Never so much owed by so many to so few
This was the inscription on a poster at the Military Hobbies building. Here my valiant Space Marines were utterly crushed by the combined might of Shane's Space Marines, Stan's Imperial Guard, and Justin's Space Marines. The poster depicted some half dozen laughing RAF pilots from WWII, and the quote is from Sir Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of England during that terrible, terrible time.
There were many such posters, replicas from different periods of war. Some were quite graphic and disturbing, showing warped animals with human features twisted into sneers or faces of hate in a military uniform. Even I was able to easily pick out which nationality the 'evil' creatures were supposed to represent. I thought little of it except that a few days prior, someone had said to me (in response to my challenge when that person made a comment about another person) "It's ok she is (insert nationality), she is used to it."
Of course it's not ok. I was deeply saddened to realise that there were still deep rooted anti-racial sentiments alive in people. Of course I knew it was there, but I hadn't seen such a casual, dismissive remark right in front of me before. As I write this I have to wonder if I, too, have these kinds of feelings about different races that I won't know about until suddenly I say or do something and...oh, who knew I felt that way all along? I'd like to believe otherwise. Living in Australia means I am bumping in to and mingling with people from different nations, cultures and ethical natures all the time. But then I remembered I HAVE said things like this - because this person was a woman, I automatically assumed she would not like certain things. At the time I didn't understand her angry reaction but now I think I have some small spark of knowledge.
It was something to think about.
I will write more about the posters, and the uncomfortable feeling I got from playing wargames in such a place later, but now I have to go to work.
There were many such posters, replicas from different periods of war. Some were quite graphic and disturbing, showing warped animals with human features twisted into sneers or faces of hate in a military uniform. Even I was able to easily pick out which nationality the 'evil' creatures were supposed to represent. I thought little of it except that a few days prior, someone had said to me (in response to my challenge when that person made a comment about another person) "It's ok she is (insert nationality), she is used to it."
Of course it's not ok. I was deeply saddened to realise that there were still deep rooted anti-racial sentiments alive in people. Of course I knew it was there, but I hadn't seen such a casual, dismissive remark right in front of me before. As I write this I have to wonder if I, too, have these kinds of feelings about different races that I won't know about until suddenly I say or do something and...oh, who knew I felt that way all along? I'd like to believe otherwise. Living in Australia means I am bumping in to and mingling with people from different nations, cultures and ethical natures all the time. But then I remembered I HAVE said things like this - because this person was a woman, I automatically assumed she would not like certain things. At the time I didn't understand her angry reaction but now I think I have some small spark of knowledge.
It was something to think about.
I will write more about the posters, and the uncomfortable feeling I got from playing wargames in such a place later, but now I have to go to work.
