Over the past few months there have been a few attacks on Indians studying in Melbourne. There is a large number of foreign students studying here and as such the attacks have garnered quite a bit of press; however, the claim that these attacks are signs of endemic racism are a bit over the top.

Now let’s be serious, there is no way in any nation, small or large, every member would be understanding, tolerant or indifferent to others. There is no way to eliminate racist feelings from within everyone; however, that does not mean that a large portion of the population, let alone everyone, is racist. These individuals or individual events are not symptomatic of the population or of a system of racism. Punctuated events, especially those stoked by the media, should not be used by anyone to tar an entire nation.

No nation can claim to be free of racism; but the claim that racism is institutionalized here does not merit any discussion. It’s not institutionalized here, nor in Canada or in dozens of other places. Having said that, I would certainly agree that attacks on individuals can be racially motivated and the subsequent investigations need to be taken seriously.

John Daicopoulos