Whilst the ideology of race is based on false arguments, the existence of racism is real. Everyone is capable of racist attitudes and behaviour. Research indicates that children as young as three and four years have absorbed and express ideas about race and cultural differences, particularly the message that it is better to be Anglo-Celtic than to belong to any other group. In times of economic difficulty and political unrest, there is an increase in racist ideology.

Many Australian schools report an increase in racist incidents. In order to counter racism it is vital that schools provide a means of building communication and understanding between children and young adults from different cultural backgrounds. Education to counter racism aims to give students the information, ability and confidence to recognise and reject their own prejudices as well as racist stereotypes and myths.

Tasmania is the most anglicised of all the Australian states. Smaller migrant numbers present particular challenges. It would be tempting to claim that racism does not exist. However racist behaviour and incidents occur in this state as elsewhere.

The Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy provides a framework for dealing with racism in Tasmanian schools and colleges.

Social Context

Australian society is diverse, encompassing many cultures, histories and traditions. Much of this diversity is a recent phenomenon, a reflection of changes in immigration laws that have accelerated societal change over recent years. Since 1945 Australia has accepted 5 million new settlers. One in four Australians were born overseas. In one and a half generations, Australia has become one of the most multi-cultural societies in the world, representing 200 different cultural groups. Whilst most Australians acknowledge and appreciate this cultural diversity, others struggle with change and perceive a devaluing of Anglo-Celtic values and beliefs. For some, there no longer seems to be a place for Australians of British descent.

As well as adjusting to rapid change wrought by a global immigration policy, Australians have to address complex indigenous issues. This involves revisiting the history of this country, reassessing the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their place in contemporary Australian society. For non-indigenous Australians, the shift in thinking and action on indigenous issues is particularly challenging. The issues are complex and, for some, confronting.

More than ever, Australians are dealing with issues of identity. Traditional understandings of who we are as a nation are challenged by non-European immigration and by serious consideration of Aboriginal issues. The image of the triumphant Aussie Digger is no longer an accurate expression of identity in post-war Australia. While the Aussie Digger tradition will always be part of an historical identity, a new identity or multiple identities reflecting contemporary Australia need to emerge.

In considering identity, two unrelated events of the 70s and 80s have significance: the erection of the Aboriginal tent embassy on the grounds of Parliament House in Canberra and the arrival of the first boat people from Vietnam. With the setting up of the tent embassy, Aboriginal people actively asserted their entitlement to a place in mainstream Australia and their voice was heard. And in accepting the boat people, Australia acknowledged, at last, its place in Asia and demonstrated willingness to accommodate its Asian neighbours Acceptance of diversity has changed forever our perception of ourselves and our thinking about who we are as a nation. Issues of identity are ongoing.

Historical Context

Some writers assert that racism and discriminatory practice are embedded in Australia's psyche with historical roots in the nineteenth century. This view could be supported by Aboriginal and immigrant experience.

Aboriginal history, post British settlement, supports this view. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were dispossessed of their land and died in large numbers as white settlement proceeded. By the time it was recognised that the survival of indigenous peoples was an issue, effective intervention was too late and interventionist strategies largely inappropriate. In Tasmania the pattern of conflict over land and food sources was writ large with Tasmanian Aborigines coming close to extinction by the 1850s.

Later, discriminatory practice forced Aboriginal people to the fringes of society, largely forgotten, with little legal entitlement. Assimilation policy saw the removal of Aboriginal children from their families. It has taken almost 150 years for Aboriginal people to be granted citizenship and full legal rights. Land rights, whilst acknowledged with the Mabo decision, continue as a difficult issue.

Australia's experience with the Chinese on the goldfields probably established the pattern of discriminatory practice towards Chinese in particular and Asians in general. With 24 thousand Chinese immigrants in Australia there were concerns about Australia being 'overrun'. More particularly, Chinese miners were a perceived threat to the Australian economy. The violent riots at Lambing Flat in 1864 were an indication of the depth of feeling aroused. Agitation declined in proportion to the gold decline.

Tasmania accepted Chinese in the North-East where they displaced Europeans on the tin fields. When numbers reached 1000 in 1880, a public meeting was called to oppose them. However, most gave support. This tolerance was not shared by people on the West Coast, where they were refused entry.

The Chinese minority remaining in Australia after the gold was not a threat. However, Australia's experience with the Chinese and, later, with Kanaka labour in the Queensland sugar industry coloured its views about immigration. The perceived threat to Australian jobs and standards of living was high.

Australia's negative experiences with immigrants and with indigenous Australians laid a strong foundation for the White Australia policy. This experience explained the widespread acceptance of such an openly discriminatory and exclusionist policy. The 1901 Immigration and Restriction Bill effectively prohibited Asian and Pacific Islander immigration and perpetuated discrimination against Aboriginal Australians. The Bill was seen as the vehicle for safeguarding political freedoms and standards of living in Australia. With the White Australia policy, Australia set its course as a pure, white nation. There was irony in the fact that it overlaid a nation of mixed racial origin, settled more than 40 thousand years before by black indigenous people.

After World War 2 Australia's economic needs were not well served by a culturally exclusive and isolationist policy. It became clear that natural population increase would never sustain new major developments like the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme.

Immigration policy needed to address Australia's current needs for post war development. Acknowledgment of the need for large numbers of immigrants saw the gradual dismantling of the White Australia policy and its demise by the early 1970s. The Migration Act of 1958 removed reference to race and marked the acceptance of cultural diversity. More than anything else, economic necessity has forced Australia to become global in outlook and culturally inclusive in thinking.

Conclusion

There is much evidence of Australia's acceptance and celebration of cultural diversity. Lifestyle changes and the enjoyment of different eating patterns and cuisine point to acceptance, as does a more global appreciation of the arts. In Tasmania the success of the temporary placement of the Kosovar people at the Brighton Haven Centre is a cause for celebration. The demonstrations of community involvement at every level and the wide acceptance of a culturally different group have been a positive experience for our predominantly Anglo Tasmanian community. For Aboriginal Australians social and other issues continue in the pursuit of land rights, health issues, education issues and the issue of institutional racism that is subtle and difficult. There is work to be done to ensure that Australian society continues to move through complex issues to maturity evidenced by genuine celebration of cultural difference. If this seems utopian, an understanding and acceptance of diversity that embraces indigenous and non-indigenous Australians alike is perhaps an attainable goal.

History of multi-cultural Tasmania