Living in Harmony Community Grants 1999

Victoria

Australian Arabic Council (Melbourne)

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A Tale of Two Peoples

$54,000 Awarded

| Aims | Activities | The Video | Outcomes |

Aims

This project, now completed, aimed to:

  • reduce incidence in the community of racism against Arabic and Aboriginal persons based on ignorance and stereotypes

  • raise community awareness of the many common elements of Arabic and Aboriginal culture

  • increase the level of self-respect of Aboriginal and migrant youth so that they will aspire for success as equal citizens

  • achieve the above aims by producing a positive educational documentary film about Arabic and Aboriginal youth, to:

    • focus on youth from both cultures as they engage in debunking myths and empowering themselves

    • be used by mass media and classroom workshops to develop cross-cultural awareness

    • highlight how cultural similarities outweigh differences

Activities

The project:

  • collaborated in the development of the documentary with:

    • the Living in Harmony-funded Conference of Education Systems Chief Executive Officers (CESCEO) partnership project, Racism. No Way!

    • the Victorian Department of Education.

  • produced and launched the 25 minute video

  • to complement the video, produced Teachers’ Notes/Study Guide which covered:

    • how to present the video within the curriculum structure of media, drama, history, geography, economics, English and health & physical education of the Victorian Department of Education

    • key discussion questions

    • suggested student learning outcomes for each subject

  • is marketing the video to Victorian schools complete with Study Guide at a nominal cost

  • is negotiating for the video to be shown on SBS television

The video

The documentary, directed by well known Indigenous documentary maker, Richard Frankland:

  • commences with two groups of young people, one Arabic from Al-Kamal College, Melbourne) the other Indigenous (from Worowa Aboriginal Secondary College, Healesville), describing their distinctive cultural identities in their own words

  • gives the viewer a positive and immediate impression of the richness and diversity of the Arabic and Aboriginal cultures, delving into identity and dislocation from culture

  • has the young people describe:

    • positive aspects of their culture

    • their direct experiences of racism

    • the sense of marginalisation they feel within the broader Australian community

    • common features in their cultures

  • includes topics mentioned by participants such as:

    • their respective understanding of the other group’s culture

    • celebrating difference as a means of overcoming racism

    • the need to revisit traditional lands

    • Palestinian dispossession

    • the negative portrayal in the media of Indigenous Australians as alcoholics and Arabic Australians as terrorists

    • one young man’s family’s experience of the stolen generation

    • the importance of family and cultural traditions to them as individuals.

  • takes the participants through role playing exercises where they act out incidents of racism, highlighting that racism and stereotyping is a common experience of minority cultural groups

  • concludes with positive images and experiences of the young people as they share aspects of their respective cultures, including dance and music

Outcomes

The project:

  • found the video a powerful resource to help meet the demand for "desperately needed" anti-racism workshops after September 11 and the Tampa crisis, to meet a rise in racial vilification against Arab-speaking Australians

  • reported that through the project the young people:

    • found the process of sharing their culture in a positive manner was a rewarding and uplifting experience

    • felt a true sense of empowerment because they could share with others of similar age the true worth of their beliefs and traditions

    • could effectively debunk stereotypes and discuss with the "others" the little known aspects of their cultures

    • could evaluate more objectively their experiences in the wider community

  • has resulted in a "quantum shift" in relations between the Arabic and Aboriginal communities, evoking the comment that they had "grafted an olive branch onto a wattle tree, and then planted it in Wurundjeri soil"

  • had great success in taking a group of Al Kamal students on an initial excursion to meet Aboriginal peers at Worowa College, when the participants came away with a much greater understanding of each other, especially after the project team won the confidence of the initially reticent Aboriginal students

  • had the documentary:

    • much in demand by schools, community groups and welfare organisations

    • included in the Department of Education and training’s list of recommended resources to be used by schools to combat ignorance and racism

    • short-listed for an ATOM (Australian Teachers of Media) award

    • praised by other ethnic groups, who expressed interest in similar projects for their own communities

    • shown in Cairo, Canada, USA and Beirut

    • presented with discussion at conferences at:

      • 3CR presentation to independent media, Melbourne Youth Seminar, Melbourne Centre for Adolescent Health, May 2002

      • staff conference at St Vincent Hospital, Melbourne, April 2002

      • Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Anti-Racism Conference, Sydney, March 2002

      • Diversity Conference, Geelong , November 2001

      • National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters’ Conference, Melbourne, October 2001

      • Powerhouse Wattan conference, Sydney, 2001

  • was much complimented for Arabic students marching under the Australian Arabic Council banner at the March for Reconciliation, 3 December 2000