Friday, January 27, 2006
A few weeks ago, whilst perusing through the that highly accurate publication, the West Australian, the topic of politically correct uniforms was brought up for Western Australian police. There was a picture of a woman wearing a headscarf, and a man wearing a turban and sporting a beard.
The next day in the opinion pages, what could only be described as a virulent outpouring of prejudice could be viewed. Of course the editor chooses which letters to print, but all of them pronounced an end to Australian culture and the start of a rabid theocracy spawning fresh recruits for the next global jihad. This continued on for the next week, however I am happy to say that some readers were more than supportive of the uniform changes. The ones continuing to spout their intolerance did so using the argument that everyone should wear the same uniform as Australia was a place where people got a "fair go".
I'm not sure that stopping people from wearing their cultural dress is giving them a "fair go". Some may say that if we were to visit "their" country (in inverted commas as quite a few of "them" were born in Australia), we would have to respect the local dress code. True, but isn't that what is so great about Australia? In a string bikini or wearing a full body chador, everyone is welcome at the beach.
I believe the greatest benefit from allowing police to wear cultural dress is that perhaps they will more easily be able to connect with youths from their own particular cultural groups. I'm not saying multiculturalism works perfectly. It is true to an extent that different cultural groups tend to stick together, and having law enforcement personnel that they can easily relate to will create an atmosphere of trust and cooperation.
And to the person who wrote in and asked if he would get into the Indian police force wearing a singlet and thongs, I'm not even going to begin to tell you why that is just so wrong.
The next day in the opinion pages, what could only be described as a virulent outpouring of prejudice could be viewed. Of course the editor chooses which letters to print, but all of them pronounced an end to Australian culture and the start of a rabid theocracy spawning fresh recruits for the next global jihad. This continued on for the next week, however I am happy to say that some readers were more than supportive of the uniform changes. The ones continuing to spout their intolerance did so using the argument that everyone should wear the same uniform as Australia was a place where people got a "fair go".
I'm not sure that stopping people from wearing their cultural dress is giving them a "fair go". Some may say that if we were to visit "their" country (in inverted commas as quite a few of "them" were born in Australia), we would have to respect the local dress code. True, but isn't that what is so great about Australia? In a string bikini or wearing a full body chador, everyone is welcome at the beach.
I believe the greatest benefit from allowing police to wear cultural dress is that perhaps they will more easily be able to connect with youths from their own particular cultural groups. I'm not saying multiculturalism works perfectly. It is true to an extent that different cultural groups tend to stick together, and having law enforcement personnel that they can easily relate to will create an atmosphere of trust and cooperation.
And to the person who wrote in and asked if he would get into the Indian police force wearing a singlet and thongs, I'm not even going to begin to tell you why that is just so wrong.
# posted by Laddie @ 4:30 AM 
