Since 9/11, thanks
to the implicit and explicit government and media propaganda that Islam
is the “new enemy” of the West, those Australians who are most visibly
Muslim — women who wear a headscarf (hijab) or full body covering
(chador) — have borne the brunt of an escalation in racist attacks
and abuse. I spoke to Sue Edelbi, a Muslim Australian, about her experiences
of racism in Australia.
“As a Muslim, every day you suffer from racial oppression. It’s just the way it is”, she said. “People are not trying to hide their racist views, particularly post-September 11 [2001]. You never really accept it, but you learn to tolerate it.” While much of it comes from Anglo-Australians, Edelbi added that “as a Muslim, I have been on the receiving end of racist attacks by people who not long ago were themselves subjected to the same racial oppression.”
“It is definitely in the more subtle ways that I experience racism ... I see it in a lot of business acquaintances. They see you, but don’t really value your opinion. It’s patronising and demeaning to me, not only as a Muslim, but as a Muslim woman.
“I am a practising Muslim who prays five times a day. I fast in the month of Ramadan and I wear the hijab because I choose to. Every day I travel from Strathfield to [the city] by train, but I don’t travel alone. Each day I am accompanied by eyes, facial expressions and bodily gestures that are either understanding, considerate, compassionate, confused, curious, frowning or glaring rudely. Sometimes when I smile as a friendly gesture, I find myself met with looks of hostility — actually, I would say about 90% of the time I’m met with hostile eyes, people who regard Australia as theirs, as belonging to white Australia.
“I have been wearing the scarf now for six years and I know racism thrives in Australia, because I know there is a difference between how people treated me before I wore the scarf and how they treat me now. It takes a Muslim woman to know racism is flourishing in our country. Put simply, racism is in the psyche of the nation, but not all Australians. Can you blame those Muslims who don’t want to integrate with the broader society?”
Emphasising what she feels is an important point to make, Edelbi said: “The underlying racist attitude started somewhere. It stems from our history, our treatment of Aboriginal people. If we can’t put right that situation, how can we mend the situation we face now with other minority groups?”
“I remember one incident, when I was at the train station one morning, buying a ticket, one old white Australian woman standing behind me turned and said with such hostility I’ll never forget: 'All your men treat you bad, and then you die virgins’. She started pulling at my scarf, actually trying to pull it off until I moved away, shocked and offended. That was one of the first experiences of that kind that I had.
“I don’t think people have yet come to terms with the scarf. I find people are mostly judgemental, even my friends, though they accept I wear the scarf... For Muslim women it’s a strong part of their femininity and identity as Muslims. Both are powerfully connected… We want people to acknowledge us for who we are as Muslims, because our religion matters to us... It’s how we choose to live our lives.
“Once I walked into a restaurant on my lunch-break and just about every single person was scrutinising my every move. Imagine every time you lifted the fork to your mouth, if there were about 20 people from all walks of life glaring intrusively at you, for no other reason then because they fear you. They see you as a terrorist or suicide bomber about to blow them up. That’s the worst thing, having your every move in the public space fall under inspection by [people] who pass judgement without knowing you.”
“But of course, there are many, many Australians who don’t believe in racism. My closest friends are [Anglo-] Australian and they mean the world to me.” Edelbi described the 500,000-strong anti-war march in Sydney on February 16 as the “people’s movement for peace”, explaining that she felt it “echoed the voice of many white Australians and Muslims in solidarity for the sake of peace and justice... I will never forget that day. It made me proud to be Australian, standing amongst the thousands chanting in one uniform voice: 'peace’.”
BY SARAH STEPHEN
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, April 23, 2003.
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