| IT'S EVERYWHERE. In the workplace, on T.V., in the schoolyard, but is it fair, or should I say, not coloured?
Racism is a fact of life that effects everyone at any age who is seen to be racially different. Judgement of people on how they look has to start somewhere, and it is usually at an early age where children become the victims of their nurturing environment.
Television, as a part of this environment, has a major influence on children and can affect them in both a positive and negative way depending on how they interpret it.
In life there is always the good, the bad and the ugly. The good, children's innocence, is affected by the bad they see on the news each night.
The news gives the facts but tends to highlight the bad aspects in situations of racial tension. The children listen and learn.
The ugly is born from this type of education. However, the good is slowly being reintroduced into our children's lives through educational children's television programs.
Programs that do allow children of a young age to see that the acceptability of others from different races is quite okay, are included on an ever increasing basis in the afternoon viewing line-up. Shows like "Play School", where Aboriginal people work alongside the 'typical Australian white person', show children what their culture is all about by telling dreamtime stories and painting pictures with their unique symbols. They also have Italian guests to teach simple Italian songs to the young audience. | Racial equality needs to be promoted from an early age.
Another show is 'The Great Outdoors" where reporter Ernie Dingo, a well-known Australian Aboriginal, shows his talent in reporting various aspects of the great outdoors from all over the world.
When asked to speak about his working career, he stated, "I am extremely fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work and travel world-wide, meeting people of so many races and cultures. It makes me appreciate the fact that I, being an Aboriginal and therefore part of a minority group, have been accepted so readily for who I am, when in many parts of the world people like me aren't given a chance."
Another good aspect of these types of shows, is the fact that the guests or reporters on them are being themselves and aren't told to act like someone they're not. They also included as part of the show and not a separate segment that has no relevance to the theme of the program at all.
They are seen to fit in naturally so therefore the underlying premise is that they're going to be naturally accepted by the viewing public.
The producers of these programs have overcome the unfortunate factors of racism and have allowed people, like the ones mentioned, to have a chance to show the community, through television, that everyone should be accepted no matter what shape, size or colour, if only they'd be given a chance. By Amelia |