Australia’s race discrimination commissioner has been grilled over the claim white people cannot experience racism, a belief he has expressed support for.
Giridharan Sivaraman, who was handpicked for the $400,000-a-year job in March last year by then-Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, appeared before a Senate committee on Tuesday.
During the hearing, Liberal Senator Claire Chandler asked Mr Sivaraman to defend claims by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that white people cannot experience racism.
It was one of several claims made in an explainer document released alongside the body’s National Anti-Racism Framework in November last year.
‘That same explainer for the National Anti-Racism Framework explicitly says it is a myth that white people can experience racism, do you agree with that statement?’ Ms Chandler asked.
Mr Sivaraman answered the document should be viewed as a whole before claiming racism is ‘rarely about any biological construct or the colour – it can be about the colour of someone’s skin – but it is about the way in which power might be wielded by one person over another.’
‘Ta-Nehisi Coates the African-American writer, said that race is the child, racism is the father. It’s often created as a means of oppression, and in this country, in Australia, it has tended to be towards people that are not white, that’s the important thing to recognise,’ he added.
Ms Chandler then repeated an earlier line of questioning, asking the commissioner whether he believes Australia is a ‘racist country’.
Giridharan Sivaraman (above) was asked whether he believes white people can experience racism in a tense exchange during a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday
Liberal Senator Claire Chandler (above) repeatedly asked the commissioner whether he believes Australia is a ‘racist country’
‘I didn’t say that, I said that racism exists in Australia,’ he answered.
When asked the same question previously, he answered racism ‘significantly affects systems and institutions in Australia and that’s something that we need to combat to make our society better for everyone.’
The framework, prepared by the Australian Human Rights Commission, made 63 recommendations to the government on how best to stamp out racism in Australia.
The explainer guide referenced by Ms Chandler includes a section titled: ‘Can white people experience racism?’
‘Whilst white people can experience multiple forms of discrimination or prejudice based on gender, sexual orientation, ability, age, or class; they cannot experience racism,’ it reads.
‘Racism is more than just prejudice, and is accompanied by power to discriminate against, oppress or limit the rights of others.’
It goes on to criticise the terms ‘reverse racism’ and ‘anti-white racism’ which it says often derive from a ‘common and particularly harmful misconception’.
‘Claims of ‘anti-white racism’ ignore the fact that racism relies on societal power, which in systems of white supremacy prioritise whiteness,’ it reads.
Pictured is an excerpt from an explainer guide released by the Australian Human Rights Commission claiming white people cannot experience racism
‘They also overlook the fact that in an unequal society, some communities will require special measures to produce equitable outcomes.’
It’s a point Mr Sivaraman, a former employment lawyer, raised during the controversy involving Australian footballer Sam Kerr last year after she reportedly called a British police officer ‘stupid and white’.
Mr Sivaraman stopped short of commenting on the specifics of Ms Kerr’s case but did object to the general concept of anti-white racism.
‘We had a White Australia policy,’ he told the Sydney Morning Herald in March last year.
‘Our positions of power – in politics, media and the judiciary – are [still] held by white people. That’s the context in which racism is occurring and needs to be understood.
‘The notion of anti-white racism is based on a fundamental misunderstanding about racism.’
This interpretation fits within the commission’s definition of racism, which goes beyond prejudice and involves an additional element of power.
‘Racism is the process by which systems and policies, actions and attitudes create inequitable opportunities and outcomes for people based on race,’ the AHRC’s website reads.
‘It occurs when this prejudice – whether individual or institutional – is accompanied by the power to discriminate against, oppress or limit the rights of others.’
Daily Mail has contacted Mr Sivaraman for comment.
