The White Australia Policy, The Racist Country Its Academic Historians Have Condemned

I argue that the ideologies behind The Assimilation Policy were evident since the first white settlers had arrived in 1788. Since first contact, Aboriginal people’s values, customs, beliefs and traditional way of life began to erode. From the 1850s onwards, Aboriginal people were forced onto reserves, and then into towns and cities in the mid 20th century . Many people feared that the ‘Australian’ culture was being affected by immigrants. Since the early 1900s, there had been a ‘White Australia’ policy and assimilation was expected upon arrival. However, Aboriginal people did not immigrate, so their policy, dictated by the Australian States and Commonwealth Government was known as The Policy of Assimilation. Assimilation policies were supported by racist assumptions and represented by settler nationalist imperatives . In the 1950s, assimilation policies for Aboriginal people were supported by the

Now I’m not saying every Australian is a racist, but it’s still a concern all of us must face. As a nation, Australia must confront the fact that we just aren’t as welcoming to immigrants as we think we are. I don’t believe that there has ever been a society free of racism, but its inevitability does not mean we shouldn’t name it and eliminate it.

Australia was in a time of crisis during World War 2 (1945) when they were threatened by the Japanese invasions. Australia did not have a big population at that time resulting in not have a strong defence to protect Australia. The Department of Immigration that was created then strongly urged that Australia needed an increase in its population by at least 1% each year. They needed a plan to gain a huge population; they needed to populate or perish!

The roots of the 'White Australia ' policy can be outlined to the 1850s. Until the 'White Australia 's policy was abolished in the twentieth century, Australia was officially defined as white. Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people were not considered the part of White Australia, and indigenous Studies was not required in the school curriculum. This meant schooling was culturally unsuitable for indigenous students. Furthermore, the Australian students were not educated to appreciate Indigenous cultures either in past or present. Aboriginal Studies is about social justice for all Australians -- equity, human rights, a fair go and mutual respect for our fellow Australians. It is hard to define social justice but everybody

The White Australia Policy is one of the most infamous acts passed in Australian history. It discriminated against countless of different races. The policy was created with the purpose to recreate the image of a ‘White Australia’. This was the old approach taken by the Australian government to select immigrants from the white countries like the United Kingdom and stop the entry of immigrants not from white countries. Australia was following the example set by Great Britain, as shown in a statement made by W.G. Spence “If we keep the race pure,

Australia is a party to a number treaties including anti-racism. The anti-racism treaty imposes obligations and commitments on Australia, meaning that Australia is required to take measures to eliminate discrimination in the whole of Australia on a human’s characteristics or assumed characteristics like age, race, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status and disability.

Today Australia is known as a multicultural country who allows people from all over the world to migrate to Australia. People are definitely not allowed to our country only because of what religion or language they speak, and definitely not based on skin color. Well this was not the case 45 years ago. 45 years ago was when the government stopped the non European immigration policy, which better known as the White Australia Policy. It started in 1901 and ended in 1975. The policy lasted for 75 years. The White Australia policy was not a single government directive, but a series of acts with a common goal, to achieve and maintain a white, British national character. When the policy ended it was a very big turning point in the country because

Not only were the Aborigines excludes from human rights, but Australia enacted a policy which excluded anyone non-European from entering the country. Known as the White Australia policy or Immigration Restriction Act of 1901, it excluded anyone entry into the country who could not pass the dictation test. The dictation test was a basic grammar test that was administered by the government. The grammar in question was English, however if one was to pass the test in English the person could be re-tested in another European language. Thus keeping out all non-white people from the country (Gothard, J, p.35, 2003). The policy led Australia into growing a large White Caucasian population. However, the Immigration Restriction Act was abolished in 1958

Australia’s history has shown a “White Australia” policy from as early as 1850. It began with competition in the goldfields between immigrant Chinese and the British miners caused a severe amount of tension. Eventually turning into riots (Buckland Riot in 1857 and the Lambing Flat Riots in 1860 and 1861) Victoria and New South Wales put restrictions on Chinese immigration as well as residency taxes. This has been described as the earliest sign of the White Australia policy.

Since the Whitlam Government passed the Racial Discrimination Act in 1975, the notion of “White Australia” was thought to have disappeared with it all together. However, time and time again, like cancer it strikes without warning. Though the media and government believe Australia has been inherently free from the White Australia notion, it has yet to truly disappear from modern day Australia. To understand why the White Australia notion has yet to disappear, an examination of Pauline Hanson needs to be taken into account, with a primary focus on her political party, One Nation’s beliefs and ideologies. Furthermore, a close look at our own government’s policy towards asylum seekers with a brief look at their treatment in Australian

The White Australia Policy was the name of the law that restricted immigrants of non European ethnicity. This law started in 1901 and was demolished from the 1950s to 1970s. This law also allowed for a dictation test to be giving to all immigrants in any language to make sure no immigrants of non European background could get into Australia.

History of Racism in Australia. A short of historical facts the exemplify the power of racist ideals in Australian the past

Introduction: The White Australia Policy took place over a period of 72 years. The White Australia Policy became a law in 1901, although it had been occurring since the 1850’s. It ended in 1973 when Australia realised than other countries were forming a nation against Australia due to the policy. The White Australia Policy was an attempt to create a uni-racial Australia. The Policy discriminated and took a massive impact on anyone that was non-European and others from other coloured races.

Racism is a global issue that is perpetuated by our ever-globalizing environment. With increased communication technologies cultures from continents that are oceans apart are now able to meet (Hogan 2012). More specifically within Australia racism has been the burden of the Indigenous people of Australia, since the countries discovered by the British. Indigenous Australians have been subject to policies and laws sort to convert them to integrate into the newly pronounced white country (Finlayson, J & Martin, D 2012).

This paper is divided into two parts. In the first part the concepts or race, ethnicity, prejudice and racism are defined and how they are connected is discussed. Part 2 of the paper looks at the ‘White Australia’ policy and why it was introduced. The impact of such a racist immigration history on contemporary Australia is also discussed in terms of attitudes and behaviours of the population.