Discuss How the Concepts of ‘Race’ and ‘Ethnicity’ Perpetuate Inequality in Australia Essay

As concepts, rush and nation atomic number 18 largely empty receptacles through and in the names of which population groups may be invented, interpreted and imagined as communities or societies (Goldberg, 1993 79). run for and ethnicity argon study bestow factors of racial discrimination in Australia today, and the continued racist beliefs of m each Australians argon the driving forces of diversity in modern Australian society. To truly recognise how this occurs sensation first needs to understand the forms and effects of racism.The modern taradiddle of Australia write downs with British colonisation in 1788, and reveals many racist practises towards two immigrants and the congenital population. Until newly, many white Australians sh bed the belief that civilisation did not undertake in Australia until the last quarter of the eighteenth century (Manning Clarke, 1962 3). Through the dissemination of disease, killings and sexual exploitation, the Aboriginal population was drastically reduced and did not begin to recover until the late 1940s.To add insult to injury, government policy in the 1960s produced the stolen generation, where, for the common good, Aboriginal children were re go from their families and primed(p) with white foster families. This racist ideology was formalised in 1901 with the entry of the Immigration Restriction Act 1901, more comm except known as the White Australia policy, which excluded Asians and coloureds from Australian immigration. From the beginning of modern Australia, judgementls of racial and ethnic transcendence have shaped laws and popular opinions, as well as media standard of migrants and Australians.Continued division surrounded by white Australians and Aboriginals, Muslim-Australians and Non-side Speaking flat coat (NESB) Australians stem turn from early misconceptions and continued misinformation in a so-called multicultural Australia. Races argon said to be distinctive because members of those ra ces allegedly sh be certain native or biological characteristics. Racists believe that these biological characteristics explain why close to races be naturally pukka to early(a)s (Bessant J, 2002 220).Racism itself is a constantly evolving entity, and is both individual and collective. In modern Australia, the most common forms of racism are New Racism, biological Racism and Class Exploitation. New Racism, although not really bleak, is more commonly accepted. By not claiming any biological superiority, new racists can, with good conscience, claim that they are not racist, but are exactly trying to protect guinea pig identity operator which could be compromised when integrated with other cultures. New Racism has been an integral part of Australia for more than 200 years.Australia moved through three distinct phases of policy on immigration. 1947-65 was all about assimilation migrants were expected to move to Australia and become Australians, to leave everything else behin d. During this cartridge clip, high levels of immigration were encouraged, with the majority being British, and only 1 in 10 non-British immigrants were allowed. 1965-72 spawned the idea of integration. It became apparent that assimilation was not functional and teaching projects were put in place to assist migrants especially those from non English speaking backgrounds. lastly, in 1973, the Whitlam political sympathies abolished the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 and declared Australia to be a multicultural society. Immigration slowed and the government began to recognise the special needs of ethnic Australians. It was during this dot of acceptance that, a constitutional referendum gave Aboriginal tribe citizenship status in 1967 (Bessant 2002 p225) and allowed Aboriginal sight to vote about 60 years later women.Despite the move towards multiculturalism, race and ethnicity are still determining factors of ine theatrical role in Australia, run throughn mostly through Bi ological racism and, stemming from this, grad exploitation. Biological racism, by definition, is the assumption that our basic biological differences define us in a specific role, or make one group superior to another by a simple matter of genetics. The relationship between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians is a hot topic for debate today, and a holy example of how biological preferences shape prejudice.Stemming from the historic view of immigration, a recent two year study delved into the issues facing Muslim-Australians and their non-Muslim counterparts. Throughout the study, information was gather from consultation with religious, academic, community and political leaders, a national random assess of 1,401 Australian voters, focus group deliberations with Muslim Australians throughout the country and a Deliberative Poll assembling 47 Muslim Australians, 329 of those surveyed in the national random survey and a range of competing experts.Concluding a weekend of deliberations, held in Canberra, Australia on March 2-4, 2007, there was agreement between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians that misperceptions and lack of understanding by both parties (many encouraged by the media) are the motivating factors in reinforcing a negative spiral of fear and obstreperous behaviour. Young Australian Muslims (mostly born in Australia) are being more and more alienated and are therefore gravitating away from mainstream Australia the biggest danger being they may turn to more radical sects of Islam. galore(postnominal) non-Muslim Australians perceive a flagellum to national security and social harmony by the presence of Muslims in Australia, and 69% of Australians agreed that the media was the biggest factor in straining relations between Muslims and non-Muslims (Issues Deliberations Australia, 2007 4-5). To best demonstrate the inequality in representation of migrant women in the media, exploration of the content of television advertisements is necessary.Representat ion of Non English Speaking Background (NESB) women in television advertisements featuring Australians is almost non-existent, and Aboriginal women are totally polish off from representation. The most common representation of NESB women in the media, where it occurs, is in the role of servant (for example, advertisements for Malaysian Airlines and Air Pacific) or as comic relief (the adipose tissue ethnic cleaner in the 1990s Pro Hart ad for carpet cleaner). The typical Aussie womanhood is usually represented as a mother.She is fairish, thin and invariably presented within a domestic environment. Advertisements are largely for staples (such as shelter, food, cleanliness, finance, health and education) and appear in prime family viewing m slots, where women are placed at the centre of the Australian home. Not only does this image exclude migrants from being an Aussie woman, it also suggests that women in Australia should be at home, with children and concerned only with the st aples of running a household.Evidence suggests that these images have a negative effect on the self-esteem of ethnic minorities, especially in children, (Berry & Mitchell-Kernan 1982) and that the negative attitudes of the mainstream population towards ethnic minority groups results from these media representations (Committee of Arab Australians 1990 HREOC 1991). These stereotypical representations of ethnic women then add to the perpetual inequality in Australia, by pigeon-holing migrant women in a submissive role. These advertisements also reinforce the perceptions of migrants as collectively working course of study citizens (Issues Deliberations Australia 2007)Class division/exploitation is arguably the largest factor contributing to inequality in Australia. The basis of this is that phase is not an abstract, objective quality it has to do with the lived experiences of people, their encounters with hostility and deference and snobbery and exploitation (McGregor C 2001 53) Many migrants become toil citizens. Lower standards of education and training send immigrants (especially those from non English speaking backgrounds) into jobs using manual labour to earn an income. Working class people are less likely to move up the class ladder, ending up living in clusters.Working class suburbs generally produce working class people. Schools in working class areas are less likely to encourage students to go on to tertiary education and children are more inclined to stick with what they know rather than betroth a new course. Ethnicity does not automatically place an individual into any one particular class however, migrants generally arrive in Australia with unretentive or no money and are disadvantaged from the start. Ethnic Australians are more likely to remain in middle or working-class situations, with very few exceptions to the rule (McGregor C 2001).As previously discussed, the Australian media does little to assist ethnic Australians. By the constant portr ayal of migrants in servant/submissive roles, other Australians are less likely to see migrants as anything else, and expect them to remain in these positions of servitude. Throughout Australias history, race and ethnicity have played a major part in ensuring that the people of Australia are not treated equally. Media representations show that only a thin, blonde woman is a true Aussie mum, and that the role of a migrant woman is only to serve.In addition, popular opinion demonstrates that Muslim Australians are a threat to national security and social harmony and Aboriginal people have less right to manage their own affairs than do white Australians. Although popular opinion is not necessarily indicative of reality, it does arrange the perceived reality of existence within a society. It is these perceived concepts of ones race or ethnic origins that cause inequality to command in modern Australian society and a huge dismissal in perception is required to create societal harmony. As reason in the study by Issues Deliberations Australia, education of both migrants and other Australians is the attain to equality for all citizens. Bibliography Bessant, J & Watts R 2002, Chapter 9 Neighbours and Nations ethnic identity and multiculturalism, in Sociology Australia, second Edition, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW Burdess, N 1998, Essay structure, in enchiridion of Student skills, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, Sydney Hollinsworth, D 1998, Racism concepts, theories and approaches, in Race and Racism in Australia, 2nd edition, Social Science Press, Katoomba, NSW.Issues Deliberations Australia/America 2007, Final Report Summary, Australia Deliberates Muslims and Non Muslims, viewed 5th October 2007, ida. org. au/UserFiles/File/AUSTRALIA%20DELIBERATES%20-%20FINAL% 20REPORT %20SUMMARY. pdf. 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