Muslims Multiculturalism And Aboriginals In Australia

Muslims in Australia

Discuss about the Muslims Multiculturalism and Aboriginals in Australia.

Building a successful and inspiring nation is long, difficult and complicated process. A nation is a group of people who share tradition, history, religion, language and culture. The national identity of any nations builds up depending upon common identity beyond individual identities (McLaren, 2017). Australian national identity has to overcome various internal cultural and religious conflicts in order to establish itself permanently. Australia is like a mosaic of many religions and many cultures.  

Australia as a country has always been exhibited great tolerance towards the diverse cultures and religions (Bouma, 2016). However the historical and cultural difference between Christianity and Islam is too big to ignore and but we must engage itself with a creative dialog that deals with the difference with a positive aim. Australian Census has reported that the number of Muslim in Australia is more than 600,000 and 2.6% of the total population (Abs.gov.au, 2016). Every Muslim loves Australia like any other Australian does. Australia represents a nation that welcomes diverse cultures from all over the world and people live in peace and harmony. The treatment towards the Muslim community in Australia has changed like most of other western countries after 9/11 (Cherney & Murphy, 2016). The media generalized the Muslims and associated the whole of the community with some extremists who want nothing but destruction of that peace and harmony. The depiction of Islam during this period has affected the citizen’s perspectives greatly. In Australia, the Muslims are also misinterpreted as a religion based on extremism, fanaticism, terrorism and violence. Here too the people face prejudices, discrimination and inequalities from the society especially as a result of media’s portrayal of the community (Sultan, 2016). That is why the representatives from the community are increasing in numbers who are defending their religion through the newspaper articles, radio programs or talks.  Muslims in Australia are experiencing the discrimination in various ways like attacks in Mosques. We are experiencing how Muslim women in Australia are facing discrimination against their traditional attire called burqa (Chopra, 2015). Fred Nile, a conservative member from the parliament proposed ban on hijab had sparked huge controversy (Barker, 2014). There are multiple reports that the women in burqa have been spat on and there head scarves have been ripped. They face harassment, abuse and assaults not only on streets but also in schools and workplaces.  

Multiculturalism in Australia

There are Islamic press is Australia like El-Telegraph: Al Watan or Saut al Mughtareb that has been working in improving the cultural tradition in Australia (Ata, 2013).  Though this media was too isolated from the mainstream society but the second generation of representatives is getting more involved into a greater integration. The educator can play important role in the process where they will acknowledge and guide the students from diverse background. The number of children from the mixed marriage is also increasing so the society has to welcome them more openly in every parts of life.

A significant step towards the integration would be the educational initiatives in the state and national level. We are experiencing that gradually the generation is transforming into bi-cultural citizens who will definitely enhance the confidence, comfort and relationship among people from various cultural or religious identities. I strongly belief that the visibility of Islam is getting increased in the Australian society and it is not far when the Muslims in Australia will be identified as Muslim-Australian where both the identities are acknowledged (O’Donnell, Davis & Ewart, 2017).

The immigration policies of Australia have greatly changed the cultural scenario of Australia. It is true that the nation has taken this shape by the people from various ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds. Contemporary Australia is a nation where all the citizens, despite their cultural backgrounds call the country their home and multiculturalism has become its core of national identity. Multiculturalism can be defined as an ideal concept that encourages multiple communities to live peacefully and enjoy equal opportunities (Modood, 2013). The history of Australia tells that the one of the original inhabitants of Australia are the Australian aboriginals who have been living in the country for more than 50000 years (Gibbons, 2017). Then the European colonizers like Spanish, French, Dutch and English colonized the place. However the British started developing the county and settled there for a longer period. In the initial phase of twentieth century the immigration restriction policies and Pacific Islands Laborer Act resisted the immigrants into the country. Till the Second World War Australian society was dominated by only Europeans. During Second World War many non European people settled in the country. Allowing the non European refugees in the country exhibited the first step towards developing a multicultural society.

Multiculturalism was widely accepted by the Australian society and supported by the government. The mainstream politics affected the multiculturalism like the actions John Howard took driven by traditional Australian values (Hussein & Poynting, 2017). However we are now experiencing that the governments both in national and state level have been changing towards a better situation. The national and state governments are incorporating multiculturalism in various parts of life as a strategy to enhance community relationship and social equilibrium. In order to make Australia a nation of multiculturalism the government has established “The Council for Multicultural Australia” (Roose, 2016). The council worked to increase the awareness related to the country’s potential benefits in business and society through multiculturalism. As a university I also see the number of my university mates has increased a lot. The country has realized that through promoting the diversity among business and universities ultimately leading the nation towards financial benefit. Planned immigrant policy is a great initiative by the government that has not only increased the cultural value of the nation but also the financial profit (Ueffing, Rowe & Mulder, 2015). As the promotion of multiculturalism ahs increased more number of international tourists feels safe and welcome in the country. The new advisory board for promoting multiculturalism in Australia eliminated the strict multicultural policy by the Howard government and replaced with a more effective and appropriate one. The government aims to promote the multiculturalism through various ways. The multicultural policy by the Australian Government helps the society to create equality beyond the individual identities based on language, religion, race or culture. It also aims to monitor that rights of every Australian citizens are protected.

Aboriginals in Australia

At the same time it cannot be ignored that there exists a conflict between the people’s views regarding the acceptance of the immigrants in the mainstream society. Some believe that the constant addition of immigrants into the Australian population will have negative impact in the future. There also exists the language issue, as many of the people from different cultural background are not comfortable with English speaking. These issues are being acknowledged by the state and national governments as they are searching better solutions to resolve the differences among the people from different cultures (Markus, 2014).

We experience and take part in the increasing number of various cultural celebrations that aimed for recognizing, accepting and promoting cultural diversity. The intercultural exchange of love and respect is helping to improve the situation. The government focuses more on identifying the issues that have been affecting the religious and cultural equilibrium of Australian society. The state governments are also incorporating more effective English language programs for the students from diverse cultural background (Farrant et al., 2014). The contemporary concept of being an Australian is largely influenced by the widely embraced multiculturalism of the Australian society. Therefore the nation welcomes immigrants more than most countries and takes pride of its multicultural identity.

The term we use for the native population of Australia is aboriginal or indigenous that shows our lack of knowledge or disinterest to know them more. Also I feel there is a sense of differentiation in our addressing them through a common term when they themselves prefer to be called separately and in terms from their own language. The aboriginals from East call themselves as Koori that translates into our people or in north they are called Yoingu or centre they are called anangu (Nationalgeographic.com, 2013). Aboriginals have inhabited in the country for more than 50000 years and still they struggle to prove their identity as Australian citizens.  

Since the mid twentieth century the aboriginals have been complaining about their poor living condition and the government’s ignorance towards them. The government with the help of citizens developed “Racial Discrimination Act” or “Aboriginal Land Rights” that improved the condition of the aboriginals in Australia (Moorcroft, 2016). However the government failed to materialize the laws and they were still struggling to gain their lad rights. Even the issue drew attention of the United Nations that accused the government of violating their basic human rights. The history of stolen generation still haunts the current generation of modern Australia and the sorry day is a symbolic representation of their apology to the natives. Understanding the aboriginal culture is an effective step towards realization of their condition in modern Australia. The concepts of dreamtime, dream paths and totems are important to understand their situation in contemporary Australia. We are one of the highly developed nations yet the aboriginals are one of the most underprivileged socio economic classes of the nation. Most of the aboriginals live in the rural areas or suburbs. Most non aboriginal houses are single family household but the high birth rate and family friendly nature results in multi-family houses for aboriginals. It is also quite evident that their living standard is not equivalent to the living standard of non aboriginals. The aboriginals are facing major challenge in employment. Most aboriginals still get paid really less and work hard in the rural areas. ATSIC or DAA are helping them get jobs in the public sectors (Abs.gov.au, 2016). The government has take initiatives like “unemployment benefits and welfare” that helps the aboriginals struggling with unemployment. However this as given birth to a common misconception among the non aboriginal citizens that those aboriginals do not work and depend on the government completely. The children from the aboriginal communities also receive poor education which eventually affecting the careers in future.  The government has started the program named ABSTUDY that aims to support the deserving aboriginal students with financial support (Indigenous.gov.au, 2016). Currently we find that aboriginal artists are getting huge success in the art field but the commercialization of aboriginal art and culture is questionable. I have been discussing the various aspects of cultural or religious diversity in Australian society. I tried to explore both the positive and negative aspects of the issues but somehow failed to identify why the issues have not yet been resolved. One of the reasons could be our lack of knowledge or interest to know the people who believe in something different. It is quite natural for the people from different cultural background to feel isolated and minor. It is actually our duty to take the active role in integrating them as part of our every day existence. I would like to mention another issue that came in the foreground through the process of understanding of cultural diversity in Australian society. We fail to understand the problems of the cultural minorities because we see them from the perspective of white people. That is the reason we fail to understand why hijab is more than just a piece of cloth or we generalize all the Muslims or native Australians.

Challenges Facing Multiculturalism in Australia

In order to integrate tem in the Australian mainstream society we also have to overcome our perception of them as outsiders or exotic. This will help the mainstream society to treat them as any other Australian citizen. Preserving the native culture or celebrating the diverse culture once in a year is not adequate for the integration of the cultural or religious diverse people in the Australian mainstream society. Both the Australian state and national governments, from the past had implemented such policies that damaged the multiculturalism greatly. Therefore in order to fix those effectively the present state or national government has to be extra careful. The government policies and regulations must consider the multicultural nature of the society and should take care of the concerns of the minorities.

References

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ABSTUDY boost for Indigenous Students. (2016). Indigenous.gov.au. Retrieved 21 October 2017, from https://www.indigenous.gov.au/news-and-media/announcements/abstudy-boost-indigenous-students

Ata, A. (2013). How Australian Muslims are fitting into a newly emerging Australian identity. ISLAMiCommentary.

Barker, R. (2014). Banning the burqa is not the answer to fears about public safety. The Conversation. Retrieved 21 October 2017, from https://theconversation.com/banning-the-burqa-is-not-the-answer-to-fears-about-public-safety-31628

Bouma, G. D. (2016). The role of demographic and socio-cultural factors in Australia’s successful multicultural society: How Australia is not Europe. Journal of Sociology, 52(4), 759-771.

Cherney, A., & Murphy, K. (2016). Being a ‘suspect community’in a post 9/11 world–The impact of the war on terror on Muslim communities in Australia. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 49(4), 480-496.

Chopra, T. (2015). Beyond Burqas, Bombs, and Bogeymen: Australian Muslims And The Media. Griffith Journal of Law & Human Dignity, 3(2).

Farrant, B. M., Shepherd, C. C., Walker, R. D., & Pearson, G. C. (2014). Early vocabulary development of Australian Indigenous children: Identifying strengths. Child Development Research, 2014.

Finkel, M. (2013). First Australians. Nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved 21 October 2017, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2013/06/australia-aboriginals-tradition-cultural-preservation/

Gibbons, A. (2017). The first Australians arrived early.

Hussein, S., & Poynting, S. (2017). We’re Not Multicultural, but…. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 38(3), 333-348.

Markus, A. (2014). Attitudes to immigration and cultural diversity in Australia. Journal of Sociology, 50(1), 10-22.

McLaren, L. (2017). Immigration, national identity and political trust in European democracies. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(3), 379-399.

Modood, T. (2013). Multiculturalism. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Moorcroft, H. (2016). Paradigms, paradoxes and a propitious niche: conservation and Indigenous social justice policy in Australia. Local Environment, 21(5), 591-614.

O’Donnell, K., Davis, R., & Ewart, J. (2017). Non-Muslim Australians’ Knowledge of Islam: Identifying and Rectifying Knowledge Deficiencies. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 37(1), 41-54.

Roose, J. M. (2016). Muslims in Australia. In Political Islam and Masculinity (pp. 33-49). Palgrave Macmillan US.

Sultan, K. (2016). Linking Islam with Terrorism: A Review of the Media Framing since 9/11. Global Media Journal: Pakistan Edition, 9(2).

Ueffing, P., Rowe, F., & Mulder, C. H. (2015). Differences in attitudes towards immigration between Australia and Germany: The role of immigration policy. Comparative Population Studies, 40(4).

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