Naming the ‘R’ word in racial victimization: Violence against Indian students in Australia

In 2009, thousands of international students, led by the Federation of Indian Students in Australia, staged a public protest in the central business district of Melbourne in Australia. One focus of the demonstration was the claim that Indian students living in Australia were being deliberately targeted for racist violence and crime.  In the months following the demonstrations, many deep-seated problems in the international education industry were revealed, generating multiple and ongoing reviews of the education, migration, housing, transport and criminal justice sectors. This article focuses on the ways in which police services and political leaders have responded to the claim that racism is behind the victimization of Indian students studying and living in Australia. It will argue that, with one or two exceptions, both have responded with a range of discursive strategies that, ultimately, amount to a form of denial. Significantly, this is not a denial of the problem of violence itself but, rather, a denial of the racial character of that violence. Such denial raises the question: can racist victimization, or any form of hate crime, truly be acknowledged if the prejudiced or biased nature of that victimization is not accorded public recognition and condemnation?