Racism And The White Australia Policy

Racism is defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. It has deep roots in our beliefs and in our society, with origins dating back to the beginning of the slave trade. Racism grew in popularity, and the strength of these beliefs can be seen in discriminatory laws. Today, we have made significant steps forward to terminate racism, although there are still lingering effects.

The beginning of racism is widely believed to have been caused by the beginning of the slave trade in the 15th century. Previously, people in Europe enslaved each other. Slaves were usually captives in war or conquered people. And there is no evidence of racism, except
They were implemented to continue biased beliefs that white people were superior, and so clearly favoured them. This can be seen predominately in the White Australia Policy. Origins of this policy can be found in the 1850s to white miners’ resentment toward the industrious Chinese diggers, which often culminated in violence. In 1901, the new federal government passed the Immigration Restriction Act. This placed certain restrictions on immigration and provided for the removal from the Commonwealth of prohibited immigrants. This act meant certain applicants for immigration would have to pass a written test, which was often in a language the applicant was not familiar with. This meant that any non-desirable, often “non-whites”, could be barred from entering the country, while the still appearing to be fair. The belief behind this policy continued for many years. In 1919, Prime Minister Willian Morris Hughes called it ‘the greatest thing we have achieved’ and this sentiment was echoed by Prime Minister John Curtin after the outbreak of hostilities with Japan. It was only after World War II when many non-white refugees entered Australia and married Australians that there were any steps towards a non-discriminatory immigration policy. This act was dismantled in the Migration Act in 1966 by Prime Minister Harold Holt, which
It is our stereotypes and an unconscious bias, that also need to shift. Stereotypes are prevalent in many aspects of daily life. They are often clearly portrayed in media and they are also how we view the world. Many people, whether consciously or unconsciously, judge people based on stereotypes. This can negatively impact people expected to perform badly. Since they are worried about proving those stereotypes true, they perform worse. This is called the stereotype threat and has been proven by many reputable sources, such as the Chicago University, to be real. This creates a negative loop that makes it harder for those with negative stereotypes to improve their lives since they are constantly worried about proving themselves. These stereotypes have roots that have existed for a long time and it is these beliefs that have compounded over time until now. It has taken many years to undo the institutionalized racism that was a part of the Australian culture. One effect that also lingers today is the pay gap. The pay gap has many contributing factors. Factors like experience, location and education are important, however, a larger factor is systematic racism. Systematic racism is about the uneven impact of laws, policies or practices that contribute to social and economic disadvantages, which then make people looking for jobs less qualified or otherwise less