Racism In Australia

Synopsis

Australia is known as a multicultural country. It is because there are lots of people from different country, racial and ethnics settled in Australia. They called themselves Australian and make Australia as their home. Although nowadays most people can easily accept the others from different races, racism still exists in Australia. Immigrants and Indigenous were the group of people being discriminated and excluded from the society in the past. Their human rights have been neglected. The Australian government noticed the problem and introduced some laws and acts to protect the immigrants and indigenous people's human rights.

Australia is a multicultural country. It is a home of people from different countries and cultures. According to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, since 1945, over six million people have come to Australia as new settlers. Their arrival has had a significant impact on all aspects of Australian society. (Healey, 2005, pg.8) But racism has been a controversy in this country for a long period of time. The simply meaning of racism is one particular racial or ethnic group is being excluded by other groups in the society. The reason for this is because of the difference of race, ethnicity or nationality. (Zelinka, 1996, pg.1) Although racism is not as serious nowadays, the problem still exists. Racism is strongly associated with the understanding of Human Rights. Human Rights basically mean a right which is believed to belong justifiably to every person. (Flynn, 2003, pg. 4) According to International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law by United Nations, "Human Rights are universal legal guarantees protecting individuals and groups against action by governments which interfere with fundamental freedoms and human dignity." (Flynn, 2003, pg. 4)

According to the National Inquiry into Racist Violence conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are faced with racism in almost every aspect of their daily lives. The inquiry also found that people of non-English speaking background are subjected to racist harassment and threats because they are visibly different. (Zelinka, 1996, pg.7) A research studies shows that even people from a particular ethnic backgrounds have a comparable qualification and experience with their competitors, they still experience discrimination in employment. A number of immigrant Australians feel discriminated because of their accents, even though they can speak English fluently and understand it well. (Zelinka, 1996, pg.8)

The first wave of Asian migration occurred during the 1830s and 1840s. 1,000 Indians and 3,000 Chinese workers were allowed to migrate to New South Wales to ease a labour shortage. (Bereson & Matheson, 1998, pg.37) Economic was the main reason that Chinese were hated. The discovery of goldmines in Victoria and New South Wales attracted a lot of migrants from China. By 1857, there were 30,000 Chinese in Victoria. It became a competition between the White Australians and the Chinese. The diggers were jealous and fear of these foreigners whose language and customs are different to them and they could not understand. It caused a lot of racial riots. (Bereson & Matheson, 1998, pg.37) The government had also implied a lot of unreasonable laws to exclude non-whites from Australia. For example the Ð''White Australia Policy' and the Ð''Immigration Restriction Act of 1901'. In the Immigration Restriction Act, immigrants were given a dictation test in any language. For instance, Chinese immigrant and visitor could be given a dictation test in Greek. (Bereson & Matheson, 1998, pg.42)

The attitudes of Australians towards Asians have changed a lot nowadays. But there are still some racist justifying Asians in a negative way. Pauline Hanson is the best example. Her policy was to restrict support for Indigenous people and to stop Asian immigration. She established the stereotype of Indigenous people as Ð''bludgers' and Asians as Ð''drug pushers'. (Bereson & Matheson, 1998, pg.52)

The living standards of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including health, housing, employment and education, are obviously poorer than the non-indigenous people. (Zelinka, 1996, pg.6) Discrimination against Aborigines in Australia started between the 18th and 19th century during the European settlement period. The European called aborigines as "savages" and really dislike them. There was lots of conflict between them. A lot of physical violence happened on aborigines and were widespread. The population of Australia made of the Aboriginal

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