Recently I spent time with my grandchildren and pondered what the world has become and what it means for them as they grow up.  With the leader of the largest and most powerful western country virtually endorsing racist behaviour and religious persecution and the resurgence of the One Nation party here in Australia I have to wonder what sort of world faces them as they grow up.

Maybe you are wondering why, as a caucasian, I would worry about this.  One of my grandchildren is half-Chinese and two others are half Thai/Laotian.  This could make them targets for anything from casual racist comments to overt racism and I worry about what lies ahead for them in relation to this and how well they will be prepared if it happens.

Casual racist remarks are just as hurtful to the recipient as overt racism but the sad thing seems to be that often the person making the comment doesn’t really see it as harmful and they often don’t understadnd that they cause offence or harm.  They seem to be oblivious to the hurt they may be causing, or perhaps they are undereducated. I hesitate to say they are just bigoted but I fear this may be the case.

I wonder if, sometime in the future, someone will say to my grandchildren in a semi-patronising way “I ate food from your people at the weekend”.  What people do they mean?  Aussie?  Chinese? Thai? Asian?  A casual racist probably won’t even recognise that as being a racist remark but it has the potential to hurt.  Should we teach my grandchildren to respond with “What, Aussie?” They were all born here, after all.

Or if they overhear someone saying “I can’t tell, they all look alike to me” how will they feel?  In a world where most people can’t tell the difference between various Asian nationalities will they be faced with the ‘all Asians look alike’ statement often in their lives?

Will people ask them in a patronising way if they needed extra English help with their studies because the shape of their eyes and the colour of their skin identifies them as having only a half-caucasian heritage?

Will someone make comments in their presence about how having people of any colour in an area makes it a less safe area to live and more likely to be prone to robberies and vandalism?

These are all examples of casual racist remarks I have heard of recently and, when challenged, the person responsible denied that they were racist in nature and  they were discounted as they were not racist in the wider sense of the word.

But they are.  Even if not intended to be malicious or motivated by hate, casual racism can cause harm. Like other forms of racism, casual racism marginalises, denigrate or humiliates those who experience it. We are all accountable for the things we say or do, and making casually racist jokes or comments can have a negative impact on those at whom they are directed as well as fueling prejudice and discrimination.

Racism is as much about impact as it is about intention. We should never discount the impact on those who are on the receiving end of discrimination. We should never deny the effects a casual remark can have on their feelings.  Downplaying the impact and saying it’s not really racist can encourage prejudice.

If people are not called to account for the comments they make they continue to make them.  Say it often enough in front of your children and they will take it as the norm and may embrace a more racist way of thinking . I am reminded of the Richard Rodgers lyrics of ‘Carefully Taught’ from the musical ‘South Pacific’: