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Essay on aboriginal inequalities and racism
Current issues affecting aboriginal people residential schools
Discrimination from australians to aboriginals
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Deadly Unna by Phillip Gwynne explores racial issues directed at the Indigenous Australians. Gwynne’s story is based on events that occurred in the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. This book clearly shows that Australia is not the land of the fair go for certain demographics, while other demographics do experience Australia as the land of the fair go. People who have money will experience Australia as the land of the fair go, but the people who do not will not be able to experience Australia as a land of equal opportunity. Indigenous Australians are also included in the demographic of people who cannot experience Australia as the land of the fair go.
The film “Rabbit-Proof Fence”, directed by Phillip Noyce and is based loosely on a true story was released in 2002. This film is about the three half-caste girls trying to go home after being forcibly removed from their family as The Stolen Generation. Noyce explores all the crucial characteristics of the courage and determination that the children shown in the film to fight over the injustice. Aboriginal children encounter innumerable mistreatment and injustice from the Europeans which bravery encourages them to resist against it to get fairness and freedom. Furthermore, Indigenous children’s decisions to escape from the place that gives them harsh experience by trying to strip them out of their culture and abusing them, indicates their
Reynolds exposes the persecution of Indigenous People, describing the entrenched belief in Aboriginal inferiority common in 70s North Queensland, recalling one school principal who said he ‘did not expect much from [Aboriginal children] because they had smaller brains’. The ‘confidence and complete certainty’ with which the comment was made conveys how deeply negative ideas about Aborigines had been ingrained. These attitudes resulted in an assumption of superiority by white citizens, who Reynolds writes expected ‘lowered eyes and a submissive downward tilt of the head’. Reynolds’ personal voice resonates with condemnation for the oppression faced by Aborigines, illustrating how his perspective has been shaped by his experience of race relations. By sharing this account, Reynolds raises questions about the historical origins of the racial tension he experienced.
The director, Phillip Noyce made Rabbit Proof Fence to try and illustrate the shear enormity of the oppression suffered by aboriginal families at the hands of white Australian politicians and the government. The Australian administrators passed a policy that forced pure blooded, half castes and quarter castes Aboriginal children to be taken from their families and their land to be bred and mixed into the white Australian community. The government believed that this was in the Aboriginals best interest but their motive was to eventually eliminate Aboriginal blood to promote a white Australia. This policy is now referred to as the ‘Stolen Generation’. The pain and suffering the Aborigines experienced, the oppression and heart-break only ceased
The ‘White Australia Policy’ was first put in place by the federal government in 1901. The overall aim of the policy was to limit non-white immigration, especially Asians. At the time, 98% of Australia’s population were white; Australia wanted to maintain this number, and aim to have the country mainly consist of British people. With most of the country already white, the majority of Australians supported the policy when it was first introduced; this is because the white Australians were concerned about losing their jobs to non-white workers. They believed a restrictive immigration policy was the only way to ensure a secure future.
This article discusses the speech given by an Indigenous journalist, Stan Grant who participated in a debate where he spoke for the motion “Racism is destroying the Australian Dream’’. Hence, the main points of this article are mostly evidence given by Grant in his debate to support his idea that the Australian Dream is indeed rooted in racism. One of the main points is that the indigenous Australians are often excluded and disregarded as non-Australians simply due to their race and skin colour. Grant pointed out the incident where AFL player Adam Goodes was publicly jeered and told that he did not belong to his country as he was not an Australian despite the fact that Australia indeed is the land of his ancestors.
This disregard and insensitivity towards historical wrongs is seen as an act of disrespect and reflects badly on Australia's belief in equality, damaging this country's own reputation. I believe this is an important factor to implement, as Australia has a discrimination law where it is unlawful to discriminate based on a protected number of attributes. So while Australia Day is celebrated with parties, barbeques, and countdowns by so many, thousands of others are mourning the loss of their ancestors. Shouldn’t celebrating a day of sadness and grief be an insult to the indigenous community? Why is this not seen as offensive?
This theme occurs throughout The Australian Dream when Adam Goodes was targeted by fans and media that were confronting him with racist attitudes and treatment. Moreover, in the novel After Darkness Dr. Ibaraki was dehumanised as he was deprived of his identity. After Darkness focuses on how government actions and cultural attitudes deprived people of their sense of compassion, identity, and dignity towards Japanese people in WWII. Both the documentary and the novel are relevant in today's society as they highlight how non-European Australians have been dehumanised throughout Australia's history and how little has changed. Furthermore, they both position the reader to feel empathy and angry on behalf of the protagonists due to the displacement, discrimination and racism they’re both impacted by.
Well, Australia is a lucky country. A lucky country for white men born into middle class society. Australia is the lucky white man’s land.
There are a variety of ways and factors that influence how people are represented in different non-fiction and fiction texts. Indigenous Australians are usually represented in harmful disrespectful ways, but they are also represented in positive ways. There are many factors that contribute to these representations. In the year 8 fiction and non-fiction text studied in the last three terms, we have seen different representations of indigenous Australian people. The main factors contributing to these are, stereotypes, historical events, real life experiences and Two main ways Indigenous Australians can be represented in fiction and non-fiction texts are as people who are kind and friendly or people who are troublesome.
Australia has a long ugly history of racism and xenophobia that date back to the early beginnings of colonisation and forced biological and cultural assimilation of indigenous peoples to the white/Anglo British culture. Historically colonization was justified for saving primitive cultures
Abstract Being an aborigine in a white dominated society is a complicated identity. Australia, one of the white governed nations, also owns many aboriginal tribes. They lived harmonious lives in the early period. But European colonization has made a profound effect on the lives of Aboriginals in Australia, which led to the total demolition of their native culture, identity and history. As a result the new generation Aboriginals have lost their Aboriginal heritage and have been accepted neither by Aboriginals nor by whites.
One Australian minority group that has been effected drastically is that of Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australians are the traditional custodians of the land and have living in Australia for over 40,000 years. Since the arrival of white settlers in the late 18th century, their culture has been subject to a high degree scrutiny. Using the Australian ethnocentrism scale, it has been concluded that white Australians held negative attitudes towards Indigenous Australians (Beswick, Hills 1972). A popular negative attitude that can be viewed in today’s society is that
Shedding light on a heinous chapter of Australian history, Phillip Noyce’s 2002 film adaption of the book by Doris Pilkington, Rabbit Proof Fence serves as a glaring reminder of the atrocities suffered by those of the “stolen generation”. Set in 1931, the film portrays a simplified version of the early life of three Aboriginal girls and their daring journey from an “integration program” to home again via the Rabbit Proof Fence. They are pursued by A.O. Neville (Branagh), the school director, whom, under government authority, is taking Aboriginal children from their homes and placing them in schools to be educated or more accurately, indoctrinated. Rabbit Proof Fence, through its compelling storyline and depiction of harsh reality, highlights to us that the real villain in colonial Australia was the government and it’s utterly racist policies. As a critic, this film struck me, as I’m sure it will many other viewers, in its veracity of the truth when displaying potentially painful situations.
Thus, by the uses of different type of information about racism in Australia society, it clear that some people are being racist through social media. In conclusion, it is clear that racism has affected many people, like a contagious disease, following people where ever they go. Racism has been and still is a prolific evil in Australian society. It’s disgusting that people believe there is a different between them and treat each other differently only due to their culture and colour of skin.
