Contrary Woke Propaganda on Our ABC’s Q+A

This week on our taxpayer-funded ABC’s Q+A  program, they were in fine form dismissing   people’s legitimate concerns. The two panellists  we’ll be focusing on in this video are Nyadol   Nyuon, a lawyer and human rights advocate, who was  a refugee born in Ethiopia, and Maria Thattil, an   author and advocate, whose parents migrated from  India. According to her ABC bio, she was only the   3rd woman of colour to represent Australia in the  Miss Universe Pageant. Identity is everything over   at our ABC. I wonder what number you have to get  to before they stop referring to you in this way. This audience member, Janak Gorana, asked a  really good question, but got a pretty crappy   answer. He asked, “As an immigrant who’s spent  60% of my life in Australia, built a family,   owned a home, and contributed to society, I’m  deeply concerned about the far-left shift in   this country. With public schools pushing a ‘woke  mindset’, a surge in immigration, wokeness in   climate policies with the skyrocketing prices, how  long before Australia becomes unrecognisable from   the one that attracted immigrants like me for its  fairness and opportunities based on merit alone?” Ms Thattil replied (in summary) “Whenever we talk  about woke agendas and the far-left movement,   we are effectively talking about people  who advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community,   who advocate for gender diversity, who advocate  for these marginalised communities. We hide   behind the word ‘woke’ when what we’re talking  about is speaking up for communities who need   to have their human rights, dignities and  freedoms respected. I’m a woman of colour,   I’m a queer woman of colour, and I’m also somebody  who’s got two degrees. When we talk about merit… I   assume you’re talking maybe about diversity quotas  or affirmative action and things like that. I can   tell you why they exist. They exist plain and  simply because underrepresented groups have   faced systemic barriers and disadvantages when  it comes to them accessing opportunities. We need   these progressive movements to progress people who  have started on the back foot and face significant   inequity so that they can play catch-up, because  we all deserve to be seen and represented.” So basically her point is that  we need quotas and affirmative   action to level the playing field, so to speak. At this point, Mr Gorana retorted  with another great reply saying,   “I haven’t really faced any disadvantage.  I would very much like to think that what   I’m doing is because I’m good at  what I’m doing. I wouldn’t take   pride in thinking that I was just given  something. I just wouldn’t want that.” Ms Nyuon then replied. “I’m going  to start by saying I am woke.”,   at which point Ms Thattil says, “Me too, girl!  Me too!”. Ms Nyuon continued, “But even having   said that I’m woke, I do accept that there are  some problems with wokeness, just as there are   any problems with any social movement. There are  excesses. It doesn’t mean that if you’re woke,   you’re perfect. So I accept that criticism  of woke. Like any social movement, it has   its problems. However, I also didn’t come to  Australia on a merit basis. I came as a refugee.   Despite the fact that I came to this country as  a refugee, I went to school, I did a law degree,   I did a BA, I did practice, I worked hard, yet  every time I walk in the room, people think that   I’m a diversity thing… That’s also destructive,  because people like myself who have also really   worked hard, get trashed, get undermined, get  diminished because we’re women and because we look   like this. Because somebody thinks that we don’t  deserve what we’ve done. That, too, is a problem.” So basically her point is that it’s insulting that  people see her as a diversity hire, or whatever,   when actually she worked really hard to get where  she is, which brings us to the main contradiction   of wokeness that they’ve perfectly demonstrated,  perhaps inadvertently. On the one hand, Ms Thattil   concludes that we need quotas and affirmative  action to help marginalised groups overcome   systemic barriers and disadvantages, while on  the other hand, Ms Nyuon concludes that being   treated like a diversity hire is insulting! Well,  I’m sorry ladies, if you have one, you have the   other! If you wish to have diversity targets in  society, you’re guaranteed that people will treat   all minority groups as diversity hires, because  there’s no way we can know whether you earnt   the position through your hard work, or whether  you’re just there to meet some predefined targets. The solution is simple, get rid of diversity  targets. They don’t benefit anybody. If you   want to get a good job, work hard like both these  ladies did, as well as the audience member. Don’t   play the victim and pretend that society is  to blame. You’re in control of your life. Mr Gorana had one final comment, another great  point. He said, “When I look at the laws,   they are all sorted. What are we even  talking about? The laws are sorted.”,   with the ladies replying, “I don’t understand.”,  “But is it that?”. He continued, “Tell me, which   legislation still discriminates or disadvantages  or whatever it is? I think it’s all sorted.” “Yeah, I mean, that’s one way of looking at it.”  Ms Nyuon then tried to explain that legislation   is often based on assumptions and personal  preferences than what is actually helpful   or required. She gives the example, “Until  I had kids, I did not realise how hard it   is that we’ve built everywhere for people who  can walk, because I didn’t have a pram.” Umm,   get a pram! “The assumptions that  we make when we pass legislation,   the assumptions we make when we build societies  are built from our own preferences. It doesn’t   mean people are evil. It just means that sometimes  we think equality looks a particular way. But,   actually, in its practice and its delivery, we  discover that other people might need more.” Anyway, I don’t really think they addressed  this guy’s question. He said he hasn’t   experienced disadvantage as an immigrant,  and they don’t seem to want to accept that.   I think they like people feeling like they  are hard done by because of their identity,   and they ain’t going to let you  try to prove them otherwise.