Discuss How the Concepts of ‘Race’ and ‘Ethnicity’ Essay

Australia is know for its multicultural society, but rush and ethnicity are a huge ingredient of persistent racism and inequality in this soil. The driving force base this is the strong belief that some of the population lock in hold against deal who appear divers(prenominal) to themselves. To gain a clear understanding of this small topic oneness must look at the origins, forms and effects of racism. This seek will look at how the concepts of race and ethnicity perpetuate inequality in our society, a brief history of Australia in relation to racism and how community experience these inequalities to daylight in a society that we call multicultural. recent Australia was established as a region of recent settlement in 1788 which was a small part of a larger process of European colonisation (Bessant &type A Watts, 2002, p. 219). They had a set of ideas, values and beliefs and assumed that aborigines had no carcass of land ownership, agriculture, animal husbandry. endemic raft defy been in Australia for more than 100,000 years (Bessant & Watts, 2002, p. 222). The White Australia Policy in the twentieth century encouraged immigration except from Britain, but didnt impart Asians and Non-whites (Economou N, 1998, p.363).By 1950s batch from all countries were al starting timeed to migrate into Australia to help grade war reconstruction. The colonial immigration saw a mass migration of European people mostly from Britain to Australia. It is state that between 1788 and 1852 approximately 170,000 people move to Australia, and the gold rush era after 1851 made it a super desirable country for migrating (Bessant & Watts, 2002, p. 231). By end of World fight two, as war forced Australia to grow closer to other countries, which resulted in the first significant weakening of the policy in 1951.Later in the 1950s and 1960s other parts of the White Australia Policy were precise by little dismantled. By the 1970s the federal goernment had removed a ll racial restrictions from its immigration law (Bessant & Watts, 2002). Various writers lead contradictory approaches and shipway of looking at racism, making it a complex topic. It takes many contrasting forms, ranging from physical violence to derogatory lyric. A person or multitudes belief that their race is superior or inferior, or their moral and social traits are predetermined, based on biological differences can be termed racism.A group of people sharing the same beat colour, same values, coming from the similar backgrounds may constitute as race. One of the most common forms of racism found today is institutional Racism, which stems from established corporations, and other powerful forces in society, thus making it gruelling to question and faces less public condemnation. Examples include housing, employment, businesses, direction, religion and media (Healey, 2002). Typically, the basis of this role of discrimination is from irrational fear of people at the rece iving end who blend to a different culture or race.Although, there fall in been ongoing debates about racism all around us for centuries, it is an attaint on human rights as it methodically refuses people of different caste, colour, race, agitate or their country of origin basic values underlined by familiar Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which states that human rights are e very(prenominal)ones birthright and consent to all without difference (Healey, 2002). Common perception of shared origins, culture, lifestyle and traditions amongst a group of people or society is the universal definition of ethnicity (Bessant & Watts, 2002).People can share the same nationality but have different ethnicities. A few writers have put forward fascinating explanations of ethnicity. Edward Shils in his primordial approach argues that he believes everyone has a primordial attachment to their motherland, people and religion which brings out strong emotional ties by socialising, which furt her gives overture to the need to have a separate identity and belonging. Then the Mobilisationist go up suggests that nonhing is predictable or normal about ethnicity.Rather, ethnic identities arrest into sight and are toughened in political contexts where groups struggle to get admission price to inadequate and valued resources (Van Krieken et al, 2000, p. 519). The basis of ethnocentrism is a conscious or unconscious belief that ones ethnic group, culture, religion, custom or behaviour is superior to another ethnic group. Politicians boast that Australia is a multicultural, inconsiderate and consortless society. Despite the well known image of Australias everyone have a fair go, the country is still full of some(prenominal) institutional and popular racism.Education has always been very important when it comes to piteous up in class and has been very liberating in Australian society. However, native and ethnic groups have been somewhat disadvantaged in opportunities to acquire education. consort to the Australian Bureau of Statistics only five autochthonous Australians per 1,000 obtain 3rd qualification, compared to 70-80 per 1,000 for Anglo Australians. In the 1990s welfare, wellness care and education support for Aborigines accounted only to 2% of tally budget outlay (ABS 200021).In order to call for an education a person requires an income, but to get an income one need a job, and a job is challenging to find without an appropriate aim of education. at that placefore an individuals chance of education is influenced by the socio- frugal term of ones parents which is a cyclic social inequality sound to break. Migrants and their children often find it challenging to adjust to the Australian school system as they often come from countries that have a poor education system, and even if they have tertiary qualifications they mostly are not recognised, resulting in them victorious turn down nonrecreational and lower status jobs.Working cl ass children often attend schools in working class suburbs where pupils are enjoin into working-class jobs. A high number of students leave school archaean and the expectation that they will attend university is low. In comparison, upper-class children attend clubby schools, and the expectation that they will attend university is high. Migrants and ethnic groups are often at a lower end of the socioeconomic scale (Aspin, 1996, p. 87) Migrants arrive with little money and few skills.Already at a disadvantage with language barriers, migrants and ethnic groups are to a fault faced with racism and discrimination in their search for employment. In 1996, One Nation political party attracter Pauline Hanson made a speech that claimed that Australia was being overwhelmed by Asians and feared that Asians were taking over jobs. The fact is that Asians at the time only accounted for 5% of total population and there is little evidence to support the claim that high rates of immigration caus e unemployment or cause Australians to lose their jobs (Bessant, 2002, p. 219).Indigenous people had a 24. 3% unemployment rate according to 1996 census (ABS 200023). Indigenous people are usually poorer than most non-indigenous Australians and receive a lower income on average than the total population. The household income for Aborigines in 1994 was $158 compared to $310 for white Australians (ABS 2000C23) This besides reflects the fact the there is a higher reliance by the primaeval population on social security payments (ABS 1996b 122-4) Socioeconomic status is a major determinant of inequality as it influences access an individual has to the economic resources of a society.L. J. Aspin (1996) explains that white Australian-born males have a better chance of obtaining access to the resources of society. Inequality is in addition reflected in the differential access to housing and health services. For people who are paying rent and on a low income, it is almost impossible to sa ve for a deposit on a house at the same time. Aborigines and migrants suffer discrimination in letting accommodation, where landlords preferring a two-parent, white, Anglo-Saxon families. Only 10% of Aborigines own housing compared to 70% of white Australia population (Aspin, 1996, p.87). Most Aborigines live in rural and eclogue Australia (Bessant, 2002, p. 226) far from big cities where there are more jobs, higher paid jobs, better education, better housing, good water and sanitation services, hospital checkup services and other community amenities. Some ethnic backgrounds are still not accepted in our society and are treated differently and unequally. We see and hear about them on a day to day basis. In recent months the Indian community in Australia, especially students have become a vulnerable target for attacks, whether racist or not.On 31 May 2009 in Melbourne, about 5000 students marched through the streets of Melbourne protesting against these attacks on Indian, Pakista ni and Bangladeshi students. 25-year-old Sravan Kumar Theerthala was in a serious condition in intensive care after being stabbed in the head with a screwdriver one week earlier (Bolton & Peterson, 2009). In an article in The come along newspaper on February 19 Victorian police claimed that these attacks are not racially motivated, but opportunistic where Indian students are over representing themselves as victims and can be looked upon as soft targets.The police also hash out them not to speak in their native language loudly or display signs of wealth. Attacks on Indians arent the only allegation Australia has faced over the years. It seems that anyone in power, including police, politicians or the media has had the tendency to somehow flare these attacks. In the trumpeter swan Sun on 11 June 2009, 3AWs Neil Mitchell said Australians are also bashed and die in India, which does not provoke parades of chanting ocker backpackers in the streets of Mumbai.In 2007, the then immigr ation minister Kevin Andrews referred to the Sudanese community when he said Some groups dont seem to be settling and adjusting into the Australian way of life as quickly as we would hope. A quite a little of violent attacks were then unleashed against Sudanese migrants, and one was bashed to death by a group of white men (Bolton & Peterson, 2009). As Australia continues to argue that it is a just, tolerant, open and classless society, there is still evidence of race and inequality among us and affecting the many lives of migrants and Indigenous people.It is interesting to note that the very determinants of class power, money, education, family background, occupation, health and general way of life are also the same factors where others experience inequalities. Race and ethnicity perpetuate inequality, and in any country including Australia, one would find that there are always some people with very strong values of racism, and media outlets which help in manipulating the view s of general public. There still needs to be a massive drive by communities and governments on racism and inequality and it will be long onwards we will be a happy multicultural Australia.Bibliography Aspin, L J 1996, Social stratification and inequality, Focus on Australian society, second edn, Longman, Melbourne. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2009, Australian Bureau of Statistics, viewed 28 November 2009, < http//www. abs. gov. au/ >. Bessant, J & Watts, R 2002, Neighbours and nations ethnic identity and multiculturalism, Sociology Australia, 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW. Bolton, S & Peterson, C 2009, Indian students speak Stop the racist attacks , viewed 28 November 2009, < http//www.greenleft. org. au/2009/798/41083>.Economou, N 1998, The Politics of Citizenship identity, ethnicity and race, in Alan Fenna, Introduction to Australian Public Policy, Vol 1, Addison Wesley Longman, Melbourne. Healey, J 2002, Racism Beyond Tolerance, A Fair Go, Racism in Australia, Vol 180, The Spinney Press, Rozelle, NSW. Van Krieken, R, Smith, P, Hobbis, D & McDonald, K 2000, Migration, ethnicity and Australian Aboriginality, Sociology themes and perspectives, 2nd edn, Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest, NSW.