Racism in Aboriginal Australia Essay Example

The founding of Australia as a nation, from 1788 to 1901, was built on the mistreatment and discrimination of non-white races. The racist and ethnonational motives of British settlers were highly relevant and ingrained in the colonisation process and founding of Australia as a nation. Indigenous races contributed heavily towards the founding and early prosperity of Australia as a nation, serving as shepherds, farmers and hunters. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders made up a significant amount of the unskilled labour force that was paramount in order for early British colonies to function. Despite this, white settlers did not treat aboriginal inhabitants with respect or regard them as equals due to their dark skin. Racial injustice of this kind was well recorded in workplaces and in public at the time. This discrimination has also severely disadvantaged Indigenous households economically in the modern-day with generational wealth being severely affected due to racial injustice in the past. Australia as a nation and economy was built on a foundation of constant disregard and mistreatment for its indigenous people and their livelihoods.

Non-white races contributed heavily towards the founding and early prosperity of Australia as a nation. The Indigenous people of Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, served as shepherds, farmers, and hunters in the days of British colonisation as Australia was on the cusp of being established and interconnected with the British empire. Due to extreme land dispossession strategies from British invaders along with "an abundance of new diseases" (Blainey 306), Indigenous tribes were stripped of their land and livelihood, many displaced from their homes. This forced them into working as labourers due to a need for food, water, and shelter. Robert Castle, a professor at the University of Wollongong who has written several research reports on the employment of Aborigines during the founding of Australia, gathered that “White settlers often depended on Aboriginal help for tracking and in moving livestock across rivers” (Castle 206). Furthermore, during the first gold rush in 1851, while Australia was still in a period of infancy, there was a shortage of labour as “many whites decided to [...] try their luck on the goldfields. The only alternative source of labour was the blacks [Aborigines]."(Castle 110). Even in dire times, Aboriginal workers played a fundamental part in maintaining a stable society and the Australian economy. Through these circumstances, we can see how the founding of Australia was built on the backs of non-white races and their toils and labour.  

The discrimination and mistreatment of indigenous people during the colonisation of Australia is well documented and highly supported by historical sources. In 1824, Edward Curr observed that there was already a “degree of nationality in [New Holland].” (Curr 299) and William Westgarth in his book about the colony of Victoria regarded the aboriginal inhabitants as “inferior dark races” that “should disappear." (Broom & Frost 122). Indigenous people and those specifically with darker skin were largely viewed as inferior in the eyes of British settlers at that time, and hence were mistreated, discriminated against, and portrayed as second-class citizens by default. British colonisers thought of the discrimination and mistreatment of Aborigines as a sign of superiority and a social advance towards a dynamic where non-white races would be viewed as inferior. Edward Curr also observed that the Aboriginal worker was “a good deal bullied by the white labourer, who lost no opportunity of asserting his superiority” (Curr 299). The founding of Australia was severely plagued by the racist and ethnonational motives of British settlers, who set out to berate and disenfranchise non-white races as they colonised their land.

The effects, the founding of Australia had on non-white races can be seen in modern-day Indigenous households. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households have a significant disadvantage when it comes to generational wealth, healthcare access and educational opportunities. According to statistics gathered by the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council,  “36% of Indigenous households have weekly incomes in the bottom 25% of income groups (compared to 17% for non-Indigenous groups);” This means that Indigenous households are disproportionately marginalised when it comes to financial opportunities. Furthermore, statistics also show that an alarming “80% of Indigenous adults have weekly incomes below the national average earnings.” This wealth disparity is a direct result of a lack of generational wealth. Generational wealth and financial opportunities, that aboriginal ancestors were robbed of by British colonisers through decades of discriminatory policies, racist social hierarchies, and robbed wages. The founding of Australia as a nation has had a direct impact on non-white races and their ability to not only prosper but even survive in the modern economic landscape.

The founding of Australia as a nation was built on discrimination against non-white races. The discrimination and mistreatment of indigenous people during the colonisation of Australia is well documented and highly supported by historical sources. and current-day sources. According to several primary sources, we can conclude that indigenous people and those specifically with darker skin were largely viewed as inferior in the eyes of British settlers at that time, and hence were mistreated, discriminated against, and portrayed as second-class citizens by default. This mistreatment in the past led to unequal access to financial opportunity and generational wealth for indigenous people and is why modern-day Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households are marginally less financially stable and wealthy.