Sydney, Mar 12 (ANI): Overt racial altercations like that displayed in a recent shocking altercation between two women on a Transperth bus are often not reported because they have become a part of the Australian society and people have started accepting them, according to a Perth cultural studies expert.
The Transperth incident, which was captured on video and uploaded on to YouTube, was not reported by any of the passengers on board, which is something that did not surprise Curtin University's Jon Stratton, the WA News reports.
The video, which was filmed on the Circle Route bus on March 5 near Hilton, shows a woman verbally abusing another woman, who she refers to as Chinese, for speaking in another language, and comments such as 'f... off on your boat you dog,' are yelled at the woman, the paper said.
Professor Stratton said although some people may have chosen not to report the incident because of the potential of being a witness if the case ever went further, there were others who accepted that race based-altercations happened in Australia.
Stratton said they like to think of ourselves as multicultural and accepting of others but when it comes down to it, it's only really ok when someone of another race is in their place like serving food at a Thai restaurant, adding it's okay for racial differences to crop up in restaurants provided they stay out of sight.
Professor Stratton said racism and xenophobia often spilled out on public transport because people were cooped up together with people from all different backgrounds, who they might not usually spend time with.
Professor Stratton also claimed the fear of people speaking languages other than English in Australia had existed since the 1950s. (ANI)
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