Is Australia (Still) A Racist Country?

EPHUMA303 Australian History

The impact of racism on the health and well-being of Indigenous Australians

Is Australia (Still) a Racist Country? Answer with Reference to the Lives and Experiences of Australia’s Indigenous Peoples in the 21st Century

Racism is an explicit characteristic of many cultures across the world. It is an aspect that has diffused across many human societies for many centuries. The big questions, however, are where racism emanates from and the question about the intrinsic human characteristic that leads to disparagement and stereotyping of other cultures. The term racist cannot be defined without defining race and racism. Historically, the concept, race, has been defined in various ways. However, the term refers to a socially constructed aspect that categorizes people by observable or visible characteristics, mainly the skin colour. Racism, thus, is conceptualized as the belief, action, policy or inaction that leads to the undesirable treatment of individuals or groups of individuals on the basis of their race. The chief focus of this paper, therefore, is to discuss whether Australia is still a racist society. In so doing, the discussion will mainly be based on the experiences and lives of the Australian’s Indigenous people in the 21^st Century.

The Aboriginals/Indigenous Australians comprise 2.2 percent of the Australia’s population (Gair et al. 2015: 44). The Indigenous Australian’s are one of the most disadvantaged group in Australia (Larson, 2007: 323). It is reported that they face challenges in sectors such as limited access to health care, employment, political representation and education (Gair et al. 2015: 40). Conversely, they are also the highly represented people within the criminal justice system. Gair et al. (2015:32) note that the Australia indigenous people still experience the pangs of racism in the 21^st century as they used in the previous centuries. As a matter of fact, very little change has occurred in addressing racism in Australia. According to Gair et al. (2015:32), approximately 11 percent of the Indigenous Australians have reported exclusion from social activities as well as discrimination in the workplace. 20 percent have reported religious and/or racial discrimination. Additionally, 5 percent of the population argue that they have experienced physical assault citing their racial background. While Australia is a multicultural society, some groups experience incidences of racism more than others. These groups comprise the Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islander people, the Muslim Australians and those born overseas. It is thus argued that the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander people face racial discrimination which is different from other groups’.

The circumstances of the majority of the Indigenous people in Australia are critical. Racism is the root source of the problems experienced by the Indigenous people (Kelaher, Ferdinand, and Paradies, 2014:44). The Australian Indigenous are discriminated against; hence they face challenges such as; high level of illiteracy, exclusion from the economic and political power, abject poverty, poor housing, poor health and a heightened level of destitution (Kelaher, Ferdinand, and Paradies, 2014:44). They are also likely to experience displacement due to conflict or environmental disasters. The Indigenous women are the target for rape and other sexual assaults, demoralizing acts, and unemployment. Additionally, the Indigenous also face the challenge of property dispossession and deprivation of the basic survival resources.

The challenges Indigenous Australians face in sectors such as employment, education, and political representation

One of the areas that the Indigenous people experience racism is in respect to their health and wellbeing. According to Lason et al. (2007:238), racial discrimination is an important factor that determines how the Indigenous people access health care. Thus, Lason and the colleagues maintain that the embedment of racial discrimination in the Australian society is directly implicated in the manner in which the Indigenous people are handled in the health care facilities. Every society has its culture. Culture is a source of people’s identity, happiness, sense of belonging, resilience, and assurance (Haynes et al. 2014:75). However, culture among the Indigenous people is highly influenced by the practices and the policies of the aftermath of colonisation (Haynes et al. 2014:75). The racist policies, therefore, permeate throughout the health care system and among the health professionals. For this reason, racism plays a role in expanding the health gap between the Australian Indigenous people and the non-indigenous. The health gap is considered as a major factor that contributes to the high mortality rate of the Indigenous people compared to the non-indigenous (Jonason, 2015:48: Nelson, 2015: 958). Consequently, the focus of the Australian Doctor’s Association (AIDA)  is dedicated to addressing the health-related racism rendered to the Torres Strait Islander and the Aboriginal people in Australia. The organization perceives that the only way to overcome the health-related racism is by institutionalizing a culturally sensitive health system that is equipped with the Indigenous professionals and doctors.

Racism breeds negative impacts on people’s health (Herring et al. 2014: 104). Thus, the effects of racism on health include; patients delay in seeking for medical assistance or intentional avoidance to seek for medical care, underutilized health services, lower quality of health care, loss of trust between the patients and the health care providers, failure to adhere to the medication prescription, societal distrust, and intermission in the health care (Herring et al. 2014: 107) . Racism has thus been cited as the chief factor that affects the Indigenous Australian population access to quality and equitable health care. The obvious consequence of poor and unequitable access to health care among this group of the Australian population is the high rate of psychological stress (Kelaher, Ferdinand, and Paradies, 2014:47). Psychological stress is also attributed to the increased physical health and mental health challenges among the Indigenous people (Herring et al. 2014: 106). In fact, in their investigation of more than 250 international and national findings, Paradies et al. (2015)  established that there is the evident connection between racism and mental health problems such as psychological stress, anxiety, depression as well as the general physical health unfitness. Paradies et al..also noted that the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islander people past experiences with racism in the health care system deter them from seeking for medical care and even permanently and intentionally avoid the health care facilities.

The Indigenous Australian people continually experience deterioration in race relations. Davis (2006:136) gives instances that portray the extent of racial discrimination among the Indigenous people. The case of the teenage boy who died in the hands of the policemen, the death of a man in the police custody and the unjust trial of a man involved in the riot are some of the examples of the challenges that the Indigenous people in Australia face. Due to the pronounced racial discrimination, it is most likely that the Indigenous people suffer as a result of racism (Nelson, 2015: 343). In addition, the year 2006 was also met with numerous cases of violence and sexual abuse among the Indigenous (Davis, 2006: 137).

The ways racism manifests in different aspects of Indigenous Australians’ lives

Additionally, racism in Australia is far-reaching such that it also touches on the political arena. Formerly, there was the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), a body that represented the Indigenous politically (Hage, 2014:233). Unfortunately, the body was abolished in 2004 thereby leaving a void in the Indigenous political representation. The eradication of the ATSIC was led by the Australian federal government without consultation with the Indigenous people. The abolishment of the ATSCI led to the formation of new arrangements such that the Indigenous people entered into a consensus with the state. One of the agreements was that the Indigenous were to access the fundamental services and infrastructures that were also enjoyed by the common non-indigenous Australians (Hage, 2014:237).

A closely political related issue that also finds its roots in the racism is the high rate of the Indigenous incarceration. Cunneen et al. (2013:113) say that there is the difference between the imprisonment in the United States and in Australia. He, therefore, contends that, Australia is faced with massive incarceration which is intentionally directed towards certain groups (the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders) as well as the other marginalised groups (Cunneen et al., 2013: 115). Similarly, Cunneen et al. (2013: 182) maintain that the majority of the pole imprisoned since the 1980s comprises of the Indigenous youth, men, and women. According to Cuneen et al. (2013:37), the contemporary Australia imitated and maintained the colonial way of punishment. Hence, capital punishments are mainly imposed on the Indigenous offenders. It is thus evident from Cuneen and the colleagues’ finding that the Australian penal system is highly influenced by the racial aspects. It rather appears that the country’s penal regime was designed and selectively implemented on some groups of people. Deriving from White (2015: 258) and Cuneen and the fellow writers (2013) one would argue that detention and imprisonment are not new to the Indigenous Australian people. The frequent contact with both old and the young Indigenous with the Australian criminal justice system is not uncommon.

The increased cultural diversity in the Australian schools is a primary factor that perpetuates racism directed to the Australian Indigenous people (Bodkin-Andrews and Carlson, 2016: 784). Education is always described as the most important factors that improve the people’s living standard in the Western countries. Education is also seen as the focal point that delivers people from their disadvantaged backgrounds (Bodkin-Andrews and Carlson, 2016: 785).  Bodkin-Andrews and Carlson (2016:785) also argue that inequality in the education system is kept ablaze by the perpetuation of racism in schools. While exposure to the multicultural society is perceived as one way of eliminating cultural stereotypes and promoting cultural tolerance, this perception seems not to seam the cultural gaps in Australia at large. Therefore, the Indigenous children in Australia continue to cite instances of racism as it occurs in the Australian skills. According to Casinader and Walsh (2015: 53), racism is more likely to take place in learning institutions.  Also among the many cited settings where racism is likely to take place include; sporting, classroom context and other grounds. Racism trigger negative outcomes to the victims. The effect of racism among the school going children include; lack of sense of belonging, anger, tension, low self-esteem, the panic of being attacked physically or emotionally, stress, anxiety, and loss of confidence (Casinader and Walsh, 2015: 53). Additionally, effects of racism result to poor performance and possible disengagement with education. For this reason, Casinader and Walsh (2015: 54) agree that the Indigenous children are likely to perform academically poorly as opposed to the non-indigenous children who do not experience racism.

Although racism affects people as individuals and as a group, the Australian schools and educators perceive racism as a problem that mainly affects an institution other than an individual (Aveling, 2007:70). This belief has led to the impression that the racist’s attitudes in the Australian schools can well be dealt with through the establishment of some programs and policies. Hence, Aveling ascertains that the educators are seen as key players in enhancing such programs and policies. Aveling’s study (2007), however, highlights the problems of institutional-based programs and policies in dealing with racism. According to him, the schools’ heads tended to deal with the racially related issues reactively other that proactively. He also noted a setback in handling racism incidences in that racism was seen as emanating from the policies that directly influenced the behaviour of the students. Hence, the issue of racism was not accorded the necessary priority (Aveling, 2007:84).

In conclusion, although the 21st century is marked by some tremendous changes on how to overcome racial discrimination among the Australian Indigenous people, the battle is far from ending. Essentially, the changes for transformation that began in the 1960’s are yet to bare fruits. This aspect shows the extent to which contemporary racism has developed deeper roots into the Australian society. It is this evident that racism has not yielded to the major efforts by the Australian government and the voice of the racially discriminated Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islander people. The funding of some programs and the institutionalization of the health, legal and other Indigenous bodies and not forgetting the reconciliation movements, has not completely abolished racism. It is thus notable that despite these positive changes, racism against the Australia Indigenous people continues to be perpetuated in many sectors including the education sector, the political arena, criminal justice system, the legal system, the civil society and in the health care system. Hence, the evidence provided in this paper does rule out the fact that Australia is still a racist country.

References

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