Award winning author Michael Mohamed Ahmed describes his first independent play, evilwhich opened at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday, as a story about three common histories of racism: against Indigenous peoples, Asians and Australian Muslims.
“It’s like Pulp Fiction Meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon At the local mosque,” says the Berong-based writer, who has used one of the darkest chapters in Australian history as a dramatic backdrop for his new novel.
Dr. Michael Mohamed Ahmed, who wrote a play on xenophobia to be shown at the Sydney Opera House, is filmed outside the Auburn Gallipoli Mosque.attributed to him:Kate Geraghty
As a student at the Punchbowl Boys School, Ahmed never knew about the anti-Chinese riots that took place in the Lambing Flat gold fields in 1861.
“Australians tend to have very short memories,” says the 36-year-old writer. “The Cronulla riots were 17 years ago. We believe this is one of the most serious acts of race-based violence since the colonization of Australia. However, the Lambing Flat riots were heinous massacres against Chinese communities over 150 years ago.”
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Asian miners were killed and seriously injured, eventually leading them to abandon the gold fields around what is today the Yong.
The attack led the New South Wales government to pass Chinese immigration law In November 1861, an introduction to the federal White Australia policy which severely limited the influx of Chinese immigrants into the colony.
“It’s so sad I’m 26 before I hear about this,” two-time Miles Franklin Prize short editor, and last month winner of the 2022 Queensland Literary Prize for Fiction, said of his latest novel The other half of you.
“Our goal is to make this a national story. It should be part of every conversation we have about race, racism, and race-based violence in this country.”
Originally published at Melbourne News Vine
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