White Australia, Migrant Bodies: The Colonial Echo That Never Ends
Originally published here By Walter Simón 01/09/2025 I am a Kaqchikel Maya living in Australia. Since I arrived in the city of Brisbane, I have experienced what I already suspected: structural racism, symbolic violence, and constant surveillance of bodies like mine, racialized and migrant. It did not take long to notice that, beyond the postcard image of a developed country, Australia is a nation profoundly marked by colonial legacy, white supremacy, and a systematic exclusion disguised as “order”, “civilization”, and “progress”. A week after my arrival I started classes and, as often happens, my first connections were with other Latin Americans. They spoke of how good life is here: safety, stability, opportunities. But amid that admiration, the first symptoms of the problem emerged: “Watch your bike, the Aborigines steal”, “They get violent when they’re on drugs”, “Better not get close”. I was surprised—though not too much—that it was also migrant people, themselves racialized, who re...
