I went home to Western Melbourne last weekend where different family members told me that RIOT POLICE had been called to Watergardens Shopping Centre to deal with "Sudanese gangs." Local gossip said "up to 300" Sudanese youth gathered. Media says 50 kids met up at Coles. 1/2
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Family said that the next day, there were POLICE ON HORSES patrolling the Coles carpark. To stop Black children gathering in a public place. Resident told media police did "a very good job of protecting the people" Same police that pull over & harass Sudanese-Australian kids. 3/
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Majority of residents are working class & lower-middle class* White people (*aspiring to be more socially mobile) + first & second-gen NESB migrants. "Sudanese gangs" rhetoric brings out racism that has always existed & grows as residential development expands in the area. 4/
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Ethnic makeup in the area is mostly a mix of Anglo & South European ancestries: Australian 12.5%, English 12.5%, Indian 8.4%, Italian 7.4% and Maltese 5.0%. The number of Sudanese-background people is so low, they are part of the other 54% of residents. Riot police indeed. /fin
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