Racism in Australia: Causes and Effects - Essay Example

Racism in Australia Introduction Racism in Australia is caused by multiple causes including immigration and cultural diversity, language and ethnicdifferences. Culture includes institutions, manners, habits of thought, intentions and ways of life. It encompasses the complex web of meanings which underlie everyday life and behavior--the understandings and expectations which guide our actions and interactions with others. The aspects of culture which are taken for granted are especially relevant in exploring family life and relationships. Racism is closely related to cultural diversity and inability of people to accept those who are different. The ways in which people identify themselves at different times and in different environments may not always be consistent. Prejudice Prejudices include bias and negative attitudes towards other culture or a cultural group based on negative stereotypes and different value systems. In Australia, racism and prejudices are caused by different racial origin and geographical location. Country of birth is significant because it quite often coincides with some or all of the factors mentioned but this clearly need not be the case. People may be born outside a country or a nation-state yet still identify with it; boundaries and borders change (Almaguer, 1994). The world history of migration and the general movement of peoples have made any simple approach to culture and to ethnic identification not possible or viable. Individuals identify multiple ancestries, as evidenced by responses to the 'ancestry' question included in the 1986 national census; the 'cultural background' of many people is diverse. To take one example, there are people in Australia who were born in Eastern Europe, emigrated with their families to Central America when they were children, and then emigrated to Australia as adults with children of their own (Banks, 1996). Underlying many of these pressure points is the conflict which arises for families from collectivist-oriented cultures when confronted with the individualism which predominates in Australia (Pattel-Gray 1995). Achieving security and prosperity may be the only fundamental Chinese family value that has not been weakened in Australia, because western societies also value achievement. Language plays a crucial part in the ethnic identity of many communities, although its importance in this regard seems to vary across cultures In Diaspora, such as the Chinese, it has served to unite people from very different countries. Maintaining the first language and the learning of English have key roles in settlement, family experience and acculturation of immigrant groups. There is also a lack of tolerance or understanding for 'unusual' family arrangements which had arisen through the disruption of the lives of many Eastern European immigrants and for the many men who remained single. The focus for a sense of belonging may be on common physical characteristics, the possession of a distinct language or dialect, a particular religion, a sense of geographical and historical continuity through living in a particular place, or a distinct lifestyle (Donald and Rattansii 1992). Discrimination Discrimination is a direct result of prejudices and cultural differences take place in Australian society. In spite of great changes in social structure, Aboriginal people are discriminated in education, healthcare and employment (Pattel-Gray 1995). Complete cultural assimilation did not take place. However, the predominance of Anglo-Celtic values, in all Australian institutions but particularly in the workplace and the schools, often placed great pressures on immigrant families, created conflict between family members and sometimes threatened positive identification with their own cultures. The failure of cultural assimilation, the threat to Australian living standards with the onset of the recession and world economic restructuring, and social segmentation linked to gender, ethnicity and race led to a new national approach to diversity and to the development of policies based on the principle of multiculturalism (Dyer, 2004). Multiculturalism as a national ideology, and multicultural policies which promoted the maintenance of ethnic identity and cultural integrity, in many ways provided a quite different environment for immigrant families than that which the immediate post-war settlers encountered. By far the largest group within the 41 per cent of the population who are first and second generation settlers comes from the United Kingdom. The largest groups with non-English-speaking background come from Italy, Greece, the countries of the former Republic of Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Germany, The Netherlands and Lebanon. Within each of these groups the proportion of people born overseas, and those born in Australia with parents born overseas, varies according to the pattern of migration (Pattel-Gray 1995). For example, the Greek-Australian and Italian-Australian populations have large proportions of both second and first generation residents, as do some other Southern European groups, Poles, the Lebanese and the Dutch, because a substantial part of immigration from these countries took place in the 1950s and 1960s and the rate has declined in recent years. By contrast, more recent arrivals, for example settlers from the Philippines, Malaysia and Hong Kong, are predominantly first generation (that is, born overseas) with a relatively small proportion of Australian-born children (second generation (Almaguer, 1994). Since 19th century, immigrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds were often discriminated against by banks and the legal system when they applied for loans, and were frequently ignorant of their rights and lacked the information required to deal with these institutions. Consequently, they started businesses with very little information and few resources. Many succeeded despite their lack of knowledge of Australian culture and the English language. Often Italian parents relied on their young children to act as their interpreters and translators. First-generation parents would often say to their children that the family's problems had to remain within and be resolved within the family (McNamara 2002). This was often explained in terms of la bella figura (to the public one should always present an image of well-being and success despite the likelihood of a different reality in the private sphere; that is, within the family unit). In rural Italy this behavior served peasant communities well as a means of survival against exploitative landlords and other families with whom they competed (Bhabha 1994). Aboriginal families vary widely in the degree to which they retain the kinship of their ancestors. Many Aboriginal people have non-Aboriginal spouses and appear to be economically and socially embedded in non-Aboriginal society. The family situations and structures of rural and urban Aborigines differ from more traditionally oriented groups living in the more remote Aboriginal settlements or homeland centres (Bhabha 1994). Discrimination takes place in employment and education opportunities. In Australia, there have been several 'waves' of Vietnamese refugees, who differ according to their reasons for leaving their homeland, their occupational skills, their social class and their ethnic composition. The reasons stressed by those leaving Vietnam were economic losses as a result of the Communist Government's policies, a general decline in economic prospects, political re-education, racial discrimination against the ethnic Chinese, and fear of war (between Vietnam and China and between Vietnam and Cambodia) (Pattel-Gray 1995). Vietnamese migration to Australia has been characterised by traumatic experiences of escape and living in refugee camps, a moderate to serious imbalance of age groups and gender, and a substantial number of family separations, lone minors and unmarried adults in the early settlement years (Bhabha 1994). Ideology Prejudices and discrimination can be explained by ideology held by Australian people. At a structural level, there are strong connections between religious institutions and family life. All religions include and incorporate a set of beliefs which have direct relevance for family life and relationships between family members. Religion operates to validate general notions of good and evil, the roles of men and women, and concepts of morality which impinge directly on family structures and experience (Pattel-Gray 1995). The patriarchal nature of most religions has served to justify and support, in particular, traditional roles for men and women. Furthermore, religious affiliation is a strong factor in definitions of 'in group' and 'out group' for marriage purposes and may override cultural background in determining who is an acceptable marriage partner Major factors which contribute to the impact of migration on families and family values are: the complex set of values, attitudes, behaviours and life experiences which people bring with them (their 'cultural background'); the circumstances of migration; the impact of migration itself, which involves leaving behind an environment that is familiar and usually integral to how people define themselves; and Australian social and economic conditions on and following arrival (Denney, 1992). Institutional Racism The impact of government policies has been particularly strong and very direct for many of the Australian citizens; the state has been crucial in the migration experience and in the experience of Aboriginal families. The structure and composition of immigrant families are determined to a significant extent by regulations governing entry into Australia--initial entry of individuals and family units and then entry of other family members. Assistance with settlement, including the provision of English language classes, regulation of employment and access to and appropriateness of services are also crucial in determining the experience of individuals (Back, 1996). Tensions are caused by older people finding that they no longer exercise the cultural authority they once did. Strongly held values about responsibility for parents and general respect for the aged come into conflict with the reality of families' limited time and resources. Underlying many of these pressure points is the conflict which arises for families from collectivist-oriented cultures when confronted with the individualism which predominates in Australia. Achieving security and prosperity may be the only fundamental Chinese family value that has not been weakened in Australia, because western societies also value achievemen ( Pattel-Gray and Brown 1997). Preventive Measures Against Racism To be effective, however, multicultural policies and practices need to take account of the changing needs of different cohorts of immigrant children. Some parents complain that their children are put into English as a Second Language (ESL) classes when they do not really need them because the parents are second generation, they speak English at home and English is the children's first language. Some second-generation Italian parents interviewed for this project claim that teachers do not distinguish between their children and recent arrivals; they simply distinguish the children by their surnames. Multicultural education has an important impact on immigrant children and their families. Multiculturalism has also changed the way in which social services are delivered--with contradictory effects for Italian families. Immigrant cultures and identities are historically and politically constructed. Ethnicity is continually negotiated and is a constant source of transformation for people of immigrant background. However, as the experience of each generation changes in relation to immigration, class position and the politics of the dominant group, identity and welfare needs will also change. Bibliography Almaguer, T. 1994, Racial Fault Lines Berkeley: University of California Press Back, L. 1996, New Ethnicities and Urban CultureLondon: UCL Press Banks, M. 1996, Ethnicity: Anthropological Constructions London: Routledge Bhabha, H.K. 1994, The Location of Culture London: Routledge Denney, D. 1992, Racism and Anti-Racism in Probation, London: Routledge. Donald, J. and Rattansi, A. (eds) 1992, 'Race', Culture & Difference, London: Sage. Dyer, K.F. 2004, The Biology of Racial Integration, Bristol: Scientechnica. McNamara, L., 2002, Regulating Racism: Racial Vilification Laws in Australia. Federation Press. Pattel-Gray, A. 1995, The Great White Flood: Racism in Australia:a. An American Academy of Religion Book. Pattel-Gray, A., Brown, J. P. 1997, Indigenous Australia: A Dialogue About the Word Becoming Flesh in Aboriginal Churches (Gospel and Cultures Pamphlet). World Council of Churches. Read More