Racism and Social Stratification in Australia - Essay Example

Racism & Social Stratification Social stratification is a feature of any society. Importantly, social stratification refers to a social structure inwhich certain groups (such as racial, ethnic or religious groups) are organized in a hierarchical nature (Wellman, 1993: 43). As an international student and visible minority here in Australia, I have witnessed the various ways in which power in exhibited in a racial sense. Accordingly, while Australian society does not have a shameful legacy of slavery, such as the United States of America, this country remains stratified by race, gender and class. Looking at the daily newspaper and the stories of violence between white Australians and Lebanese-Australians or violence perpetuated against Indian students in Victoria, one senses that racism is an ever-present aspect of the social condition here in Australia. Seeking to explore social stratification and racism through my personal experiences working in this country, the following will discuss this concept with relation to major sociological theories. Following this I will apply the issue of social stratification to modern Australian society and conclude with an overview of the major issues discussed. What have been my experiences with racism here in Australia? Have there been positive aspects about race here? What emotions and symbols are associated with my racial experiences in this country? How has this impacted your life? What could have happened differently and what would I change about race in this country? These questions and many more will be explored in relation to my analysis of racism and social stratification in Australia. I now turn to an analysis of social stratification through an exploration of the major sociological theories (Shaefer, 1998: 254-266) Functionalism, one of oldest theoretical perspectives within sociology, focuses on the individual within society and seeks to apply scientific method to the social world. Furthermore, Functionalists argue that society is in fact an organ and espouse what is described as the organic unity of society. Thus, social systems exist for Functionalists because institutions themselves serve a variety of purposes (re: functions). Social systems are homeostatic and work to maintain equilibrium. Equilibrium is achieved, according to this theory, through socialization, where members of society are taught basic values and norms of society. Social control mechanisms – also known as sanctions – help maintain social equilibrium and keep individuals within the social unit in check. Functionalism emphasizes institutions, an organic view of society and the belief that socialization serves a variety of important social functions. From a Functionalist perspective, for society to function there must be haves and have-nots. Thus from a Functionalist perspective, social stratification is a positive force which contributes to overall social equilibrium (Erasmus, 1967: 319-322). Symbolic Interactionism is another important sociological theory which focuses on the subjective meaning of human behaviour and social processes. For Symbolic Interactionists, society is negotiated and constructed by each and every individual. Symbolism is important and meaning is constructed through social interaction. Although gender and race are socially constructed, Symbolic Interactionists believe that these identities play an important role in shaping our respective realities. Since society is constructed by its constituent members and individuals interpret their world through a variety of unique lenses, social conflict is likely to exist between individuals with socially constructed identities who have varying degrees of access to power and resources. Stressing inequality and an unequal access to material goods, Conflict Theory is the final sociological theory this essay will apply to the theme of social stratification in Australia today (Goffman, 1958: 3-33). Conflict theory evolved from Marxism and focuses on what it perceives are inherent conflicts within society. Marxists perceive conflict to be endemic when resources are scarce and argue that our social system – capitalism – is the most unequal system when it comes to resource allocation and distribution. Private property, capital and social classes are all important characteristics of an inegalitarian society. An unequal division of labour and class exploitation is said to lead to conflict according to this theory. From the perspective of Conflict Theory, social stratification serves to promote inequality and the exploitation of certain groups of individuals. From this perspective, social stratification is an inherent negative concept which must be fought judiciously. My experiences in Australia have led me to believe that while this is a highly modern, developed and tolerant society, there are invisible barriers to the advancement of non-whites and that racism is real (see Wallerstein, 1974). Is Australia a racist society? Here in Australia, the high-profile attacks of Indians have become an international event and a highly sensationalised issue. In Sydney as well as in Melbourne, Indian students have been bashed and attacked due to their race and nationality. Many of the Indians attacked are foreign students coming to Australia to study and benefit from the higher education available in this country. It is estimated that foreign students studying in Australia account for more than $13 billion annually to the economy and Indian students comprise the second largest foreign student body. Higher education is Australia’s third largest export earner, ahead of wool, wheat, copper, tourism and even gold. Importantly, government figures estimate that fully 17.8% of all foreign students in Australia are Indian-born. International students represent the 3rd most lucrative export for this country and Australia can ill afford to loose the international students who come here each and every year to pursue their studies. Recently, the Indian government has threatened to put out a travel advisory out against Australia thus restricting the flow of Indian students to this country. The high profile bashings raise many important questions for the general public, questions which increase in voracity around the national holiday, Australia Day. Is Australia a racist society? Can we deal with the ramifications of a multicultural society in the twenty-first century? These questions and many more were raised by me when high profile attacks by young people make headlines around the world (see Marginson, 2006; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). Living and working in Australia as a visible minority, I encounter race each and every day. As my first off-campus job I was working in a grocery store and was the only non-native Australian at the supermarket. I felt out of place at times and believe that others questioned why I was there in the first place. I would hear jokes about “lazy blacks”, usually referring to Aboriginal people or refugees from the Sudan and while these always made me feel uncomfortable, I never was aggressed until one day at work. That day, a supervisor, who was upset that I had mistakenly thrown out a trolley full of discarded bread, called me a “bloody, no good African” and was overt with his racism towards me. My first experience with racism was shocking because I have always felt that Australia is one of the safest and most tolerant places on earth. My supervisor was white, blonde haired with blue eyes and he had a visible Southern Cross tattoo along his forearm. His tattoo came to symbolise his intolerance towards me. I was surprised to hear someone be racist towards me and it was a very unpleasant experience. I was quickly reminded of my inferior place in society – even while working at the local supermarket, and was embarrassed and ashamed. I understood very quickly the conflicts that non-whites in this country feel and cannot understand that racism serves any sort of positive social function in this society. Rather, it breeds conflict and creates bad sentiments among people. The Southern Cross as a symbol is something which I have come to equate with the intolerance of Australian society and my feelings have hardened towards this symbol. Ideally, in a different world, this supervisor would have criticised me for my work but not attacked me due to the colour of my skin. This is something which hurt deep down. The binary logic of race is inherently hierarchical and in modern Australian society, white people are perceived of as being superior compared to people of color, according to this subjective racial hierarchy (hooks, 1981:3-13). My textbook has taught me that race is a social construct and while we subconsciously believe that racial differences are real and are written in stone, in fact most are socially-ascribed and the result of social forces. The social construction of race and gender roles has been particularly informative for me and has allowed me to view race in my community through a new lens. While stereotypes do predominate in Australia society, I try my best not to judge others based upon their race and treat each and every person as an equal. Despite this, my personal experience with racism has shown that it produced conflict in society and as a result can serve no proper societal function. The sociological Conflict Theory best explains the role of racism in our society. There is no function for race and as someone who belongs to a visible minority group, I understand just how harmful racism can be in this country. At the bottom of the social hierarchy from a racial standpoint, I hope that Australia can move forward and overcome the problems associated with racism in the 21st century. Only then can we truly become the tolerant land we hope to be (Soutphommasane, 2010). Works cited Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2008). “The value of international education to Australia.” Last Accessed March 28, 2010 http://www.idp.com/research/statistics/education_export_statistics.aspx Blumer, H. Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969. Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, 1958. Erasmus, C.J. Obviating the Functions of Functionalism. Social Forces, 45:3(1967), 319-328. hooks, bell. Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism. Boston: South End Press, 1981. Marginson, S. (2006). "Dynamics of national and global competition in higher education", Higher Education, 52: 1–39. Schaefer, R.T. Sociology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998. Soutphommasane, T. (2010). The Guardian. Last Accessed March 28, 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/07/india-australia-racism-students-murder Wallerstein, I. M. The Modern World-System: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century. New York: Academic Press, 1974. Wellman, D.T. Portraits of White Racism. Boston: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Read More