I wanted to get D 'on side', because there had been a bit of tension and I wanted to show N, a black woman, that I was aware of racism so I decided to tell a young white, dominant culture Australian girl who was with us about a piece of Australian history I knew she wouldn't be aware of - because most Australians aren't.
She had said that her dad was born in Manchester and came out to Australia in the 1950s. I asked her whether she knew why he came out. She gave some reason which I don't remember but I do remember I added that he was part of the White Australia Policy, where British people were encouraged to migrate to Australia because the government of the day were worried about the effects of the 'wrong kind' of immigration. This was clearly a shocking view for the girl, which I only lightened [sic] by adding that I found Britian as racist as Australia.
I'm not unhappy that I mentioned it, or gave the girl some facts about her history, but it came out forcefully and probably alienated her because I had chosen to talk about it from misplaced motivations - in order to impress and get others on side.