Articles by Michiel Baas

The fact that the majority of Indian students in Australia live in cheaper, more dangerous suburbs, often travel late at night, and so on, all complicate the question of whether racism has been at play in the recent attacks. Yet, this does not mean that the question of whether Australians are (still) racists is an invalid one. It is clear that this is still an issue that Australia has not yet completely dealt with. This essay also argues that the Australian identity has become partly construed in terms of the question of whether Australians are racists or not, something that builds on a past of Anglo-Saxon "white" nation building and a future which is strongly multicultural and Asia-oriented.