Since Pauline Hanson’s latest parliamentary stunt – moving a motion that the federal Senate confirm that it’s ‘Ok to be white’ – debate has continued to bubble away in the community about whiteness, and what it means.
Apart from inspiring Coalition senators to support her – the vote was narrowly defeated in the Senate after an administrative error led the Liberals and Nationals to back it – Hanson’s actions appear to have inspired at least one Adelaidian, who this week took to the streets to spread the word.
In Pirie Street in the CBD, a sign appeared on an electricity box declaring it is, in fact, ‘OK to be white’. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young came across it yesterday morning, and promptly took to Twitter to metaphorically tear it down.
Just found this on the street outside my office… Whoever this moron is this should be named and shamed. Pro-nazi slogans like this are not welcome in Adelaide. Go back to the rock you crawled out from and stay there. pic.twitter.com/GViCmJLRY7
— Sarah Hanson-Young💚 (@sarahinthesen8) November 1, 2018
In an additional statement to New Matilda, Hanson-Young noted:
“This white supremacist slogan has no place in Adelaide and no place in 2018. Pauline Hanson’s cheer squad spreading this white supremacist slogan in Adelaide is a direct attack on our welcoming, multicultural community. I have referred this vile racism to the police.
“Sadly, Pauline Hanson and One Nation have given licence to spread this hate. The person who put these signs up should be ashamed of themselves.
“It is good to see many of these signs have been ripped down by decent people who will not stand for this divisive language being used in our streets.”
As it turns out, people are also ripping down the signs online as well. Under Hanson-Young’s original post, Twitter user ‘Las’ applied some digital alterations to make the statement a little easier to swallow.
Interestingly, a day earlier, Hanson-Young had delivered a speech to a women’s leadership forum in Adelaide, noting that for some in the Greens, it’s also not okay to be pregnant, at least not if you intend to represent the party in federal parliament.
“From the moment I started telling people I was expecting, the grumbles started. ‘You really should have told people you wanted to have a baby before you contested the preselection’, one male member of the party said to me.
“My joy as an expecting mother quickly turned to disappointment when a group inside one of the local branches tried to have my preselection ruled invalid on the basis I was now pregnant. They argued that members had not been given all the relevant information before voting on the ballot.”
You can read the full story here, on the Guardian.
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