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Harmony Day is celebrated annually on 21 March in Australia. It is a government-declared observance day that began in 1999, coinciding with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Harmony Day is typically marked by community events and local activities, centered around the theme of equality and social justice. The message of Harmony Day is social cohesion and racial harmony and is expressed through community participation, inclusiveness, the celebration of diversity, respect, belonging, and primarily the unity and togetherness of the numerous nationalities residing within the community. The designated color representing Harmony Day is orange; a colour symbolic of peace and diversity in society.
The day was introduced by the Howard government to promote a singular and unifying notion of Australian-ness within multicultural policy. [1] In 1998, Australian Prime Minister John Howard (Liberal-National Coalition) commissioned the Eureka Research to begin an anti-racism study to "explore and understand the subtleties and nature of racism in the Australia of the late 1990s, with a view to mounting an effective mass media and/or education anti-racism campaign". Among the conclusions of the study were that there was a need for an anti-racism campaign and a promotion of 'living in harmony'. [2]
According to multiple media reports, the outcomes of the research were not aligned with Howard's views that Australians were not racist. Commenting on the racially motivated 2005 Cronulla riots, he stated: "I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country." [3] There, the Howard government focused on the second part of the research and developed Harmony Day.[ citation needed ] The Eureka report was suppressed from public access until 2011. [2] [4]
The Diversity and Social Cohesion Program has two elements: Community Grants and Harmony Day. The Diversity Cohesion Program provides funding, education and information to help organisations create a spirit of inclusiveness, and to ensure all Australians are treated fairly regardless of their cultural background or circumstance. [5]
Criticism of Harmony Day has focused on the multi-cultural aspect of the day and the shift in focus away from anti-racism.
Emeritus professor Andrew Jakubowicz was critical of the 13-year governmental suppression of the original Eureka study, and the subsequent lack of research or focus on attempts to eliminate racism. [2]
Indigenous critics like Indigenous X CEO and founder Luke Pearson argue that while Harmony Day is perceived as a positive contribution to a multicultural society, the day does little to provide practical solutions to racial discrimination. [6]
Anti-racism groups have highlighted media coverage at the time Harmony Day was introduced that proposed the Australian government was not doing enough to eliminate racism. [4] [7] Not-for-profit group All Together Now have questioned why Harmony Day was needed at all if there was no racism in Australia, describing the creation of the day as "Orwellian". The Secretary for the New South Wales Fabians, a left-wing think tank, argued that the day dilutes the UN marked event of its intended meaning and that it avoids discussion of the structural barriers of racial discrimination. [7]
Commercial and technology lawyer Dan Ryan, [8] writing in The Australian in 2011, criticized Harmony Day, likening it to government projects in China. He said that events like Harmony Day are aimed at oppression of liberties in China, and are therefore impossible to achieve in a democratic country such as Australia.
The problem with the harmonious society is not just the disconnect between the rhetoric and the reality. The truth is, while superficially sweet-sounding, the idea is illusory and Utopian. We may all wish in the abstract that everyone got along, but the reality is that free societies by their nature are cacophonous, argumentative and full of dissent." [9]
He also said that multiculturalism was being whitewashed by the government and media.
If it is decided that we must restrict speech or avoid discussing certain subjects to keep the peace over an apparently combustible population, might now not be the time to ask whether this type of harmony is worth celebrating?" [9]
Grette Toner, in an Australian Curriculum Studies Association paper titled "Beyond Harmony: Rethinking Intercultural Learning for Australian Primary Schools", visited a primary school and said the day's activities were "largely symbolic...difficult to gauge what students learned". She criticized the school for not involving anybody from outside of it. [10]
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchangeably, and for cultural pluralism in which various ethnic groups collaborate and enter into a dialogue with one another without having to sacrifice their particular identities. It can describe a mixed ethnic community area where multiple cultural traditions exist or a single country within which they do. Groups associated with an indigenous, aboriginal or autochthonous ethnic group and settler-descended ethnic groups are often the focus.
UNITED for Intercultural Action is a European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees, in which over 560 organisations from 48 European countries cooperate. UNITED was founded in 1992 and provides a forum for active solidarity and cooperation between a wide variety of organisations in Europe and their activists across European borders.
The Australian Multicultural Council (AMC), formerly Council for Multicultural Australia (CMA), is a body appointed by the Minister for Home Affairs to advise the Australian Government on multicultural affairs, social cohesion and integration policy and programs.
Australasian Police Multicultural Advisory Bureau was an agency of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs of the Government of Australia. It was established under the auspices of the Conference of Commissioners of Police, Australasia and the South West Pacific Region.
Community cohesion is a conceptual framework which attempts to measure the social relationships within a community. It relies on criteria such as: the presence of a shared vision, inclusion of those with diverse backgrounds, equal opportunity, and supportive relationships between individuals. It was introduced in the UK in 2001 after the 2001 England riots. The ideas contained within the framework have been refined a number of times, though the definition remains poorly defined. It has also been criticised as political in nature, with moral imperatives which are not overly helpful.
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Bashy Quraishy is a Danish-Pakistani author and consultant regarding minority rights.
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The Canadian Race Relations Foundation is a charitable organization and Crown corporation responsible to foster racial harmony and cross-cultural understanding and help to eliminate racism in Canada.
Symbolic racism is a coherent belief system that reflects an underlying one-dimensional prejudice towards a racialized ethnicity. These beliefs include the stereotype that black people are morally inferior to white people, and that black people violate traditional White American values such as hard work and independence. However, symbolic racism is more of a general term than it is one specifically related to prejudice towards black people. These beliefs may cause the subject to discriminate against black people and to justify this discrimination. Some people do not view symbolic racism as prejudice since it is not linked directly to race but is indirectly linked through social and political issues.
Racism in Australia comprises negative attitudes and views on race or ethnicity which are related to each other, are held by various people and groups in Australia, and have been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices and actions at various times in the history of Australia against racial or ethnic groups.
Criticism of multiculturalism questions the ideal of the maintenance of distinct ethnic cultures within a country. Multiculturalism is a particular subject of debate in certain European nations that are associated with the idea of a nation state. Critics of multiculturalism may argue against cultural integration of different ethnic and cultural groups to the existing laws and values of the country. Alternatively critics may argue for assimilation of different ethnic and cultural groups to a single national identity.
Multiculturalism in Canada was officially adopted by the government during the 1970s and 1980s. The Canadian federal government has been described as the instigator of multiculturalism as an ideology because of its public emphasis on the social importance of immigration. The 1960s Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism is often referred to as the origin of modern political awareness of multiculturalism, resulting in Canada being one of the most multicultural nations in the world. The official state policy of multiculturalism is often cited as one of Canada's significant accomplishments, and a key distinguishing element of Canadian identity and Canadian values.
Multiculturalism in Australia is today reflected by the multicultural composition of its people, its immigration policies, its prohibition on discrimination, equality before the law of all persons, as well as various cultural policies which promote diversity, such as the formation of the Special Broadcasting Service.
The sociology of race and ethnic relations is the study of social, political, and economic relations between races and ethnicities at all levels of society. This area encompasses the study of systemic racism, like residential segregation and other complex social processes between different racial and ethnic groups.
The Norwegian Centre Against Racism or Anti-Racism Centre is a non-governmental organization based in Oslo, Norway established in 1983. The organization’s main objective is to achieve a socially just society through the fight against racism and discrimination. The Centre works toward its objective through the documentation and prevention of racism, racism awareness, and the mobilization of the minority population in Norway.
Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate actions which are intended to provide equal opportunities for all people on both an individual and a systemic level. As a philosophy, it can be engaged in by the acknowledgment of personal privileges, confronting acts as well as systems of racial discrimination, and/or working to change personal racial biases. Major contemporary anti-racism efforts include Black Lives Matter organizing and workplace anti-racism.
Islamophobia in Australia is highly speculative and affective distrust and hostility towards Muslims, Islam, and those perceived as following the religion. This social aversion and bias is often facilitated and perpetuated in the media through the stereotyping of Muslims as violent and uncivilised. Various Australian politicians and political commentators have capitalised on these negative stereotypes and this has contributed to the marginalisation, discrimination and exclusion of the Muslim community.
Racism in United States college fraternities and sororities has been linked to the experience of microaggressions, fewer opportunities to use the networking system built into Greek life, and harmful stereotypes. This fuels the experiences of people of color throughout their lives in various academic, work, and personal spaces, including Greek Life Organizations (GLOs). Many have argued that through the creation of these organizations, there has been a legacy of racism, which has fueled the elitist structure that has negatively impacted people of color the most.
"Never Again" Association is Poland's leading anti-racist organization, based in Warsaw. The organization has its roots in an informal anti-Nazi youth group that was active since 1992. It was formally founded in 1996 by Marcin Kornak, a social activist, public life commentator as well as a poet and songwriter who collaborated with independent rock bands. From the age of fifteen, due to an accident, Marcin Kornak lived with a physical disability.
