lily-white, blond-haired, blue-eyed boy and girl bands, the music industry is remixing looks as fast as it remixes singles.

Multi-racial bands such as the Sugababes are replacing the likes of Boyzone and Westlife. Even mega-stars are deliberately tweaking their looks, playing with audiences’ perceptions of their origin.

Among male stars, Eminem and Justin Timberlake, who are white, claim that their music is as ‘black’ as songs by such US rappers as P. Diddy or 50 Cent. On Britain’s streets a ‘Justin’ is the term for a white man taken or desired as a lover by a black woman.

Ambiguity sells, marketing experts say, not only because it – helpfully – covers all bases but because it suits the times. ‘There is a current fascination with the racial hybrid,’ says Sean Pillot de Chenecey, a London-based trend analyst and researcher who has worked for Levi’s and Coca-Cola. ‘For the marketing industry, the focus is on trying to reflect the blending of cultures. It’s about art imitating life.’

The transition from segregated cultures to multiracialism is now so marked that some believe the time has come to dismiss race altogether as a useful social indicator. US academic Evelyn Hammond, a professor of the history of science and Afro-American studies at Harvard, recently told the New York Times that race was an ‘invented concept’ used ‘to categorise perceived biological, social and cultural differences between human groups’.

In Britain, Michael Eboda, editor of the black newspaper New Nation, sympathises. ‘Beckham-type ideas may be tongue-in-cheek, but there is a serious point: Britain is a multicultural country and Beckham epitomises that. He has absorbed aspects of black culture.

‘The barriers between black and white are really coming down.’

At the Commission for Racial Equality, Trevor Phillips agrees: ‘The CRE is not just here to go about shouting “racism, racism, racism”. I want to bring the word integration back into fashion because I think it is what is going on already. Public bodies need to catch up with real life and work out how to take things even further forward.’

Back on the streets of Brixton, what do those in Plan B bar make of these claims? Is Generation EA a reality? In the multiracial, pluralist culture in which we now live, does race still matter, or has the new climate of crossover, fusion and cultural diversification relegated colour to the margins?

Nick Leader, a 25-year-old research consultant who has travelled from Hampstead, north London, to party with his friends, says: ‘People don’t make a distinction now because the distinction is dissolving – culturally and even at times physically.

‘We are the new mix. We are the remix generation.’