War and Propaganda

On September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks murdered many people in the USA.

Can we trust them? They might attack us! If they can't adapt to the Australian way of life, they must leave! Get rid of the Burqua! They will bomb Dawin!
As conservative politicians repeated these slogans, I began to feel a little afraid. Bomb practice alarms were set off frequently where I was working.
"Do they really want to attack Australia?" I worried. And then, I thought, "Whose 'they'? Why am I so afraid? I have met many people in my life who were Muslim and they were just ordinary people".

Even though, Australia was not attacked by Islamic Terrorists, some Islamic Sports Stars felt the need to explain that they were Muslim. They felt the need to explain that they were Muslim to challenge the prejudices that were forming.
Islam is one of the most popular religions in the world. The terrorists were a small minority of people.


From my experience of the September 11 Political Propaganda, I have learnt that Politicians can influence how we think about other people. Politicians can make people feel afraid of other people.

I lived in a city in Darwin with a large population of Chinese Descendants. The city was very safe. My friend's Mum would leave her car unlocked whilst we all went swimming. My parents would leave the door to the house unlocked when we weren't home. However, as more people came to Darwin, the crime rate went up. The influx of people were not Chinese people. Darwin became the city in Australia with the highest crime rate.

In Japan, two of my host families commented, "Be careful. There have been a lot of robberies lately. It must be because of the Chinese people that moved in recently."
I felt confused. When I lived in Darwin (when I was little) there were many Chinese people; however, it was a very safe place to live in.
But then, I heard some political propaganda in Japan.
Foreigners are raping Japanese women. China is polluting Japan. Chinese people don't like Japanese people.

From my experience, I have met people from China in Australia who love Japan and would like to go there one day. I have Facebook friends from Japan who love China and who have been to China. So, what I would like to say is that if you are afraid or feel negatively towards a group of people, please ask yourself: Why?