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

Australia is known for its multicultural society, but backwash and ethnicality atomic number 18 a huge factor of inexorable racism and inconsistency in this country. The driving force behind this is the laborious belief that some of the population hush hold against rush who push through different to themselves. To gain a clear understanding of this sensitive content virtuoso must look at the origins, forms and effects of racism. This essay for bear 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 raft give birth these inequalities to twenty-four hour period in a society that we call multicultural.Modern Australia was ceremonious as a region of recent settlement in 1788 which was a small part of a larger process of European village (Bessant & Watts, 2002, p. 219). They had a set of ideas, determine and beliefs and assumed that aborigines had no system of debark ownership, ag riculture, animal husbandry. Indigenous people rent been in Australia for more than 100,000 eld (Bessant & Watts, 2002, p. 222). The White Australia Policy in the 20th century encouraged in-migration only from Britain, but didnt allow Asians and Non- blanks (Economou N, 1998, p.363).By 1950s people from all countries were allowed to migrate into Australia to help post war reconstruction. The colonial immigration saw a mass migration of European people mostly from Britain to Australia. It is give tongue to that between 1788 and 1852 approximately 170,000 people moved to Australia, and the gold rush eon after 1851 made it a highly desirable country for migrating (Bessant & Watts, 2002, p. 231). By end of World War two, as war forced Australia to get c dope offr to other countries, which resulted in the first significant weakening of the insurance policy in 1951.Later in the 1950s and 1960s other move of the White Australia Policy were gradually dismantled. By the 1970s the fede ral goernment had removed all racial restrictions from its immigration law (Bessant & Watts, 2002). Various writers grow contradictory approaches and ways of looking at racism, making it a multiplex topic. It takes many different forms, ranging from physical violence to derogatory language. A soul or groups belief that their race is superior or inferior, or their moral and social traits are predetermined, based on biologic differences can be termed racism.A group of people communion the kindred skin colour, same values, coming from the similar backgrounds may piddle as race. One of the most common forms of racism plunge today is Institutional Racism, which stems from established corporations, and other powerful forces in society, hence making it hard to question and faces less public condemnation. Examples include living accommodations, employment, businesses, education, faith and media (Healey, 2002). Typically, the basis of this type of dissimilitude is from irrationa l fear of people at the receiving end who belong to a different culture or race.Although, there have been ongoing debates about racism all somewhat 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 Human Rights (UDHR) which states that human rights are e really nonpareils birthright and apply to all without difference (Healey, 2002). Common perception of shared out origins, culture, lifestyle and traditions amongst a group of people or society is the ecumenic definition of ethnicity (Bessant & Watts, 2002).People can share the same nationality but have different ethnicities. A few writers have put forward winning explanations of ethnicity. Edward Shils in his primordial approach argues that he believes everyone has a primordial adhesion to their motherland, people and religion which brings out strong emotional ties by socialisin g, which elevate gives rise to the need to have a separate identity and belonging. and then the Mobilisationist Approach suggests that nothing is predictable or normal about ethnicity.Rather, ethnic identities come into sight and are toughened in political contexts where groups effort to get access to inadequate and valued resources (Van Krieken et al, 2000, p. 519). The basis of ethnocentrism is a discuss 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, chip in and tierless society. Despite the well known image of Australias everyone have a fair go, the country is still dear of both institutional and popular racism.Education has always been very primary(prenominal) when it comes to moving up in class and has been very liberating in Australian society. However, indigenous and ethnic groups have been somewhat detrimentd in opportunities to lease ed ucation. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics only five Indigenous Australians per 1,000 retain tertiary qualification, compared to 70-80 per 1,000 for Anglo Australians. In the 1990s welfare, health care and education fight down for Aborigines accounted only to 2% of total budget outlay (ABS 200021).In ordinance 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 confiscate level of education. Therefore an somebodys panorama of education is influenced by the socio-economic stead 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 shoal system as they often come from countries that have a ridiculous education system, and even if they have tertiary qualifications they mostly are not recognised, resulting in them taking lower paid and lower status jobs. operative class children often ap pear informs in working class suburbs where pupils are directed into working-class jobs. A high number of students leave school early and the expectation that they get out 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 capture with little money and few skills.Already at a disadvantage with language barriers, migrants and ethnic groups are withal faced with racism and discrimination in their search for employment. In 1996, One Nation political companionship leader Pauline Hanson made a speech that adopted 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 cause unemployment or cause Australians to lose their jobs (Bessant, 2002, p. 219).Indigenous people had a 24. 3% unemployment rate according to 1996 count (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 also reflects the fact the there is a high reliance by the Aboriginal 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 also reflected in the differential access to caparison and health services. For people who are paying rent and on a low income, it is almost impossible to save for a deposit on a hou se 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 live in unpolished 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, infirmary medical services and other community amenities. Some ethnic backgrounds are still not accepted in our society and are toughened differently and unequally. We see and hear about them on a day to day basis. In recent months the Indian community in Australia, peculiarly 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, Pakistani and Banglades hi 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 suppurate 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 advised them not to discourse 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 acclaim Sun on 11 June 2009, 3AWs Neil Mitchell give tongue to 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 ministe r 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 down 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 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, kind stratification and inequality, Focus on Australian society, 2nd 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, NS W. 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.