Katter demonstrates what white privilege looks like

Bob Katter, an Australian politician who is endorsing neo-Nazi protests across the country, has had an absolute meltdown when a journalist pointed out his Lebanese heritage.

Bob Katter:
“Oh mate, don’t say that because that irritates me and I punch blokes in the mouth for saying that. Don’t you dare say that.”

Let’s be clear, this is whiteness on absolute full display.

Bob Katter:
“My family have been in this country for 140 years, right? So, I’m a real Australian.”

But of course, here’s the catch: his family were immigrants too. And I guess this is how whiteness works in a settler colonial context, in that it rewrites history so it’s almost that only the settlers get to say that they belong.

Bob Katter:
“If you say anything like that, I have, on many occasions, punched blokes in the mouth, right? So I’m restraining myself today. Don’t say it. I’m not listening to you. You’re out.”

And they say we woke folk are snowflakes, but this is just white fragility meltdown.

It’s fine to call other people migrants or immigrants, but when you are reminded of your own family’s history, you have a complete meltdown. And suddenly, that’s racist.

Bob Katter:
“I’m an Australian. My family have been here since the dawn of time. That’s the end of it.”

Dawn of time? Regardless of the country, there are people who have come here from other countries, like yourselves, like your family.

Bob Katter:
“No, no, don’t say that. Have good values. No, no, listen, just, just, don’t say that. Don’t say that because you’re a racist. You’re a racist. You cannot say what you just said without being identified as a racist. So gentlemen, ladies, this man is a racist. Don’t listen to him, please.”

So whiteness in certain contexts erases Indigenous people and Indigenous sovereignty to say that they were here from the beginning, the dawn of time. Katter’s meltdown and emotionality really speaks to the fragility of whiteness. In effect, it’s perfectly fine to call other people migrants, but as soon as he’s called a migrant, all of a sudden that’s racist and old mate wants to be throwing punches.

This is more than just one grumpy old man. This is a representation of whiteness and settler colonialism and the ways in which it erases Indigenous sovereignty, ultimately trying to pretend that they’re not settlers too.

Or more to the point, as settlers, they are migrants.

But to be fair to Bob, whiteness and settler colonialism almost enforces the erasure of cultural difference to ensure that people assimilate. But whiteness doesn’t get to be named.

Katter’s outburst proves something: that whiteness in Australia gets to determine who has the right to belong. It also erases those who were here first. And then it calls out racism when you say, as a settler, you are an immigrant too.

All of this fundamentally shows that settler colonialism is just make-believe.