XPost: 24hoursupport.helpdesk, alt.politics.scorched-earth, uk.politics.misc   
   XPost: uk.legal, alt.politics.uk   
   From: burfordTjustice@tues.uk   
      
   Mother Expelled From ‘Multicultural Playgroup’ Because She’s White   
      
   A mother in Australia has been forced to leave a playground with her   
   kids after the officials told her they can’t play in a “multicultural   
   group” because she’s white.   
      
   Tara Coverdale, a mother of two and currently living in Sydney, Australia,   
   claims she was told to leave the playground because it was a multicultural   
   playgroup and she’s a white Australian, according to The Daily Telegraph   
   Australia.   
      
   The mother said went with her eight-month-old baby and her four-year-old son   
   to Alexandria Park Community Centre located in the inner-city Sydney.   
      
   Shortly after she arrived to the community centre for a playgroup, a staff   
   member approached her asking whether this was her first time. Rather than   
   being welcoming, the staff member announced that Coverdale isn’t allowed to   
   be there.   
      
   “I’m sorry you can’t come here. It’s a multicultural playgroup,”   
   staff member said and asked, “Can I ask what your cultural background is?”   
       
       
   Coverdale, a blonde mother with freckles, replied saying she’s Australian,   
   prompting the staff to deny her entry into the playground. “I’m sorry, you   
   can’t come here. It’s for multicultural families and people who speak   
   languages other than    
   English at home.”   
      
   The mother refused to leave the playground, claiming her son was having a good   
   time with a friend in the playground, asking “Why should I leave?”   
      
   She was then approached by Jo Fletcher, the centre’s facilitator, who asked   
   the same question as the staff member: “Can I just ask what your cultural   
   background is?”   
      
   “I’m sorry you can’t come here. It’s a multicultural playgroup,”   
   Fletcher said after finding out Coverdale is a fourth-generation Australian.   
      
   Fletcher didn’t respond to the paper’s requests for comment, only   
   confirmed to the NSW Department of Education that such conversation had taken   
   place.   
      
   According to the Australian mother, the cener insisted that the playgroup was   
   exclusively for “multicultural” mothers who “might be lonely and might   
   want to build a network of people who speak the same language”.   
      
   The centre’s facilitator also didn’t help Coverdale to find a playgroup   
   that she’s allowed to participate. “We don’t have one here for you,”   
   she said. “You’ll have to go up to Erskineville or Newtown,” locations   
   which don’t suit the    
   mother as they are too far away.   
      
   “We’re in a pretty progressive area, it’s very accepting of all people.   
   But I feel like I’m excluded,” Coverdale told the paper. “How does that   
   help Australia, help people to integrate, speak English and build a life… I   
   pay a lot of tax. I    
   pay my rates. To think I’m actually not welcome is unfair.”   
      
   She added that other mothers thought the way the center dealt with her was   
   “terrible” as they “think it’s a great facility and appreciate it but   
   they don’t want to exclude people”.   
      
   While she was at the center, she claims other mothers were allowed to enter   
   and “were made to feel very welcome. Because they didn’t look white, they   
   didn’t even get asked about their background.”   
      
   Following the controversy, Education Minister Rob Stokes had instructed the   
   centre to allow all families to attend the playground.   
      
   “I was disappointed to hear that a mum and her young child felt they were   
   not welcome… This is not acceptable. Everyone, regardless of their   
   background, should feel included in these wonderful community activities.”   
      
   The Department of Education also “counseled” center’s facilitator Jo   
   Fletcher on the requirements of the program to be “inclusive”.   
      
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