1995 Global Cultural Diversity Conference Proceedings, Sydney
Keynote Address - Day Two
Melting Pot to What?
Mr Donald M. Payne
Congressman and Chair, Congressional Black Caucus, USA
Good Morning! First, I would like to express my appreciation to the conference organisers for this opportunity to participate in your 1995 Cultural Diversity Conference. Many say Australia has been the leader in promoting multiculturalism in the world. As Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus in the US. Congress, let me say that we also have a special interest in cultural diversity. I will explain the work of the caucus later in my presentation.
I would like to congratulate your Prime Minister Keating and the Australian Government for all the resources and sincere effort they put into this conference. We could see that there is a tremendous amount of approval because I think it is the first time I can recall in the several days I've been here that I have heard a round of applause when the Prime Minister's name was mentioned and the fact that he supports multiculturalism and so that really is good sign that he is on the right track.
The presence of Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, whose vision has brought the UN to greater heights and has enabled the people of the world to be healthier, more literate and safer, adds prestige to this very important conference. Let us not forget the UN is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and I hope that I will see many of you in New York City in September when the celebration takes place. There are many of us who are strong supporters of the UN in the United States. In my own case I have served on Boards of the US Committee for UNICEF and the United Nations Association, and have strongly supported UN Peacekeeping efforts in the United States Congress. Coincidentally, as we know, this is also the UN International Year of Tolerance.
I was pleased to arrive on your Anzac Day and to see your many proud veterans of the World Wars and Vietnam War proudly marching down your main streets and proudly wearing their medals. It was a great sight to see. Let me also congratulate the Australian Olympic Committee for their success in providing the venue for the Olympic Games in the year 2000. As you know, we are very privileged to have the games in Atlanta in 1996, and we certainly welcome you to the United States of America into our beautiful south land. If I had been a member of the selection committee, I too would have voted to hold the Olympic Games in this beautiful paradise. As a matter of fact, as a college student, I participated in Olympic Development meets. At the time I was competing in Track and Field, I was competing to hopefully come to the Melbourne games in 1956. But as you see, in 1995, it is my first trip here. So it is clear that I did not make the team.
My alma mater, Seton Hall University, is very grateful to the gifted Australian athlete Andrew Gaze for his performance in our college national championship game several years ago (the NCAA), when he brought Seton Hall University within one point of winning the championship. I understand he plays for Melbourne though, we have to bring him back to Sydney.
I am pleased and honoured to appear with my good friend Executive Deputy President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki and I can attest to the fact that in the number of meetings I've been with Mr. Mandela and Mr. Mbeki, for the last several years it is true he is the "fix it man," because any time a question came that Mr. Mandela did not feel like answering he would say "Thabo you take that." The tough ones were left for him and as you heard this morning, he has done an outstanding job and it's also a pleasure for him to be here on this National Day. Let me also acknowledge the US Ambassador to Australia, Ambassador Perkins, who is actually one of the most distinguished members of the diplomatic corps in the United States of America. We are very pleased with the work that he did during the very difficult transition in South Africa when he served as the US Ambassador there to move that country from an apartheid government to a non-racial democratic government and we salute him for his great service to the US.
So I consider sharing your platform an honour. I salute you for holding this event, especially in these days of world-wide growing isolationism, anti-immigration, fear of refugees and terrorism.
You have no doubt heard of the tragedy in our nation, in Oklahoma, where a deadly bombing has robbed innocent people, including children, of their lives one week ago in our country. We have every assurance that the perpetrators of this terrible crime will be brought to justice. This gives added emphasis to the purpose of this conference, to promote tolerance and understanding every where in the world.
It is also important and gives me an opportunity to talk about the mission of the Congressional Black Caucus, comprised of African American members of Congress. We were established in 1970 when the 13 members of the African American community in the US House of Representatives came together to form a caucus to address the legislative concerns of the minority community throughout the United States of America. Today, with 41 African Americans in Congress, the caucus continues working to promote the social welfare and advancement of the common good of disadvantaged Americans and people of colour throughout the nation and throughout the world.
However, the caucus has not confined its activities to assisting only people of colour. In recent legislation on the Assault Weapons Ban and the President's Budget Reconciliation Package to reduce the national deficit, the caucus' votes were decisive.
In the case of the budget deficit reduction, the bill passed by only two votes. And we delivered 37 to that very important document. From a world perspective the caucus is most known for its leadership in passing the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act by Ron Dellums in 1986 which helped to bring down the walls of segregation in South Africa, and more recently in urging our Administration to take a decisive action through the UN in restoring democracy and President Aristide to Haiti.
Australia and the United States have many things in common. We are both young countries built on immigration. In the beginning both areas were populated by indigenous people as we have just heard from the previous speaker. Let me acknowledge to have heard you, Ms. O'Donoghue, and I really appreciate the knowledge you brought to me and the information. When our nations began, we disregarded the rights of indigenous people. Both of us are not proud of this history and that we have taken our lands.
However, to our credit both the Native Americans in the USA and the Aborigine and Torres Strait Islanders population in Australia are growing again, and we both are improving their quality of life and status in our communities. For many years we both followed a pretty much "whites only" policy. A very important exception though in the United States was the importing of forced slave labour from Africa.
We fought together in two world wars, and, yes even the Vietnam War which triggered our largest influx of Asian refugees. Even our constitutions are similar. I understand Australia, being slightly younger than the United States, adopted some of our principles after reading it.
On the other hand I admire the wisdom of Australia's law which makes voting compulsory. As you know my Democratic Party lost the last election, and with the largest number of registered voters we could have won it, if we did it your way.
I was privileged to have your capable Ambassador to the United States Mr. Don Russell visit with me in my office in Washington. We had quite a discussion on the topic he had suggested to me for this speech: Melting Pot to What?
It seems that many Australians still hold the view that the United States considers itself a melting pot, that our way of life is to mould all the diverse people who make up our country into one equal American product. It is true that we are very proud to be Americans, but we have now moved to a different definition of the melting pot.
The melting pot theory was especially true prior to the late fifties and early sixties when a sizeable part of our population thought this way. Then came what we call the Black Power movement. African-Americans were in the vanguard of helping the American people change their thinking about the melting pot theory.
Soon Americans realised that all people that made up our country come from unique cultures and backgrounds. In 1960, "black became beautiful", people started to realise that their minds had been processed or programmed to think that they wanted to be alike, rather than proud of their individual different heritage.
The rhetoric of the 60s by the Black Panthers and Malcolm X had its place in changing our way of thinking, especially among whites who were confronted to deal with their own programmed ways about the way they thought of blacks.
In fact, many say this condition was a contributing factor for white Americans' acceptance of Martin Luther King's non-violent movement and its success in breaking down the walls of segregation. The term Negro changed to black Americans and today African Americans.
The point I am trying to make is that what happened to America because of the Black Power movement also ignited the same sense of pride with the Women's Movement, the Hispanic movement, the Native Americans, and later the Asian Americans.
Italian, German and Greek Americans encouraged their children to speak their native languages whereas before this was discouraged at home. Jewish Community Centres renewed their emphasis on teaching Jewish History and Hebrew, and so on.
In the early sixties our American people began comparing our society to a delicious mixed salad, or a beautiful mosaic pattern. We heard this term "the rainbow" in Canada and other places in the world. For years many Americans, like Australians, have been aware of cultural diversity and its advantages.
Since the mid-80s the term multiculturalism has become a "buzz word"in our society to express this new way of thinking about our way of life. One may argue which countries have achieved greater results, but there is no question that both the US and Australia headed in the same positive direction.
Your Ambassador Russell also suggested I share some of our recent debate on affirmative action. Just as most initiatives on rights have come from your Labor Party, so have they from our Democratic Party in the United States of America.
With the Republican Party now in control of both the House and the Senate for the first time in 40 years the Affirmative Action Program in the US is under attack. I know that Australia has a similar program as do countries like Canada, India, Indonesia and Malaysia. As you know, in the US House of Representatives, we have just completed the first 100 days. During that time, the Republican-controlled Congress passed the so-called Contract With America, embodying very conservative changes. However, the proposals in the contract still must be approved by the Senate and signed into law by the President.
South Africa, in the post-apartheid era, has also deemed it advisable to establish affirmative action programs. We all know these efforts to promote diversity and to offer equal opportunity to all, regardless of race or national origin, are important to a free and a fair society.
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