The scouring of the shire
Dec. 12th, 2005 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranOn Cronulla Beach, on Sunday, it was easy to be a hero. All you had to do was mill about in a crowd and talk about you were fed up with the Lebs. As the day wore, you could be a hero by shouting slogans or throwing bottles. You could be a hero by chasing a lone man through the streets. By late in the day, you could be a hero by chasing a young Australian woman off a beach and ripping off her headscarf.
On Cronulla, on Sunday, it was hard to be a hero. It meant standing up to the crowd and grabbing a megaphone and telling them they were racist. It meant being hit by bottles and abuse.
On Monday morning, in Cronulla, it was very hard to be a hero. The papers which had been telling it like it was the week before, now started using words like "disgrace" and "shame", and suddenly they weren't talking about "men of Middle Eastern" appearance. On Monday morning, in Cronulla, the photos didn't look so good.
But, somewhere in Cronulla, on Monday morning, was the man who stood up to the crowd of thugs, and who got bloodied for his efforts. On Monday morning, there was still at least one hero.
On Cronulla, on Sunday, it was hard to be a hero. It meant standing up to the crowd and grabbing a megaphone and telling them they were racist. It meant being hit by bottles and abuse.
On Monday morning, in Cronulla, it was very hard to be a hero. The papers which had been telling it like it was the week before, now started using words like "disgrace" and "shame", and suddenly they weren't talking about "men of Middle Eastern" appearance. On Monday morning, in Cronulla, the photos didn't look so good.
But, somewhere in Cronulla, on Monday morning, was the man who stood up to the crowd of thugs, and who got bloodied for his efforts. On Monday morning, there was still at least one hero.
