Whilst many in the country celebrated the so-called “banning” of Chris Brown from entering Australia for a planned tour this December, others became perturbed at what they perceived as the racial undertones in the campaign to ban the US R&B star.
As Tone Deaf reports, last week Immigration Minister Peter Dutton confirmed that Brown, who still has an Australian arena tour scheduled for the end of the year, had been issued with a Notice of Intention to Consider Refusal of his visa.
The government reconsidered admitting Brown into the country (something they’d done on several occasions previously) after taking into consideration his history of violence, including a highly publicised 2009 assault on then-girlfriend Rihanna.
The Notice issued to Brown was hailed as a victory by many Brown critics, who said it would be inappropriate to let a convicted domestic abuser into the country, particularly as the government embarks on a new campaign addressing violence against women.
The call to ban Brown was spearheaded by activist group GetUp!, who’ve previously campaigned for Julian Assange and issues such as the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef. However, GetUp! soon distanced themselves from their Brown campaign.
“We chose to get involved in this campaign because Chris Brown is a massive celebrity and we wanted to put a spotlight on the issue of domestic violence,” GetUp! national director Paul Oosting told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Over the course of the weekend a lot of people started reaching out to us and raising the issue of the racist aspects of this campaign. We have a migration system that unfairly targets people of colour and this is a system that we inadvertently fed into.”
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The actions of our government are now being slammed by many in the international media, including influential music publication Pitchfork, who recently published an op-ed in which they highlight the racial selectivity the government have displayed.
In the op-ed, titled ‘Would Chris Brown be Allowed in Australia if He Were White?‘, writer Kris Ex recounts Brown’s abhorrent track record before arguing that “the situation is not as cut and dry as the Australian government would have us believe”.
“The decision was presented (and reported by the media) as official policy, a blanket approach to visitation privileges within the commonwealth. But the policy has been far from unilaterally enforced…” Ex continues.
Ex points out that while GetUp! and fellow activist group Collective Shout, who led the call to ban Tyler, The Creator from touring Australia, both targeted Chris Brown, Eminem was allowed to “come and go as he pleases”.
The writer goes on to list several white artists with histories of domestic violence who were recently allowed to tour Australia, including Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue, and Guns N Roses guitarist Slash.
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“GetUp! asserts that they’re using Chris Brown to send a message. But that message seems to be a racialization domestic violence targets—and that message is underscored by the participation of the Australian government,” writes Ex.
“It’s okay to agree (or disagree) with the Australian government’s presented stance. It’s even okay (but limiting) to advocate for the perpetual demonization of perpetrators of violence against women.”
“And it’s possible (with some mental contortion) to understand the call for a referendum on all artists with questionable subject matter. But it’s not okay to let the execution of governmental policy to be driven by race.”
“And given the facts, one truly has to wonder if Australia is judging these acts by the contents of their character, or the color of their skin,” the writer concludes.
