During the period of British colonisation, various incidents of inter-racial tension and competition for land and resources between Europeans and Indigenous peoples involved violence, becoming a factor in the decline of indigenous populations during the 19th century. Incidents of racial violence between settler communities followed the large scale multi-ethnic immigration of the Australian goldrushes of the mid-19th century – notably white miners targeting Chinese miners – which contributed to the development of the White Australia Policy which preferenced British and "white" immigration to Australia for some decades. The policy resulted in a largely white race population by the mid-20th century.
Australia's large scale, post-war, multi-ethnic immigration program has seen Australia develop into one of the most ethnically diverse nations, with relatively little racial violence, and in which incitement to racial violence is a crime. Nevertheless, incidents and examples of violence between the various ethnicities of modern Australia have continued to be attributed to racial motivations up to the present time.
History
Racial violence in Australia is evident through various past and more recent events. Hate crimes and racial violence are not new concepts[1]
Australia's recorded history begins with the arrival of the British First Fleet at Sydney in 1788. During the course of the 19th century, the British Empire progressively asserted control over the Australian continent. Skirmishes and battles between early European settlers and indigenous Australians which occurred during this period may not all be classified as "racially motivated" violence however, given that they were very often punitive or defensive attacks by one side or other engaged in a drawn out competition for land, resources and sites of cultural significance. Nevertheless, there were clear incidents of racially motivated violence occurring during the colonial period in Australia.[citation needed]
Attacks against the indigenous population by settlers resulted in the deaths of thousands of Aboriginals, and in particular devastated the indigenous population of Tasmania. [2] Violence against the Chinese community also occurred early in Australia's history, with mobs attacking rival Chinese miners.[3]
The White Australia policy was developed in the late 19th century and formalised soon after Federation in 1901, and was aimed at maintaining a racially homogenous Australia. It was dismantled progressively from the mid twentieth century. Post 1950's multicultural has seen occasional violence with a racial element – among and between both old and new immigrant groups. Ethnic gang violence has also occurred. Some have attributed racial violence to attitudes expressed by media and politicians.[4]
Commentators[who?] have discussed the concept of the risk society, particularly as it relates to the Cronulla riots.[vague] There is a sense that in Australia and in other Western countries, racism has been based upon notions of xenophobia[vague].[5] Recently, technology has aided the organising of racial violence via SMStexting.[6]
During the 1830s, the Christian missionary George Augustus Robinson negotiated a peace with some of the Tasmanian Aboriginals, following serious conflict between them and British settlers. The peace resulted in the exile of around 100 Aborigines to nearby Flinders Island to be taught European ways. Ravaged by disease, few returned to Tasmania alive.
The early European exploration and colonisation of Australia often led to violent and deadly conflicts between the original inhabitants, the Aboriginal populations, and Europeans throughout the continent, from the arrival of early European mariners and arrival of the British First Fleet at Sydney in 1788, to the time of the Caledon Bay Crisis of the 1930s. Racism often played a role in this violence, though competition for land and resources and cultural misunderstandings over differing views of such concepts as sacred spaces and property ownership were also common motivators.
By 1788, Indigenous Australians had not developed a system of writing, so the first literary accounts of Aborigines come from the journals of early European explorers, which contain descriptions of first contact, both violent and friendly: a 1644 account of Willem Jansz's 1606 landing at Cape York (the first known landing by a European in Australia) refers to "savage, cruel black barbarians who slew some of our sailors", while the English buccaneer William Dampier wrote of the "natives of New Holland" as "barbarous savages", but by the time of Captain James Cook and First Fleet marine Watkin Tench (the era of Jean-Jacques Rousseau), accounts of Aborigines were more sympathetic and romantic: "these people may truly be said to be in the pure state of nature, and may appear to some to be the most wretched upon the earth; but in reality they are far happier than ... we Europeans", wrote Cook in his journal on 23 August 1770.[7]
The first Governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip, was instructed explicitly to establish friendship and good relations with the Aborigines and interactions between the early newcomers and the ancient landowners varied considerably throughout the colonial period—from the mutual curiosity displayed by the early interlocutors of Sydney, to the outright hostility of Pemulwuy and Windradyne of the Sydney region,[8] and Yagan around Perth. Pemulwuy was accused of the first killing of a white settler in 1790, and Windradyne resisted early British expansion beyond the Blue Mountains.[9] According to the historian Geoffrey Blainey, in Australia during the colonial period: "In a thousand isolated places there were occasional shootings and spearings. Even worse, smallpox, measles, influenza and other new diseases swept from one Aboriginal camp to another... The main conqueror of Aborigines was to be disease and its ally, demoralisation".[10]
Relatively small numbers of White settlers and convicts removed Aboriginal populations from much of South Eastern Australia.[11] The island of Tasmania's small, though culturally unique, Aboriginal population in particular suffered – the majority of them succumbing to introduced disease, being killed in conflict with white settlers, or dying early as a result of displacement or competition for resources in the decades following European settlement.
Lambing Flat riots
The Roll Up banner around which a mob of about 1,000 men rallied and attacked Chinese miners at Lambing Flat in June 1861. The banner is now on display in the museum at Young.
There was ten months of unrest at Burrangong involving disputes against Chinese miners, where they were often driven off their 'digs'. The most infamous riot occurred on the night of 30 June 1861 when a group of perhaps 3,000 drove the Chinese off Lambing Flat, and then moved on to the Back Creek diggings, destroying tents and looting possessions. About 1,000 Chinese abandoned the field. Many of the victims were brutally beaten, but there were no deaths. The only death related to this incident was of a white miner killed by police trying to break up the disturbance. .[3]
Kalgoorlie Mines race riots
These race riots were between white Australian miners and Southern Europeans living in the area. There had been simmering tensions on Kalgoorlie between Italianmigrants and local white Australians. This had resulted in a race riot in 1919. The civil disturbance in 1934 was larger. It initially started during the Australia Day weekend of 1934. An inebriated British miner, Edward Jordan, instigated a fight with an Italian barman, Claudio Mattaboni. Edward Jordan was a popular local, who was also a footballer, firefighter and tribute miner. After instigating the fight himself, Jordan cracked his skull on the pavement and died several hours later.
The following day, aided by Jordan's drinking friends, rumours spread that the popular local had been murdered by Mattaboni. Mourners attended Jordans funeral in their hundreds, then after drinking at several wakes, gathered in Hannan Street near several migrant-owned businesses. A youth instigated the riot by throwing a stone through a window of the Kalgoorlie Wine Saloon and full-scale rioting ensued. Rioters burned the building to the ground, then moved on to attack other migrant-run establishments. A large group of rioters stole a tram and rode to the nearby town of Boulder, where the destruction continued.[13]
The rioting had stopped by the next day, but the disgruntled locals tried to organise to eject Southern European migrant workers from the mines. After meetings about this were attended by some hundreds of people, rioting once again ensued. Two people were killed, and 86 were arrested.[14]
In 1920, Japanese residents of Broome in Western Australia attacked Timorese living there. The racial violence continued for a week, and was the most violent in the last century. 60 people were injured and 7 killed.[15]
The Sydney gang rapes were a series of gang rape attacks committed by a group of up to fourteen Lebanese Australian men led by Bilal Skaf against white Australian teenage girls, some as young as 14, in Sydney in 2000. The crimes were described as ethnically motivated hate crimes by officials and commentators.[16][17]
The Cronulla riots of 2005[18] were a series of mob confrontations, with racial overtones, which originated in and around Cronulla, a beachfront suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Soon after the riot, ethnically motivated violence occurred in several other Sydney suburbs.
On Sunday, 4 December 2005, police were called to North Cronulla Beach following a report of an assault on two off-duty surf lifesavers by members of a group of men of Middle Eastern appearance.[19][20][21][22][23] Lifesavers have occupied a position of high esteem within Australia and Sydney media outlets expressed outrage that volunteer lifesavers could be assaulted. Some called for protest.
On Sunday, 11 December 2005, approximately 5000 people gathered to protest against alleged incidents of assaults and intimidatory behaviour by groups of Middle Eastern looking youths from the suburbs of South Western Sydney. The crowd initially assembled without incident, but after excessive alcohol consumption, violence broke out after a segment of the mostly white[24] crowd chased a man of Middle Eastern appearance into a hotel and two other youths of Middle Eastern appearance were assaulted on a train. Police and ambulance officers were also attacked. The racist aspect of the incidents was reported widely overseas.
The next day a number of revenge attacks occurred. Large numbers of Middle Eastern men gathered in Punchbowl in Sydney's West, police being ordered not to confront them. Revenge attacks by Middle Eastern men against white Australias occurred in various suburbs, including a stabbing of a man at Woolooware, [25] a man being attacked by an iron bar while in his car,[26] gunshots being fired at parked cars at Christian church services and a church hall in Auburn in the city's west was burned down.[27]
SBS / Al Jazeera (for Al Jazeera) explores these events in their 2013 (2015) four-part documentary series "Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl", specifically in last two episodes, "Episode three, 2000–2005" and "Episode four, 2005–present".[28]
Australia is a popular destination for students from India. During 2009, some media in Australia and India publicised reports of crimes and robberies against Indians in Australia and alleged that they were racially motivated crimes. There were 120,913 Indian students enrolled to undertake an Australian qualification in 2009 and India was the second top-source country for Australia's international education industry.[29] A subsequent Indian Government investigation concluded that out of 152 reported assaults against Indian students in Australia that year, 23 such incidents involved "racial overtones".[30] in 2011, the Australian Institute of Criminology released a study entitled Crimes Against International Students:2005–2009.[31] This found that over the period 2005–2009, international students were statistically less likely to be assaulted than the average person in Australia. Indian students experienced an average assault rate in some jurisdictions, but overall they experienced lower assault rates than the Australian average. They did, however, experience higher rates of robbery, overall.[32] Additionally, multiple surveys of international students over the period of 2009–10 found a majority of Indian students felt safe.[33]
Nevertheless, a number of people alleged that Melbourne had a problem of racist attacks. In Melbourne, on 30 May 2009, Indian students protested against "racist" attacks. Thousands of students gathered outside the Royal Melbourne Hospital where one of the victims of an assault had been admitted. The protest, however, was called off early on the next day morning after the protesters accused police of "ramrodding" them to break up their sit-in.[34]
In Sydney, around 150 – 200 Indian men gathered to protest against police inaction about attacks on them by Lebanese Australian Youths in Harris Park, in the city's west. Groups of Lebanese youths from the area also attended the scene resulting in some clashes, though police presence stopped further affray. The protest went on for three days.[35][36] Australian High Commissioner to India John McCarthy said that there was an element of racism involved in the attacks on Indians.[37]
Racial violence and media reporting
There are often discrepancies in how the media reports 'racial' violence and 'race' riots. The Australian media has been accused of using stereotypes of indigenous peoples to that groups' detriment.[38] Some mainstream media outlets publish racialised opinion pieces that unfairly portray groups in a negative light.[39]
Sydney talkback radio commentator Alan Jones was found by a New South Wales State Government Tribunal to have "incited hatred, serious contempt and severe ridicule of Lebanese Muslims", describing them as "vermin" who "rape and pillage a nation that's taken them in", in the lead-up to the 2005 Cronulla race riots.[40]
Individual race-based crimes in court
Individual race-based crimes have attracted a variety of penalties in Australian legal jurisdictions. The Sydney Morning Herald reported in early 2010 that an Anglo-Australia man, was ordered to pay over A$130,000 to an Asian-Australian man that he bashed outside the victim's house. The drunken attacker shouted racial slurs at the victim. The accused assaulted the victim with a piece of wood – the victim sustained a fractured leg and a partial facial nerve palsy.[41]
A hate crime is crime where a perpetrator targets a victim because of their physical appearance or perceived membership of a certain social group.
In the broader context of racism in the United States, mass racial violence in the United States consists of ethnic conflicts and race riots, along with such events as:
Xenophobia is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression which is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-group and an out-group and it may manifest itself in suspicion of one group's activities by members of the other group, a desire to eliminate the presence of the group which is the target of suspicion, and fear of losing a national, ethnic, or racial identity.
Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is defined as policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organization that result in and support a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race or ethnic group. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, healthcare, education and political representation.
In the United States, the relationship between race and crime has been a topic of public controversy and scholarly debate for more than a century. Crime rates vary significantly between racial groups; however, academic research indicates that the over-representation of some racial minorities in the criminal justice system can in part be explained by socioeconomic factors, such as poverty, exposure to poor neighborhoods, poor access to public and early education, and exposure to harmful chemicals and pollution. Racial housing segregation has also been linked to racial disparities in crime rates, as black Americans have historically and to the present been prevented from moving into prosperous low-crime areas through actions of the government and private actors. Various explanations within criminology have been proposed for racial disparities in crime rates, including conflict theory, strain theory, general strain theory, social disorganization theory, macrostructural opportunity theory, social control theory, and subcultural theory.
Racism has been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices, and actions against "racial" or ethnic groups, throughout the history of the United States. Since the early colonial era, White Americans have generally enjoyed legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights, which have been denied to members of various ethnic or minority groups at various times. European Americans have enjoyed advantages in matters of citizenship, criminal procedure, education, immigration, land acquisition, and voting rights.
The 2005 Cronulla riots were a series of race riots in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It began in the beachside suburb of Cronulla on 11 December, and spread over to additional suburbs the next few nights.
Anti-Black sentiment, also called anti-Black racism, anti-Blackness, colourphobia or Negrophobia, is characterised by prejudice, collective hatred, and discrimination or extreme aversion towards people who are racialised as Black people, especially those people from sub-Saharan Africa and its diasporas, as well as a loathing of Black culture worldwide. Such sentiment includes, but is not limited to: the attribution of negative characteristics to Black people; the fear, strong dislike or dehumanization of Black men; and the objectification of Black women.
Ethnic relations in India have historically been complex. It refers to attitudes and behaviours toward peoples of other ethnicities or races. India is ethnically diverse, with more than 2,000 different ethnic groups. There is also significant diversity within regions, and almost every state and several districts has its own distinct mixture of ethnicities, traditions, and culture. Throughout the history of India, ethnic relations have been both positive and negative.
Racism has been a recurring part of the history of Europe.
Ukraine is a multi-ethnic country that was formerly part of the Soviet Union. Valeriy Govgalenko argues that racism and ethnic discrimination has arguably been a largely fringe issue in the past, but has had a climb in social influence due to ultra-nationalist parties gaining attention in recent years. There have been recorded incidents of violence where the victim's race is widely thought to have played a role, these incidents receive extensive media coverage and are usually condemned by all mainstream political forces. Human Rights Watch reported that "racism and xenophobia remain entrenched problems in Ukraine". In 2012 the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) reported that "tolerance towards Jews, Russians and Romani appears to have significantly declined in Ukraine since 2000 and prejudices are also reflected in daily life against other groups, who experience problems in accessing goods and services". From 2006 to 2008, 184 attacks and 12 racially motivated murders took place. In 2009, no such murders were recorded, but 40 racial incidents of violence were reported. It is worth considering that, according to Alexander Feldman, president of the Association of National and Cultural Unions of Ukraine, "People attacked on racial grounds do not report the incidents to the police and police often fail to classify such attacks as racially motivated and often write them off as domestic offence or hooliganism".
Racism in Australia comprises negative attitudes and views on race or ethnicity which 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.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the media of India, and Australia, mostly in Melbourne, and Sydney, publicised reports of crimes and robberies against Indians in Australia that were described as racially motivated.
Racism in South Africa can be traced back to the earliest historical accounts of interactions between African, Asian, and European peoples along the coast of Southern Africa. It has existed throughout several centuries of the history of South Africa, dating back to the Dutch colonization of Southern Africa, which started in 1652. Before universal suffrage was achieved in 1994, White South Africans, especially Afrikaners during the period of Apartheid, enjoyed various legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights that were denied to the indigenous African peoples. Examples of systematic racism over the course of South Africa's history include forced removals, racial inequality and segregation, uneven resource distribution, and disenfranchisement. Racial controversies and politics remain major phenomena in the country.
A racial hoax occurs when a person falsely claims that a crime was committed by member of a specific race. The crime may be fictitious, or may be an actual crime.
Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in the United Kingdom. As a sociological field, race relations attempts to explain how racial groups relate to each other. These relations vary depending on historical, social, and cultural context. The term is used in a generic way to designate race related interactions, dynamics, and issues.
Racism in Canada traces both historical and contemporary racist community attitudes, as well as governmental negligence and political non-compliance with United Nations human rights standards and incidents in Canada. Contemporary Canada is the product of indigenous First Nations combined with multiple waves of immigration, predominantly from Europe and in modern times, from Asia.
Anti–Middle Eastern sentiment is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against people who belong to or originate from the various ethnic groups of the Middle East. Although it is commonly associated with Islamophobia, as Muslims constitute the majority of the region's population, it is a distinct type of hatred in itself and may not always stem from religion-based animosity. People who harbour negative feelings towards the region's people view them as barbaric and inferior on racial, ethnic, cultural, or religious grounds, or a combination of any of these factors.
Racism has a long history in the United Kingdom and includes structural discrimination and hostile attitudes against various ethnic minorities. The extent and the targets of racism in the United Kingdom have varied over time. It has resulted in cases of discrimination, riots and racially motivated murders.
North African andMiddle Eastern Australians are the Australians of North African and Middle Eastern ancestry, including naturalised Australians who are immigrants from various regions in the North Africa and Middle East and descendants of such immigrants. At the 2021 census, the number of ancestry responses categorised within North African and Middle Eastern ancestral groups as a proportion of the total population amounted to 3.2%.
References
↑ Donald P. Green, Laurence H. McFalls, Jennifer K. Smith Hate Crime: An Emergent Research Agenda Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 27: 479–504
↑ (2) The Fatal Confrontation: Early Native-White Relations on the Frontiers of Australia, New Guinea, and America: A Comparative Study Author(s): Wilbur R. Jacobs Source: The Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Aug. 1971), pp. 283–309 Published by: University of California Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3638359 (1) 299
↑ Simmons, K Modern racism in the media: constructions of 'the possibility of change' in accounts of two Australian 'riots' DISCOURSE & SOCIETY 19 (5): 667–687 SEP 2008
↑ Judy Lattas Cruising: 'Moral Panic' and the Cronulla Riot THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY, 2007,18:3,320-335 p 320
↑ Judy Lattas Cruising: 'Moral Panic' and the Cronulla Riot THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY, 2007,18:3,320-335 p 326
↑ Tim Flannery; The Explorers; Text Publishing 1998
↑ Geoffrey Blainey; A Very Short History of the World; Penguin Books; 2004; ISBN978-0-14-300559-9
↑ (1) The Fatal Confrontation: Early Native-White Relations on the Frontiers of Australia, New Guinea, and America: A Comparative Study Author(s): Wilbur R. Jacobs Source: The Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Aug. 1971), pp. 283–309 Published by: University of California Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3638359 (1) 297
↑ Gregson, Sarah. 'It all started on the mines'?: The 1934 Kalgoorlie race riots revisited. [online]. Labour History, no.80, May 2001: p23.
↑ Gregson, Sarah. 'It all started on the mines'?: The 1934 Kalgoorlie race riots revisited. Labour History, no.80, May 2001: p24.
↑ Schaper, Michael. The Broome race riots of 1920 [online]. Studies in Western Australian History, no.16, 1995: (112)-132. Availability: ISSN0314-7525. [cited 22 Jul 09].
↑ "Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl". Al Jazeera. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2016. Exploring issues of integration, racism and multiculturalism, the four-part documentary series Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl looks to the past of an Arab community, the Lebanese in Australia – tracing the history of this community, their search for an identity, and their struggle to be accepted as Australians.
↑ Katie Simmons and Amanda Lecouteur Modern racism in the media: constructions of 'the possibility of change' in accounts of two Australian 'riots'. P 668
Rubinstein, W. D.Anti/ Semitism in Australia. – Edited version of submission to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission hearing on racial violence in Australia, 1989– Australian Jewish News, 13 Oct 1989: 16
Lynching to Belong: Claiming Whiteness through Racial Violence. BUCKELEW, RICHARD A. 1 Journal of Southern History May 2009, Vol. 75 Issue 2, pp. 473–474
The class issues behind Australia's race riots: [The racist violence that exploded in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla on 11 December 2005] Author: Socialist Equality Party (Australia)World Socialist Web Site Review, no.17, Feb–May 2006: 40–43
Devine, Miranda (13 July 2002). "Racist rapes: Finally the truth comes out". Sydney Morning Herald. Racist rapes: Finally the truth comes out. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
Poynting, Scott. What caused the Cronulla riot? Race & Class, Vol. 48 Issue 1, pp. 85–92
Chaper, Michael. The Broome race riots of 1920 [online]. Studies in Western Australian History, no. 16, 1995: (112)–132
External links
"Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl", SBS (for Al Jazeera) produced four-part documentary series, looks to the past of an Arab community, the Lebanese in Australia, tracing the history of this community, their search for an identity, and their struggle to be accepted as Australians
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