Stephanie 10L3

English Persuasive Essay

Is Australia a Racist Society?
Australia is well known for its multicultural population. With various races, countries and ethnics, Australia has been recognized as one of the most multicultural countries in the world. With a constant wave of immigrants from different countries coming into Australia, they call themselves Australian and make Australia their home. Although nowadays, most people can easily accept the others from difference countries, racism still remains as a big issue that implicates relationships with others. Racism can be subtle and sometimes is used because the person does not realise its meaning but it cant be denied that racism exists and is at work in Australia. Firstly, the past and our ancestors who arrived and settled on this land have a big impact on the racism occurring in our society today. The Stolen Generation is an example of racism towards the Aboriginal from the white settlers. The process involved forcefully taking away children form Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families by the Australian federal and state government and church missions. These children were raised on mission or by foster parents, which completely cut all connections to their Aboriginality. This occurred from 1909 to 1969 and in the 1970s, children were still being taken away in some places of Australia. The Prime Minister of Australia in 1992 realized what they had committed in the past and commented: We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life. We brought the diseases. The alcohol. We committed the murders. We took the children form their mothers. We practiced discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice. And we failed to imagine these things were done to us Paul Keating. Racism is more likely to be advertised on the media and in newspapers. The most common type of news heard is of AFL football players being called a racist name by presidents, coaches and staff of football teams. Racism is very hidden from our society, however a recent game of AFL dedicated for the Aboriginal people has indirectly promoted racism. Furthermore, on a Friday night when Syndye player Adam Goodes pointed a member out for having used racial language towards him, he was horrified when he realised that it was a 13 year old girl that had called him an ape. The girl was made aware of the term she used and the meaning of it, which led to her ringing up Adam Goodes and apologising. Later on, a Youtube video appeared on the Internet of another Collingwood fan abusing Adam Goodes and Lewis Jetta saying, the umpire should give them a free kick because theyre black. AFL is popular amongst Australians but it can indirectly and secretly promote racial discrimination. This year, IZA newsroom provided shocking evidence of the racism that still remains in Australia today. Paul Frijiters and Redzo Mujcic investigate on discrimination against other races. The authors sent trained testers who differed in ethnic appearance to bus stops and asked for the driver for a free ride because their bus pass was faulty. They obtained 1552 observations of testers either allowed a free ride or not. The article written showed strong evidence of discrimination against black-skinned individuals. White testers were accepted 72% of the time but only 36% of black testers were granted a free ride. 51% of Indian testers were let on versus only 73% of Asian testers were let on. It was found that if the bus drivers and tester shared the same ethnicity, favours were more likely to be granted. 97% of white people wearing army uniforms were let on but only 77% if they were black. There is still strong evidence of racial discrimination on Australian public transport. Immigrants and Aboriginals are groups of people often targeted at and excluded from the society in the past. Their human rights have been neglected and they have been isolated from our society. Racism is a continuing pattern in Australian society. It has been dominant for many years and has infiltrated through many generations of Australians. It is a highly observable fact, yet often ignored by the people of this country. It is clear that Australia is not free yet of racisms grasp.