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The group using personal stories of racism and migration to change attitudes

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Students Against Racism in Tasmania have set out to work with every new police recruit in the state to improve relations with migrants and combat racism in the community.

The group was started in 2008 by students and young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds who had been battling racism.

They run workshops where students share their own life experiences in the hope of educating participants about the lives of refugees and migrants.

Over the past 10 years the group has taken around 300 storytellers, from more than 20 countries, to run workshops in schools, TAFEs, community and training organisations and the police academy.

No one is born racist

In 2017 Tasmania's outgoing Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Robin Banks, told a parliamentary inquiry in to the Racial Discrimination Act she had seen an increase in complaints of racism to her office.

Long before that, in 2008, three migrant students at a Hobart college were experiencing racism and confided in their English as an Additional Language teacher, Gini Ennals.

Ms Ennals pitched them the idea of telling personal stories of where they had come from and the situations they were fleeing, to build understanding amongst their classmates.

She said the responses of classmates surprised everyone.

"People cried in the audience, afterwards they said 'I can't believe that you've been in my class all year and I didn't know anything about your background,'" Ms Ennals said.

"People aren't born racist — they learn to be racist.

"People are scared of what they don't know."

Erasing the negative view

Storyteller and group leader Om Karki has lived in Australia for five years.

He is of Bhutanese heritage but grew up in a refugee camp in Nepal.

A man wearing a blue and grey jumper is smiling and crossing his arms with parliament house in the background
Om Karki is a storyteller and group leader with the Students Against Racism group.()

He said he was eager to break down misconceptions about his background.

"When we come from different countries, people who are already here have a negative view," he said.

"'Oh this guy was a terrorist in his country, he did something bad in his country and he might do something here' — this is what they actually feel.

"But we are not those people, so we try to erase their bad view."

Better police relations

After a three-year hiatus, Tasmania's police force started recruiting new officers again in 2013.

Ms Ennals said the young people in the program had identified police as being a group they wanted to work with from the beginning and leapt at the chance to run workshops at the academy.

"We have worked with every training group since — three groups a year, for the last three years," she said.

"One day soon every Tasmanian police officer will have been through a Students Against Racism workshop."

A young man and woman are sitting down talking to a female police officer in a room
Tasmania Police's goal is to see every officer complete the workshop.()

Better understanding both ways

Senior Constable Jillian Moore said the workshops were important in developing empathy and understanding in new recruits.

"Many of these young people have arrived in Tasmania from war torn countries," she said.

"I believe that our recruits have gained a better appreciation and understanding as to what these young people have gone through."

The workshops were also a good opportunity to build police trust among the young migrants, Constable Moore said.

"These young people, who may have previously been quite fearful of police, now know that we are there to help them," she said.

"We also have the opportunity to explore our cultural differences, what we can do as police to make people feel safer, how to better interact, and discuss any issues within their community."

Mr Karki said his interactions with police in Nepal had been traumatic, but meeting officers in this context helped him overcome his fears.

"I thought it might be the same here also, but as I started to have conversations with the police officers here it feels like they are more caring and understanding," he said.

A female police officer and a woman in a black hijab shake hands
Tasmania police have been taking part in Students Against Racism workshops for the past three years.()

Ms Ennals said many young people found going to the academy intimidating at first, but ultimately the experience has proved beneficial.

"We have had a number of young people who have actually had to deal with the police, but they have felt more relaxed and calm because they've been out to the academy," she said.

The interaction even led one storyteller graduating from the academy last year.

"She is now Tasmania's first police officer from a humanitarian entrant background," Ms Ennals said.

Preaching to the unconverted

The group has made a concerted effort to only run workshops for organisations or institutions where they are likely to interact with people with racist views.

Ms Ennals said the group is often approached by teachers or trainers who have identified racism as an issue in their classroom or workplace.

"We don't want to preach to the converted," she said.

"We try to work with groups where it's been identified there are some problems with racism."

A woman with brown hair and a black shirt is looking at the camera. Parliament house is in the background
Brutukan Melkamu is a storyteller and group leader with the Students Against Racism group.()

Storyteller and group leader Brutukan Melkamu was originally born in Ethiopia, lived in Kenya and moved to Australia on a humanitarian visa in 2016.

She said sharing her story with audiences that didn't seem receptive at first was challenging.

"I can remember my first workshop, after just two weeks in Australia, I had to go to Signet, it was really tough," she said.

"But after the workshop when people started giving feedback, it felt like an achievement, sharing your story and changing people's ideas, it feels really good."

She said she had been moved by the genuine change she saw her story make in people.

"Once this guy stood up and said, 'I have been racist my whole life and taught my children to be racist, but now I understand everything and tonight I'm gonna call my kids and tell them what you've put out today,'" she said.

"It was really touching."

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Hobart, Immigration, Police, Multiculturalism, Race Relations