My Life as a WOG

Living in The Land of Oz in the 60s for a redheaded, freckle faced, fair skinned, Italian WOG boy, was not easy or very pleasant!

"The White Australia" foreign policy was very much in place and active. Anyone different to the stereotype bronzed Aussie was ridiculed, made fun of, bullied and made to feel ashamed of the land from which they came from, their culture, their appearance and their name, just because it was unfamiliar & maybe a little bit difficult to pronounce, (Vito was NOT Peter!)

"WOG" was a derogatory racist term to put down southern European immigrants in the 1950's until the 80s used by "white" Anglo Saxons. Later in the 1990s it was reclaimed and redefined as a positive term. Now everyone wants to be a "WOG"!

-Vito Radice