Review of 'Whitening Race: Essays in social and Cultural Criticism' Aileen Moreton-Robinson (Ed.) Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 2004, xiv+303pp, ISBN 0 85575 465 6

Abstract

Gillian Cowlishaw tells a story about sitting in a coffee shop in the main street of Bourke when a fight broke out between some Aboriginal women in front of the cafe. The white waitress was embarrassed by the public melee and turned to Cowlishaw to respond in an exasperated tone, "they're at it again" (p. 74). While she viewed the street performance as an attempt to scandalise those "uptight, moralistic and judging whites" who were looking on, Cowlishaw was drawn by the waitress' response, but only to feel a sense of unease about her own superiority to the waitress' contempt for what was happening in front of them. Cowlishaw describes how she had to struggle with her own judgement of the waitress who was in turn judging Aboriginal women swearing and shouting, and through this story she raises questions about who is in a position to judge when one glance always sees another. This edited book suggests that white Australians have historically assumed that they have the power to look back in comfort, and judge.