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    ThirdAmendmentManJennifer Neal
    7/18/17 11:10am

    Counterpoint: Drop bears and box jellyfish

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      reasonable-n-rationalThirdAmendmentMan
      7/18/17 11:15am

      Kick kangaroos?

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      skefflesThirdAmendmentMan
      7/18/17 12:18pm

      Hoop snakes, bunyips, and roof crocodiles too.

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    Cali4lifeJennifer Neal
    7/18/17 12:30pm

    Loved the city when I visited some years ago and there was casual racism that I didn’t receive as threatening? Idk, it was there and it was different than the american brand.

    I’m hoping you cover two more places with few black people that are also options for blacxit: New Zealand (a relative lived there for 11 years and I visited a few times: and California. Don’t laugh, Cali is only about 7% black and we can use more outside of LA, Oakland, and Richmond...

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      Woundup_PenguinCali4life
      7/18/17 2:41pm

      I’d also be curious about New Zealand. I grew up there and would like to hear a perspective from a Black person who lives there. I know one Black New Zealander and a few from Africa, but most immigration is from Asia.

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      thatsjustmyhair-kinjadCali4life
      7/18/17 2:54pm

      Yes god please. Come to Orange County and hasten the exodus of wypipo into the desert and flip this county blue.

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    MonteRioJennifer Neal
    7/18/17 12:02pm

    Fascinating! Thank you for sharing this. This article, after all the positive things you cite about Australia, didn’t go where I was expecting it to. I was expecting you to talk about how much less racism and anti-immigrant sentiment there is there. But having a rock thrown at you and being called a monkey seems...less than ideal. So is it the better economic opportunity that makes it endurable? Because it makes me wonder how different the conversation about race would be in America if we really had equality of opportunity (and citizens not being summarily executed by police, obvs). Would there at least be less tension if black people in general (like right after ww2) could just work good jobs and raise their families in peace?

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      Jennifer NealMonteRio
      7/19/17 3:58am

      That’s an interesting question, and one I’ve asked myself many times, and I’ve concluded that yes, it would make racism more “tolerable” but that’s not to say that would make it any better. Access to proper social welfare programs makes a huge difference, I can’t lie - it made me endure so much more than I “tolerated” in the US. On the flip side, it makes people in general more tolerant of racism as an ideology and a shared cultural practice, which IS a problem. People are more complacent about fighting racism when they have proper healthcare and access to education, which goes to the point that racism is, of course, an economic issue (especially in America.) In Australia, there’s a kind of belief that “we have it so good here, who are you to complain?” Which I heard in spades from both white and Black Americans who, frustratingly, seemed unbothered with racism towards Aborigines and Arabs, because it no longer affected them directly, or spoke to struggles with which they were familiar. Intersections upon parallels here, and another article all its own.

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      MonteRioJennifer Neal
      7/19/17 11:40am

      Very interesting. Thanks very much for your reply.

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    HuskyBroJennifer Neal
    7/18/17 2:07pm

    ....combined with the mass incarceration of aboriginal people—who continue to be imprisoned and die in police custody at alarmingly higher rates than nonaboriginal people, even though they constitute only 3 percent of the population—progress and racial equality are things that I did not find in Australia.

    but, hey, compared to that, the Aussies treat Black Americans decently!

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      Hysterical ParoxysmsHuskyBro
      7/18/17 2:56pm

      Depressingly true, the attempted genocide stuff. American first nations complain about unfair treaties that were broken and ignored. Australian aborigines’ response is ‘You got an actual treaty?! You lucky bastards!’ Essentially, the English wanted a replacement continent after losing North America. Australian Aborigines were almost all nomadic within the territories their tribal groups held. The English found this (and blackness) a wonderful excuse to declare the entire continent ‘terra nullius’ - unoccupied land. (Which was a big fat lie. Under English law, Australian aboriginal land use was covered under ‘customary usage’.) Having decided this, aborigines became inconvenient evidence to be removed, with massive amounts of racism to justify this. Any treaty could not be signed, as it would undermine the whole terra nullius fiction.

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      HumboldtGenesisHuskyBro
      7/18/17 3:08pm

      That’s best summation of this article. There was nothing this author wrote that would compel me to even visit, let alone reside in, Australia. Besides, I think Australian accents are just about the most annoying accents in the world, second only to a Billy-Bob southerner’s accent. Also: have you seen the spiders they have in Australia?! And this fucking thing called a Flying Fox?

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    iamjustjulesJennifer Neal
    7/18/17 3:14pm

    I’ve met interesting people from Australia, but there’s a hint of nuttiness to them. I guess being on a burning rock on the other side of the world makes you value things differently. This was a good article, but I just have no desire to fly 20+ hours to a country where it’s funny English, coffee, beer, and casual racism. I can go to DuPont Circe for that.

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      Jennifer Nealiamjustjules
      7/19/17 4:09am

      Totally fair. This series isn’t so much about recommendations, but about presenting options and information to people who are looking. I’m not sure if I listed enough merits of this place. I mean, the brunches are superb. The country is gorgeous. The social benefits are fantastic. But then, I hit a wall.

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    reasonable-n-rationalJennifer Neal
    7/18/17 11:15am

    Australia was never high on my list of places to go - and if I’m honest, it’s still not - but the duality in this article is interesting.

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      Jennifer Nealreasonable-n-rational
      7/19/17 3:50am

      Thanks. Unlike some of the other places I’ve visited, Australia presented me with a pure kind of intrinsic conflict I’ve yet to duplicate in my travels. And the people I interviewed share similar thought processes.

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      reasonable-n-rationalJennifer Neal
      7/19/17 12:35pm

      This series is fantastic, and fascinating for that very reason. Please keep up the great work!

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    satalacJennifer Neal
    7/18/17 11:30am

    The good news, the animals and insects over there aren’t racist. The bad news, they want to kill everything there equally.

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      Jennifer Nealsatalac
      7/19/17 3:47am

      LOL. To think that all we need to do is look to the reptiles for an idea of what a post-racial society looks like.

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      trist14222satalac
      7/21/17 1:16am

      kind of another cultural stereotype about Australia thats way off the mark. not everything here wants to kill you, especially in a temperate city like Melbourne where the most dangerous animal you’ll generally see day to day is the penguins in St Kilda

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    900turboJennifer Neal
    7/18/17 11:38am

    I hate the fact I wasted my visit to Perth as a young Marine by eating at Hungry Jack every day. I did enjoy King’s Park and Marine Corps Birthday in Australia was memorable.

    Ok, it was the sheeeit.

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      Jennifer Neal900turbo
      7/19/17 4:44am

      If you ever find yourself back there, I’d recommend croc burgers, emu-egg omelettes and kangaroo steak. Then head down to Margaret River for some gourmet everything, cave diving and surf. Perth isn’t my favorite place in Oz, but there are surrounding areas worth the trouble.

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      900turboJennifer Neal
      7/19/17 8:37am

      I was 20 years old and spent most of my life in Gary, IN up to that point and it was fantastic. My kids are in their 20s now and I always encourage them to get out of the US and have a look around.

      I do recall the brothers being VERY popular there. :-)

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    Tb2125Jennifer Neal
    7/18/17 4:10pm

    I’m just gonna stick with my plan of getting the hell out of here and moving to Costa Rica. I’m not looking to move to another country filled with white folk who are descendants of criminals.

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      Jennifer NealTb2125
      7/19/17 3:58am

      Non-white nations coming up. Costa Rica is definitely on the list.

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      Tb2125Jennifer Neal
      7/19/17 9:46am

      I’ve visited many times and all I will say is more POC should go. No military, animals are protected, homes are relatively inexpensive, brown people, the cost to move there (600k paid in that you receive back in small amounts yearly) beats any other country I’ve looked into. They don’t take your money and never give it back (hello Canada), they just want to know you’re staying and giving back. Work is hard for the first few years unless you work remotely or can open your own business. But it’s an amazing place. Belize is another one.

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    JustPassingThroughJennifer Neal
    7/18/17 9:42pm
    Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF

    I only know one Black person who has even visited Australia and her experience was...ehhh...not pleasant.

    I’m open to escaping to some other country, though.

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      Jennifer NealJustPassingThrough
      7/19/17 4:09am

      Stay tuned.

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      Ortrud and Tosca take over the worldJustPassingThrough
      7/20/17 7:42am

      As an Australian (and white to boot), please pass on my apologies to your friend for whatever happened. There are way too many areas of this place that are racist as fuck.

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