In what ways is Australia a racist society?

Question

It's part of an argument we're doing. In the argument, you can either discuss how Australia is a racist society, or you can discuss how Australia isn't a racist society.

Can people please list points pointing in both directions?

Basically I just need good solid points, some of which say how Australia has racism, some of which say how Australia doesn't have racism.

*Eg for 'Australia is not a racist society'... the country is very multicultural and welcomes people of all nations.

*Eg for 'Australia is a racist society'... recent protests in some areas of the country have had large turnouts of Australians supporting their beliefs that Muslims should leave the country.

Thanks!

-Tim

Answer 1

Who actually says Australia is a racist society.

Black or white we are still one country.l think you need to look at it from the Aborigines point of view.They seem to be the ones that want their cake and eat it as well.The white australian cannot call an indigenous person a black.idiot....but the black australian can call the other a white idiot.

So...there are rules for one and not the other.We are all Australians and should therefore be treated as such.No extra benefits or allowances because of skin colour.But no...that is not how it works.

Answer 2

australia is not a racist society, well no more than any other.  

Answer 3

My father is Aboriginal and he never really recieved anything more than any other normal Australian. He was always treated equally and he never complained about a thing. I think that means it could just be some sort of myth. His grandparents where treated very different to others. For instance they had to apply for citizenship even though it was in the country they lived in! Crazy huh?

I think people are just racist to people that they don't know because they don't really know where that person comes from or how they act. They judge very easily by looks.



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Answer 4

Australia has a long history of racism against the aboriginal peoples. A lot has been publicized world wide, since the 2000 Olympics. If you recall, the woman they had light the torch that year was half Aboriginy. (not sure of the spelling) It was their way of trying to bridge the injustices and show the world that they were turning a new leaf. However, in recent years, apologies for taking children away from their families because of their race (I believe they're called the stolen generation, and the practice continued into the 1970's), have been half-hearted at best.

Only two Indigenous Australians have been elected to the Australian Parliament, even though they are believed to have been inhabiting the continent for 40,000 plus years. Coincidental or racial??? Hmmm... They weren't even counted in electoral seats for parliament until the mid 1960's.

As for your point on Australia welcoming people of all nations, I think it is a bit mute, when people don't believe that anything was ever done to the aboriginals or that they should just get over it and assimilate. Also, if they're turning out to protest Muslims, again, it points to a racist society, regardless.

The aboriginal people of Australia were never counted as equal in the beginning. As the practice of kidnapping was still being perpetrated against their offspring as few as 30 years ago, I do not hesitate to say that they are still not seen as equal. However, the immigrant Australian (all non-aboriginal) would like to now say, that they should be treated no differently than any other Australian, as they are all Australian. I think it is a truly caucasian perspective to be able to have your cake and eat it too!

Answer 5

Well in australia, the natives were called aborigines.  Google it and you'll see a whooole bunch of info. The government gives special treatment to the aborigines and the rest get really upset about this. They get everything handed to them and this causes racial conflict between the white australians and aborigines.

oh and in response to the other answerer, the aborigines are actually black

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_...

Answer 6

backgrounf info: i was born in australia, im 17 yr old asian student

AUSTRALIA IS RACIST BECAUSE: *been watching the news for many years and when they interview people in the streets , they hardly ever show asians,

*pauline hanson , the politician , not exactly sure what she said or did but apparently she was racist . was a big issue during her career so check it out

* in terms of history , we treated the ABoriginies (native aussies) very badly

* a recent incident were a mini brawl occured in  a shop and it was caught on CCTV . most of the main australian news stations said the initiators were " SUDANESE, gang members", ABC news later revealed that none of the subjects caught on TV were sudanese, let alone in gangs, (youtube, racist australian media)

*cronulla riots,,, need i say more?

NOT RASCIST: * "multicultural" with alot of different nations

sorry thats all i canthink of for not rascist  

Answer 7

Two of these answers should sum it up pretty well Yay my children are Aboriginal and they never got anything more than any other normal Australian so that is an urban myth.

Their grandparents on the other hand where treated very different to others for example they had to apply for citizenship in their own country their daughter couldn't become a hairdresser because she couldn't cut white people hair and when their pop went to fight for Australia when he came back he wasn't allowed in the pub after serving at Kokoda for heavens sake.

Thankfully their children don't have chip on their shoulder and I often wonder if so many others would be so generous if their parents and grandparents where treated like that.

Back to your question though we have had racism for years from the Italians, Vietnamese and now muslims I work with a very nice Australian muslim lady and we have people that refuse to be served by her and she was born here.

I think people are naturally racist to those they don't understand sadly that is not just an Australian trait.