Hundreds of school children have joined what is now a nationwide protest against Australia’s national anthem.

It has been just over one week since the news of 9 year old Harper Neilsen’s Advance Australia Fair boycott made national headlines. Since that time we have seen a huge amount of praise and criticism of Harper’s actions.

We were especially pleased to see that Harper is not alone in her protest. Since the news of her action broke, we have seen many parents (both Indigenous and non Indigenous) come forward to say that their children also boycott Australia’s racist anthem by either not singing or not participating in the anthem when it is sung at school assemblies across Australia. Others have taken to social media with photos of children sitting down when Advance Australia Fair is being played.

We are still in disbelief that it was Harper’s actions that ultimately triggered this groundswell of support and debate. Considering the issue was previously brought up by prominent Indigenous sports stars such as Anthony Mundine and Joe Williams however their actions never resulted in the response that Harper has received. This is an excellent example of the power of white privilege being used for good in Australia and a it serves as very clear cut example of what white privilege looks like for those who don’t believe in it.

It also appears that those in the media and politics who were critical of Harper are actually out of touch with the majority of Australians as well. One online poll started by Jacqui Lambie suggests that people in Australia do support Harper’s actions. Who could blame them either with such an outdated racist song still being used today.

There are still some people trying to claim that the anthem is not racist, to which we say is impossible. Ask yourselves why were some of the original verses dropped? Because they were racist! Ask yourself, does cutting out racist verses make a song no longer racist? Well maybe! But not when the title of the song still connects to the racist verses that were dropped. Let’s not forget the fact that the song gives no mention of any other race apart from their own. The song even tries to eliminate our presence by claiming that Australia is a young country.

Harper’s argument that fair means white people is a very real possibility. The original versus of the song singled out England, Scotland & Ireland as the only nations that Australia was to be shared with. The original lyrics go on to say that the white Australian population will defend their native strand (strand meaning race). If that doesn’t convince you, then you could look at one of the last sentences, “sons in fair Australia’s land still keep a British soul”.

Make sure to share this article as we have a feeling that the mainstream media are regretting they broke this story. We have a huge amount of momentum which could see one of Australia’s most prominent pieces of colonial symbolism removed for good.

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