In recent years there have been calls from community leaders across Australia to make amendments to Australia’s Racial Vilification Act, with some arguing certain aspects of it should be modified to promote freedom of speech, while others contend the Act does not do enough to protect certain groups from racism. In March 2014, Attorney-General George Brandis announced plans to repeal Section 18C of the Racial Vilification Act, which makes in unlawful to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people because of race, colour or national or ethnic origin. Although these plans were later repealed by then Prime Minister Tony Abbott, following a backlash from citizens and distinguished politicians a like, with Bill Shorten stating that the proposed changes were a “colossal mistake”, the debate has continued, not just in Australia but …show more content…
There are other exemptions to the act including it being subject to freedom of expression, whereby in certain instances where expressions that fall under the definition of racial hatred do not constitute racial hatred because the person who carried out the act did so reasonably and in good faith. Academic and scientific works, art and debates or comments on matters of public interest are generally exempt along with the media who are able to publish reports on racially offensive behaviour, because such information is published in good faith without the intent to
Perhaps the most concerning outcome of the Brandis reform would be the entrenchment of the change in social perceptions in regards to social tolerance. As the esteemed social justice magazine Peril Inc. reported, “any watering down or perceived dilution of the Racial Discrimination Act would send the wrong message to potential offenders that hate speech was becoming more acceptable in our society…”. As recorded in Victoria, where there is an exponentially growing multicultural population, many ethnic groups have become increasingly disheartened with Brandis’ proposed reforms (Peril Magazine Inc, 2014). Comparatively, establishing similar ground was a Conversation media article which boldly asserted that the removal of provisions would increase vilification on the internet. In 2013 alone, internet vilification accounted for
In a recent article authored by Alice Pung, a first generation Australian of Southeast Asian parents, titled ‘Living with Racism in Australia (Pung 2016), Alice details key points within her (and her families) life revolving around their migration from Cambodia to Australia. Within this she touches on, albeit briefly however still illustrating her point quite clearly, immigration, race/racism, assimilation, ethnic minorities, ethnic conflict and social cohesion.
The inherent malleability of section 51(xxvi) of the Constitution, also known as the ‘race power’, suggests the continuing historical and institutional racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. To overcome discriminatory laws to be passed against Indigenous Australians and to allow the advancement of their situation, it is necessary to amend the race power. This article will propose the amendment of s 51(xxvi) to only allow beneficial laws to be passed with regards to Indigenous Australians, the replacement of s 51(xxvi) with an anti-discrimination power and the replacement of s 51(xxvi) with a new head of power with respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These proposals will be analysed considering the judgements in Kartinyeri v Commonwealth and the recommendations made by the Referendum Council.
Before 1975 there were innumerable instances of vilification, almost applauded. Singh is convinced that freedom of speech must be regulated, publicizing that “people have a right to have freedom from racial vilification” and that anything which dissimilar to this fundamental entitlement is an “unacceptable and wrong” substitute (Blacktown Sun, 2015). Ironically, the fact that Brandis and his supporters believes the law diminishes freedom of expression and speech, where people cannot “say what they like”, is dismissed by the provisions enlisted under Section18D of the Racial Discrimination Act. As newly appointed Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane argues, “often it is forgotten that the fundamental value of free speech is explicitly protected by
Stan Grant’s speech ‘Racism and the Australian Dream’ (2015) effectively reminds the Australian population of the racism and harsh inequalities indigenous Australians have faced in the past and still face today. In reminding us of this reality, Grant engages us to discover issues of civic participation in Aboriginal people and in doing so perpetuates a need for social change. More?
It’s been more than two years since Senator George Brandis announced that people had the right to be bigots, and Tony Abbott was forced to back down from abolishing section 18C following outrage from ethnic and minority groups.
A large focus on Stan speech was conveying the notion that racism is and has destroyed the Australian dream for Aboriginal Australians. Stan Grant uses the words "we are mugged by the darkness of this country's history. Of course, Racism is killing the Australian dream" and "The Australian Dream is rooted in racism". The use of a hyperbole in Stan's speech puts exaggeration on words to allow the reader to comprehend the extent of racism in Australia's early history because of the actions and feelings of the Indigenous people seem unfathomable. The quote has a deep meaning that the Australian dream is far from perfect for someone with Indigenous heritage because of the deeply rooted racism.
Racism exists at all levels of Australian society but Australians are in denial. It is entrenched in our institutions. The life expectancy of an Aboriginal is still more than a decade less than that of any other Australians. Many Australians believe that racism is no longer an issue in Australia. As Kevin Rudd famously stated in 2010, “I do not believe that racism is at work in Australia.” Is Australia still a racist nation, or is it hidden behind its friendly mask of a multicultural mentality? Sociologist Max Millis investigates.
We all know Australia is an amazing place where approximately everyone is laid back ( to some degree , it has a worthy parliamentary system as you do not need royal blood to be a leader, and you get paid considerably more compared to other countries. Although this continent is unfortunately not perfect as, in Australia there are two main types of racism. Aboriginal racism and multicultural racism. Racism is a terrible force as it has destroyed lives with verbal and physical abuse because they are of a different race. So we must change our ways. Examples of the soul crushing creature known formally as Racism are shown in the story "Tri" by Francs Echin and "Fifties Australia" by Phillip Knightley.
When things have commenced are they able to come to a halt? Many people in this world wonder
Feinberg posited that harm cannot shoulder all necessary work for free speech and suggested that an offense principle be introduced (van Mill, 2002). Offense implies lighter ‘harm’ than harm itself and so the penalties should be less severe than those for causing harm. He says that offense takes place if three of the criteria are present: “one is offended when a) one suffers a disliked state, b) one attributes that state to the wrongful conduct of another, and c) resents the other for his role in bringing one to that state.” (Feinberg, 1985). The problem with offense is, it is very difficult to ascertain which expressive acts is offensive to anyone. In a multi-racial, multi-cultural society like Australia, anything can be considered offensive to another group of
Throughout this course we have learned about many things, one in particular would be Racism. We have learned about many different types of racism along with examples of racism. Before I go into specific examples of racism that I have learn about in this class, I will first define and explain the differences between racism, prejudice or also known as bias, discrimination, race, and racist so there 's a clear understanding of why I picked the specific examples. The definition of racism that we learned in class would be an “Institutionalized system with disproportionate unjust outcomes for a particular race”. Prejudice or also known as bias was defined as “A negative feeling, opinion, or attitude toward a certain category or people” this would be an feeling with no action acted upon, where discrimination is defined as “Action or inaction toward a category of people” which would be acting on the negative feelings or opinions of a certain group. The definition for race is a “Social construct, but a lived reality” while a racist is “Discrimination based on the category of race”. (Disadvantage privilege notes, 2016)
A few years ago in Smalltown, CA a burning cross was placed in the lawn of a visible minority family. Although the media seemed shocked at this explicit racial attack and portrayed the attackers as a group of abnormal, twisted deviants, I was not surprised. As an Asian student who is writing her Sociology honours thesis on visible minorities in Canada, I know on a personal and academic level that racism in Canada does exist. Although explicit racial incidents are not a common occurrence, they do happen. Here at school, a visible minority student left the school when a car sped past her, while the young men inside shouted racial slurs. Two weeks ago The school paper published an article about a group of
Throughout history in America there has always been the idea of racism. When Americans think of racism, they usually think of slavery and that racism is no longer a problem in America. However, this is not the case. Racism is still very apparent in America. It is true that since the end of slavery, the U.S. has made great strides towards becoming a less racist country. In reality, racism will never be extinct. In today’s society, all American citizens of all races have the same rights as one another, yet there is still racism. Racism can be linked directly to stereotypical mindsets of certain groups of people. It is human nature to make conclusions about other people, this is what leads to racism. Today’s racism is not limited to whites
Since the dawning of racism, human beings have passed judgment on each other based on race and ethnicity. The views of people based on their skin color, place of origin, or their cultural background have caused a stratification of men and women. We now have majority and minority groups, hate groups, ethnic enclaves, segregation, income differences, and have even experienced mass genocide in our world (Carl, 2011). All of these are direct effects of a persons race or ethnicity. These all provide humans with a struggle between each other for various resources. Race and ethnic stratification is an integral example of conflict theory because a competition for resources takes place between people coming from different