Australian Universities House A Diversified Variety Of Racial And Cultural Backgrounds, From Domestic And International Students

The discourse of whiteness has severely impacted on the educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (herein referred to as Indigenous Peoples). The discourse is based on an ontology founded on overt racism, discrimination, prejudice, exclusion and dispossession and towards all Indigenous Peoples. Subsequently, the history of Indigenous Peoples experiences in relation to education is extremely negative. They have been denied the right to the same education as non-Indigenous students, frequently expelled and continually forced to deny their cultural identity. The discourse of whiteness has resulted in pedagogies and pedagogical practices that are overly racist and not inclusive of Indigenous Peoples culture. To improve future educational outcomes it is necessary to decolonise Australia and rewrite the curriculum so that it is inclusive for all students.

“Racism is oppression based on colour.” (Bishop,1994) therefore social workers must be aware of the extent and impact that racism has on the wide range of ethnic minorities that they work with.

In 1965 a group of students from Sydney University formed a group, called Student Action for Aborigines, that’s purpose was to draw attention to the inequality between white and indigenous Australia based in New South Wales. It also hoped to decrease the social discrimination between white Australia and indigenous Australia as well as give support to aboriginals to withstand the discrimination they face daily.

According to Essed (1991), the everyday experiences of racism and racist practice involve those routine activities perceived by the majority to be normal and neutral, yet these putdowns and demotions are negatively experienced by minority women and men as a violation of their dignity and humanity. Essed (2002) also points out that everyday racism is entrenched within mainstream institutions so that patterns of dominance are largely invisible to those in power and passively tolerated by the majority. Finally, she argues that it’s not the actions per se that determine whether racism is at play; instead it’s about the contexts that define acts as racist. Everyday racism is subsequently defined (Essed 1991, 5) as a process in which (a) socialized

Racism continues to be a concern for Aboriginal people—in relation to both the police and the judiciary. Witnesses spoke of establishing a requirement to screen judges and police for prejudices before hiring and of offering anti-racism and anti-oppression training, specifically related to Aboriginal women.

This proves that understanding racial identity is a worldwide issue. ‘In Australia, however, we don’t know the impact of racism, especially of subtle and prolonged forms of racism, on the mental wellbeing of Aboriginal children and how this impacts on their academic self-concept and consequently academic achievement and outcomes (Purdie, Milgate & Bell, 2011).

In Australia, we have a diverse society, consisting of many different groups. The people in these groups are all economically and socially different in terms of their backgrounds, as well as having different cultural traditions. The behaviours, attitudes and values of individuals affects the treatment of people in different groups.

Pang goes on to state that these “racists feel that no one, neither society nor the government, appreciates how the modern world has left them behind. But one group shares their unrelenting feelings of deepseated fear and anxiety: their victims.” (Pung 2016) however these deep seeded sentiments are also not being helped by the nation-state where there has been no real attempt in multicultural or migratory education since the original yet short push for multiculturalism in the years following the white Australia policy nor has there been an attempt in educating the Australian people that assimilation is an acceptable or achievable endeavour. There is an identified need to develop an understanding that all types of migration lead to social and economic change and attempts to surpress such transformations can lead to racism and conflict. (Castles

Research an aspect of Australian history (e.g. policy, practice) and outline the ways in which this aspect has impacted on Aboriginal people and Aboriginal education.

The anecdotal instances of racism in Rankin’s Citizen together demonstrates the existence of a structural form of racism. The anecdotes demonstrates that if a person is of colour they suffer different treatment which distinguish them to be an ‘other’ type of person. The idea behind these racist encounters can be further categorized into three categories: overt racism, covert racism, and institutional racism, and these ideas together form the basis behind structural racism.

Scenes of racism are evident on college campuses through the article “Cornell Student Accused in attack Is Charged With a Hate Crime”, written by Elizabeth A. Harris that was published by The New York Times on Nov. 13, 2017. The article is about a group of young men harassing a fellow student who happens to be black with racial slurs. Will tame at first, things start to escalate when one student punches the black student in the face leading to a legal lawsuit of a hate crime.

The Social Work professional would benefit from completing SCS130 because they would gain insight into the impact of British colonialism on Indigenous Australians and how the laws of control and protection forced them to become dependent, this, enables an understanding in terms of the present situation of disadvantage. Hollinsworth (2008) maintains that the historical impact of colonisation by Europeans on Indigenous Australians, is the basis for contemporary racism in Australia (pp. 35,67,77,79-80,83-84,97). This is supported by, The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1991) report, which, highlights the impact of European settlement on the dispossession and institutional racism of Indigenous peoples. This racist ideology is based on the belief of superiority of the dominant group, in Australia this was enforced by racist legislation (Hollinsworth 2008, p. 47,77,79-80,97). Australia does have a racist history and as a consequence, these racist ideologies still exist today. This has resulted in Indigenous Australians experiencing racism through the oppressive effects of marginalisation in political, economic and social structures (Hollinsworth 2008, p.9,14,20,38,83-84,100). Therefore, it is imperative to the Social Work profession to complete a course such as SCS130 to enable comprehension of the present disadvantage experienced by Indigenous Australians in the context of the impact of European settlement.

Instead of an overt racism that rejects individuals who do not fit into an existing Anglo-Australian template, contemporary racism relies on fear politics permeating heightened "popular" nationalism. Discuss.

The world is filled different cultures, races and ethnicities, and it is crucial that our higher education institutions reflect this diversity. Representation matters. We are a country filled with diverse cultures all of which whom need to be represented. The purpose of this literature review is to explain why and how diversity in a higher education setting is important. Students learn better in such an environment and are better prepared to become active participants in our pluralistic, democratic society once they leave school Diversity is not only important among the student population but also within college curriculum. It is an important issue regardless of the setting. However, when it is applied it to a place where people come to learn,

Racism. That is a word that has often been linked with Australia society and being part of a race other than ‘white’ in Australia can prove to be challenging, particularly in our current times. According to a study conducted by Australian Reconciliation (2017), 46% of Indigenous people experienced at least one kind of racial prejudice. Their study also found a growing number of Indigenous people who believe that Australia is a racist county with 57% of Indigenous people and 39% of the general community who believe this. Moreover, a study from ‘Essential research’ stated that 49% of Australians believe in a nationwide Muslim ban (Kenny & Koziol, 2016). These findings contradict Australia’s national identity as a proud multicultural country. The topic of racism is complex and this course has made me re-evaluate my own pre-conceptions and comprehension about racism by employing sociological theories to provide a greater understanding and challenge my old beliefs. This essay will specifically focus on racism in Australian media to find some answers to Australia’s growing racism problem.