Discuss How the Concepts of ‘Race’ and ‘Ethnicity’ Essay Example for Free

Discuss How the Concepts of Race and Ethnicity EssayAustralia is known for its multicultural association, exactly race and ethnicity ar a huge factor of persistent racialism and dissimilitude in this country. The driving force git this is the strong belief that some of the population button up hold a producest heap who appear incompatible to themselves. To gain a clear understanding of this sensitive topic unitaryness must look at the origins, forms and set up of racial discrimination. This essay will look at how the concepts of race and ethnicity perpetuate inequality in our society, a draft history of Australia in relation to racism and how people experience these inequalities today in a society that we call multicultural. Modern Australia was liberal as a region of late settlement in 1788 which was a small part of a larger process of European colonisation (Bessant Watts, 2002, p. 219). They had a set of ideas, value and beliefs and assumed that aborigines had no system of land ownership, agriculture, animal husbandry. native people have been in Australia for much than 100,000 years (Bessant Watts, 2002, p. 222). The White Australia Policy in the 20th century encouraged immigration only from Britain, but didnt allow Asians and Non-whites (Economou N, 1998, p.363).By 1950s people from all countries were allowed to migrate into Australia to help post fight reconstruction. The colonial immigration saw a mass migration of European people mostly from Britain to Australia. It is said that in the midst of 1788 and 1852 approximately 170,000 people moved to Australia, and the gold rush era after 1851 made it a extremely desirable country for migrating (Bessant Watts, 2002, p. 231). By end of World War two, as war forced Australia to unhorse closer to other countries, which resulted in the first signifi sack upt weakening of the policy in 1951.Later in the 1950s and 1960s other parts of the White Australia Policy were gradually dismantled. By the 1970s the federal government had removed all racial restrictions from its immigration law (Bessant Watts, 2002). Various writers have contradictory approaches and ship canal of looking at racism, making it a complex topic. It takes many different forms, ranging from physical violence to derogatory wrangle. A person or groups belief that their race is superior or inferior, or their moral and social traits argon predetermined, based on biological differences can be termed racism.A group of people sharing the same skin colour, same values, coming from the similar backgrounds may interpret as race. superstar 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 unspoken to question and faces less public condemnation. Examples allow in housing, employment, businesses, education, organized religion and media (Healey, 2002). Typically, the basis of this type of discrimination is from irrational fear of people at the receiving end who fail to a different culture or race.Although, thither have been ongoing debates about racism all around us for centuries, it is an assault on human rights as it methodically refuses people of different caste, colour, race, sex or their country of origin basic values underlined by Universal Declaration of valet de chambre Rights (UDHR) which states that human rights are everyones birthright and apply 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-moving 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 o ut strong emotional ties by socialising, which further gives rise to the need to have a discern identity and belonging. Then the Mobilisationist Approach suggests that nothing is predictable or normal about ethnicity.Rather, ethnic identities tell apart into sight and are toughened in political contexts where groups struggle to get access to inadequate and cherished resources (Van Krieken et al, 2000, p. 519). The basis of ethnocentrism is a conscious or unconscious belief that ones ethnic group, culture, religion, bespoke or behaviour is superior to another ethnic group. Politicians boast that Australia is a multicultural, open and classless society. scorn the well known image of Australias everyone have a fair go, the country is still full of both institutional and popular racism.Education has al miens been very important when it surveils to moving up in class and has been very liberating in Australian society. However, indigenous and ethnic groups have been somewhat discri minate in opportunities to acquire education. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics only five Indigenous Australians per 1,000 obtain ordinal qualification, compared to 70-80 per 1,000 for Anglo Australians. In the 1990s welfare, health care and education support for Aborigines accounted only to 2% of total cypher outlay (ABS 200021).In order to receive an education a person requires an income, but to get an income one needs a job, and a job is challenging to find without an appropriate level of education. Therefore an individuals aspect of education is influenced by the socio-economic status of ones parents which is a cyclic social inequality hard 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 taking lower pay and lower status jobs.Working class c hildren often function schools in working class suburbs where pupils are directed into working-class jobs. A high number of students decease school early and the expectation that they will attend university is low. In comparison, upper-class children attend private 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 excessively faced with racism and discrimination in their search for employment. In 1996, One Nation political party leader 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 thither is little evidence to support the claim that high rates of immigration excit 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 habitation income for Aborigines in 1994 was $158 compared to $310 for white Australians (ABS 2000C23) This also reflects the fact the there is a higher reliance by the native 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 relegate of obtaining access to the resources of society. Inequality is also 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 save for a p osit on a house at the same time. Aborigines and migrants suffer discrimination in rental 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 croak in rural and provincial 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 medical services and other federation amenities. Some ethnic backgrounds are still not accepted in our society and are do by differently and unequally. We see and hear about them on a day to day basis. In recent months the Indian confederacy in Australia, especially students have become a vulnerable target for attacks, whether racial or not.On 31 May 2009 in Melbourne, about 5000 students marched through the streets of Melbourne protesting against these attacks on Indian, Pakistani 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 Age newsprint 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 informed 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 Herald 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 immigration minister Kevin Andrew s 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 spate 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 global 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 views of general public. There still needs to be a massive drive by communities and governments on racism and inequality and it will be long before 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 authorities 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 clean Go, Racism in Australia, Vol 180, The Spinney Press, Rozelle, NSW. Van K rieken, R, Smith, P, Hobbis, D McDonald, K 2000, Migration, ethnicity and Australian Aboriginality, Sociology themes and perspectives, 2nd edn, Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest, NSW.