156 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
156 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
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YOCK "WHITE" WASH -by Ciaron O'Reilly
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I was in a Texas jail when the Rodney King verdict came down. An
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all white jury vindicating the Los Angles police who beat their
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black prisoner senseless. Nothing out of the ordinary for the
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L.A.P.D.--except there was a home video rolling. For the next
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year America saw the images of the helpless king on his knees as
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the white boys of the L.A.P.D. swung their batons like baseball
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bats. At the trial of the four police officer, the legal
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technicians kicked in pushing the buttons of racism and fear and
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the 12 jurors affirmed the brutalisation of Rodney King. The
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verdict came down in conflict with both image and reality and
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L.A. burned--55 dead, 2,500 injured, 12,000 arrested and $4
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billion damage.
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There was no video rolling last November 7th, when Daniel Yock
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was tackled to the ground, knocked unconscious, cuffed behind the
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back, thrown into the back of a police van and left to die. what
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was rolling immediately after his death was the Labor
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Party/Police consensus machine to market the killing of Daniel
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Yock. A machine to combat the Roma Street demonstration of grief
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and rage within 24 hours of killing and the 4,000 strong silent
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march and exorcism of the watchhouse a week later. To head off
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this mass demonstration, Minister Warner was dispatched to Roma
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Street Forum to collect petitions and save us (or them?) the
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march to Parliament House.
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Goss, Wyvill, Plunkett and Associates--all who build their
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profiles and careers on the civil liberties movement of the
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seventies--swung into action to sell this death. The C.J.C.
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Inquiry proved to be an effective tool in damage control and
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managing dissent. The C.J.C. managed to keep intact the now
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internationally recognised perfect score of no charges laid in an
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aboriginal death in custody. As in the Rodney King case, the
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police managed to present themselves as "victims", threatening
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litigation and demanding an apology. These paranoid delusions
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were matched on the streets of West End and the Valley with
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stepped up patrols and harassment.
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What was most disappointing in the wake of the Inquiry whitewash
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was the minimal amount of solidarity forthcoming form the white
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community. This was evident at the South Brisbane Church I
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attend. Known as the most hip and liberal congregation in town,
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mass was in full swing there on November 7th , as Daniel Yock was
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being killed two streets away. This church's lack of response to
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the Inquiry whitewash was explained by the parish's social
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justice worker as "people are confused". There was no attempt to
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mobilise parishioners for the April 20th rally. I'm sure this
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moral parishioners was duplicated throughout the various white
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scenes in Brisbane.
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Vigilling outside the West End police station for an hour each
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day between the Inquiry's conclusion and the April 20th rally
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provided ample opportunity to reflect on naked racism and the
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"confusion" of white liberals. The marketing of Daniel Yock's
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death secured with the jingles of "He's dead because he was
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drunk!", "He was no angel!" and "There's been a lot of break-in
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West End recently!".
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The racism is as old an as intrinsic as white invasion of this
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country. The confusion is one of where we stand. Silently
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behind the security forces that ensure our status and privilege
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or with the broken body of Daniel Yock, the broken lives of the
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invaded, the historic price of our privilege. We are confused
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about where we stand.
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The April 20th rally was about one-third the size of November's
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march. The gathering was predominantly aboriginal, proving the
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community maintains the capacity to mobilise in the face of fear,
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racism, and white indifference.
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They know Daniel's arrest was another based on police harassment,
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his death one of criminal negligence.
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The whites who gathered were predominantly from the "fringe
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groups"--Democratic Socialists, Catholic Worker, Anarchist
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Squatters, West End Feminists. Love 'em or hate 'em, call them
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sects or call them communities, they were there, weren't confused
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and continue to struggle with their own racism. There was also
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some new faces of the untested young and the "same old faces"
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from the '60s and '70s who, like those Japanese soldiers found in
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the Pacific, just don't know the war is over or to cut their
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losses and sign on with the Goss government.
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Led by the emotions, rage and grief of Lionel Fogarty and the
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analytical clarity of Sam Watson we moved through the streets
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screaming truth to power. No Minister Warner to meet us this
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time--just heaps of cops. Mostly on hand and out of sight, some
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on foot, on bikes, in cars, on horses and even Water Police
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bobbin up and down under Victoria Bridge.
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The killing Daniel Yock is symbolic of a past, present and
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future. A recent past of over a hundred aboriginal deaths in
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police custody and subsequent cover-ups. A longer history of
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invasion, dispossession and genocide. A present low intensity
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conflict to secure the gentrification of the inner city. As Sam
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Watson put it, "blacks are bad for business"--the police are
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there to move them on, to deal with them. A future of a growing
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underclass set adrift from the economy and a militarised police
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force to deal with them. From Rodney King to Daniel Yock to the
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police assassinated children of Rio de Janiero--you ain't seen
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nothing yet.
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In such times confusion, ignorance and silence are cultivated
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luxuries the human family can ill afford.
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