A notice of motion for an initiative, aimed at reducing racism in the Cumberland region, was voted down at a recent Council meeting.
Cumberland City Councillors Kun Huang and Suman Saha were seeking the endorsement of a ‘Racism Not Welcome’ campaign, which would see anti-racism signage erected around the Local Government Area, similar to that of a previous campaign adopted by the Council for domestic violence awareness.
The Councillors’ calls for the campaign were provoked by recent racist hate mail received by Cr Huang.
Cr Huang recalled the first time he experienced racism, detailing the demeaning language used towards him as a nine-year-old migrant growing up in Australia.
He, like many other Asian-Australians, has witnessed an alarming rise in racial abuse as a result of the pandemic and says it is the Council’s responsibility to be part of the solution.
“As leaders of our community we need to take action, it is not enough to be non-racist, we need to be anti-racist and actively fight it,” he said.
Cr Saha drew attention to the injustices experienced by Indigenous Australians, as well as the racism experienced by the local Indian Community.
“Our community must always be one where everyone can feel safe and be assured they are treated with equal dignity,” he said.
The ‘Racism Not Welcome’ campaign was developed by the Inner West Multicultural Network (IWMN) and has been adopted by the Inner West, City of Sydney and Waverley Councils.
A number of Australian parties have thrown their support behind the campaign, including One Nation.
Four local residents spoke at the meeting as part of a public forum, calling for support of the campaign.
However, not all Councillors were convinced with Deputy Mayor Eddy Sarkis suggesting the signs would have the opposite effect, inciting further racism in the community.
“Although I can appreciate the sentiments and the goal that’s trying to be achieved, I don’t agree with using those particular words… we need more words of togetherness than words of separation,” he said.
Councillor Ned Attie said he believed racism wasn’t an issue in the diverse Cumberland community.
“The more you speak about something that is not there, the more it will happen,” he said.
The vote was split seven to seven and the motion was rejected with the casting vote of the Mayor.
Troy Dodds is Parra News' Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia’s leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.