It has already been a long hot summer in Sydney, Australia, where I am writing this article, and the season still has at least two months to go.
Rioting and racist violence began on the second weekend in December on a beach in Cronulla, a suburb in the city's south. Disturbances -- primarily between Australians of Lebanese descent and their white Australian attackers -- spread to other beaches, forcing the state of New South Wales to impose curfews and crack down on rioters. Virtually all social commentators and a host of politicians admitted that the violence, which left many injured, was fueled by racism.
But Australia's arch-conservative prime minister, John Howard, has consistently denied there is any racist undertone to the incidents. He views them as "primarily a law-and-order issue."