Australia’s Racism

Since 1788, Australia’s history has been marked by heinous acts of racism. Its colonisation was yet another example of white Christians thinking they were ethnically and culturally superior in other societies. As a result, they may take over people, resources, and cultures.

These cultural superiority attitudes have not vanished. Indeed, according to national survey results, nearly 11% of respondents self-identified as “prejudiced” against other cultures. Another 26% said they were unsure.

We do have an issue.

White people may be tempted to believe that racism is no longer a major issue. There is legislation such as the Race Discrimination Act, and the White Australia Policy has been formally abandoned. Segregating people based on their skin colour is illegal, and overt racism is considered socially unacceptable.

Nonetheless, racism is still a daily occurrence for non-white Australians.

Racism and crises

Racism is not a consistent phenomenon. In Australia, we have seen spikes in racism toward specific groups coincide with major crises.

COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in reported cases of racism all over the world. Many Asian Australians, particularly Chinese Australians, have reported an increase in hostility toward them, including vandalism and racist slurs.

In many ways, these experiences mirror the significant increase in Islamophobia since the September 11 attacks and the “war on terror.”

Following the 2019 Christchurch massacre, the Human Rights Commission discovered

80% of Muslim Australians had experienced discrimination because of their ethnicity, race, or religion. Racism manifests itself in the form of hatred, violence, or negative public comments.

But, as shocking as these spikes in racism are, what is even more shocking is our collective failure to develop a credible strategy to address the underlying causes of racism, whether directed at Indigenous peoples, refugees, temporary migrant workers, or other minority groups.

We are still incapable of discussing racism in our midst, let alone what should be done to stop it.

Discrimination is costly.
In many ways, the cost of racism to individuals, families, and society is immeasurable.

However, we do know that racism has an effect on people’s mental health.
When young people are subjected to racism, even if they are able to attend school, they are unlikely to be happy or safe. This affects their academic progress and, as a result, their future training and career paths.

We also know that racism costs the national economy billions of dollars. According to research, the economic cost of racial discrimination ranged between A$21.1 and A$54.7 billion between 2001 and 2011.

A sound strategy

While many would argue that Australia is not a racist country, racism is still a major issue. So, where is the national vision to address this issue?

The first step is to acknowledge that racism exists in many sectors and that we should be able to discuss it maturely.

This is a sensitive and difficult task at times because some of our political leaders refuse to acknowledge that we have a serious problem.

Racism is more than just one person’s inappropriate behaviour. It reflects a history of white privilege that has sustained colonial practises as well as non-white nations’ political and cultural oppression.

As a result, it is critical that we call racism out in the short term. More importantly, we require a long-term strategy. One that addresses Indigenous peoples’ rights as well as the meaningful social and political inclusion of all groups in Australia, particularly those from non-European backgrounds.

As another federal election approaches, it remains to be seen whether our political leaders will offer a national strategy that recognises racism as a serious threat to social cohesion, human rights, and democracy itself.