Damon Mcknight
Australia has a long history of official and unofficial racism towards Black people. In the past, the country has implemented policies to remove all Black people from the population, and those of mixed race would be assimilated with the white race. Today, Black African Australians continue to face racial discrimination and negative stereotypes. They are viewed as a homogenous group, set in opposition to constructions of whiteness. This perception is rooted in racist and discriminatory assumptions about Black people, with a strong negative association between Africanness and criminality. The dominant Australian narrative regards 'Black' as referring to Aboriginal people, and this has led to the erasure of Black Australians of African descent, who constitute a rapidly growing population in the country.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| History of racism towards Black Africans | Australia has a long history of official and unofficial racism towards Black Africans, reflected in the White Australia policy, in effect from 1901 until the 1970s, which prohibited the immigration of Black Africans and other non-White groups. |
| African immigration | African immigration to Australia is a recent phenomenon, with Europe and Asia traditionally being the largest sources of migration. Immigration from Africa peaked between 1996 and 2005 with the admission of refugees and displaced persons from Central, East, and West Africa. |
| African Australian identity | African Australians are Australians descended from Sub-Saharan Africa, including naturalised immigrants and their descendants. They constitute a diverse group in terms of ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious, educational, and employment backgrounds. |
| Racial discrimination | African Australians face a high degree of racial discrimination. A 2018 report by the Australian Human Rights Commission identified those born in South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Ethiopia, as well as Indigenous Australians, as experiencing the highest levels of racial discrimination. |
| Criminalisation and racialisation | African Australians frequently experience discrimination, criminalisation, and racialisation in their interactions with the majority society. There is a strong negative association between Africanness and criminality in Australian culture. |
| Indigenous solidarity with Black Lives Matter | Australia's Indigenous peoples have long identified with the term "Black" or "Blak." They have expressed solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, drawing connections to the issue of Aboriginal deaths in custody in Australia. |
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What You'll Learn
Racism and discrimination against Black people in Australia
The Indigenous peoples of Australia, as the continent's First Peoples, have a unique experience of racism, facing severe restrictions on their political, social, and economic freedoms, and suffering genocide, forced removals, and massacres. This racism is not merely historical but continues to shape Australian society. For instance, a 2020 study found that over half of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experienced at least one form of racial prejudice in a six-month period, with 60% agreeing that Australia is a racist country.
African Australians, who constitute a rapidly growing and diverse population, also face significant racial discrimination. Historically, immigration from Africa to Australia was restricted by the White Australia Policy, in effect from 1901 until the 1970s, which aimed to prohibit the immigration of Black Africans and other non-White groups. Despite the end of this policy, negative stereotypes and associations between Africanness and criminality persist in Australian culture. The 2018 Australian Human Rights Commission report stated that those born in South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, and those identifying as Indigenous, experienced the highest levels of racial discrimination.
Racism in Australia is systemic and pervasive, impacting various aspects of society, including the media, policing, the justice system, and workplaces. For instance, right-wing extremists in the media have been accused of inflaming racist sentiments, and studies have exposed systemic racism in policing, leading to discrimination, violence, and the death of people of colour and First Nations People. In addition, a recent study found that 43% of non-white Australian employees commonly experience racism at work, with only a quarter believing their employers take action to prevent it.
To address racism and discrimination against Black people in Australia, there have been calls for tackling systemic anti-Black racism by pursuing policies and practices that promote racial equity and create a more socially inclusive multicultural society.
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Immigration of Black people to Australia
The White Australia Policy, in effect from 1901 until the 1970s, prohibited the immigration of Black people, among other non-white groups. Despite the policy, a small number of Black African students from African countries that were part of the British Commonwealth came to Australia in the mid-1960s and early 1970s under the Special Commonwealth African Assistance Plan. The end of the White Australia Policy in the 1970s, along with the positive media exposure from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, contributed to a significant increase in arrivals from Africa.
In recent decades, there has been a growing number of African communities in Australia, with over 400,000 people of African origin recorded in the 2020 census, representing 1.6% of the Australian population. The majority of these immigrants are white South Africans, while 42% are black Africans from Sub-Saharan countries. African Australians come from diverse backgrounds and immigrate for various reasons, including job-seeking and fleeing civil wars caused by race, religion, nationality, and membership in particular social or political groups.
African Australians face significant challenges in terms of racial discrimination and negative stereotypes. A 2018 report by the Australian Human Rights Commission found that those born in South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Ethiopia, as well as Indigenous Australians, experienced the highest levels of racial discrimination. The perception of "Africanness" in Australia is often associated with negative stereotypes, and there is a strong negative association between Africanness and criminality. The debate around "'African gangs'" in Melbourne, for example, led to racist discourse on social media and fears of racial profiling by law enforcement among Black people in the city.
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The erasure of Indigenous Australians
Australia has a long history of official and unofficial racism towards Black people, including Indigenous Australians and Black Africans. The country's early colonists were predominantly from the British Isles, and they brought with them attitudes of race and ethnicity that shaped the nation's future policies and practices.
One of the earliest examples of the erasure of Indigenous Australians is the implementation of the White Australia Policy, which was in effect from 1901 until the 1970s. This policy aimed to prohibit the immigration of Black Africans and other non-White groups, reflecting the country's racist attitudes towards people of colour. By 1900, the recorded First Nations Australian population had declined to approximately 93,000, with Western Australia and Queensland specifically excluding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from electoral rolls.
The Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia, A. O. Neville, wrote in a 1930 article: "Eliminate in future the full-blood and the white and one common blend will remain. Eliminate the full-blood and permit the white admixture and eventually, the race will become white." This quote exemplifies the government's intention to remove all Indigenous people from the population, either by assimilation or extinction.
Indigenous Australians have a long history of advocating for their rights and calling for large-scale change. They have resisted state-sanctioned injustices since colonisation began, with early examples including mass protests against inhumane treatment and living conditions on Aboriginal reservations. The Indigenous protest movement has sparked changes to the Constitution, such as the 1967 referendum. Additionally, the Torres Strait Maritime Strike paved the way for future reform towards self-government and initiated the Indigenous workers' rights movement in Australia.
Despite these efforts, Indigenous Australians continue to face erasure and discrimination in various forms. For instance, archaeological practices and interpretations of material culture have been criticised for their potential complicity in the erasure of Aboriginal people from the landscape. Additionally, there is a history of cultural appropriation and the denial of credit to Indigenous knowledge, such as in the case of medical discoveries. Furthermore, Indigenous Australians are often expected to be experts on anti-racism while simultaneously disconnected from their culture, language, and ceremony.
In conclusion, the erasure of Indigenous Australians is a complex and ongoing issue with historical roots. While there have been efforts by Indigenous communities to advocate for their rights and create change, more work is needed to address the systemic racism and discrimination faced by these communities.
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The criminalisation of Black people in Australia
During the early decades of British colonisation in Australia, the country imported attitudes towards race and ethnicity from the British Isles. This included sectarianism and anti-Irish-Catholic sentiment, which was enshrined in law. Among the early colonists were also Jewish and black African convicts, with some arriving via the First Fleet. Following the 1823 Demerara Slave Rebellion in British Guiana, several hundred enslaved Africans who had participated were deported to Queensland, Australia.
The establishment of the settler colony facilitated the systematic removal of First Nations peoples from their lands and the denial of their legal rights. This historical context has influenced the development of policing in Australia, which has been used as a tool to dispossess First Nations peoples further. Contemporary policing practices continue to criminalise First Nations communities, with racial profiling and discriminatory decision-making perpetuating beliefs in white superiority.
African Australian people also suffer from a high degree of racial discrimination. The White Australia policy, in effect from 1901 until the 1970s, prohibited the immigration of black Africans and other non-White groups. Despite the end of this policy and increasing ethnic diversity in the country, negative stereotypes and associations between "Africanness" and criminality persist in Australian culture. This has led to African Australians being over-policed and over-represented in the criminal justice system.
The 2018 Australian Human Rights Commission report stated that those born in South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Ethiopia, as well as those who identified as Indigenous, experienced the highest levels of racial discrimination. The criminal justice system disproportionately impacts First Nations communities, with First Nations men being 17 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-Indigenous men. Additionally, First Nations children are particularly vulnerable, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children being 29 times more likely to be in detention than other children.
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The Black Lives Matter movement in Australia
Australia has a long history of official and unofficial racism towards Black people. The White Australia policy, in effect from 1901 until the 1970s, prohibited the immigration of Black Africans, among other non-white groups. In 1930, the Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia, A. O. Neville, wrote an article for The West Australian, stating:
> Eliminate in future the full-blood and the white and one common blend will remain. Eliminate the full-blood and permit the white admixture and eventually, the race will become white.
This article contributed to the official policy of removing all Black people from the population, leading to the hunting and killing of full-blooded Aboriginal people and the assimilation of mixed-race individuals with the white race.
African Australians are Australians descended from peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa, including naturalised Australians who are immigrants from various regions in Sub-Saharan Africa and descendants of such immigrants. They constitute a highly diverse and rapidly growing population in Australia, with Victoria having the largest number of people of African descent. Despite this diversity, Australian society typically views them as a homogenous group, set in opposition to its constructions of whiteness. "Africanness" is associated with a lack of civilisation, disease, dirt, war and poverty, and this perception is rooted in racist and discriminatory assumptions about Black people. African Australians suffer a high degree of racial discrimination, and negative attitudes towards Black people are common in Australia.
The Black Lives Matter movement, which began as a hashtag on social media in 2013, has brought attention to similar issues in Australia. The movement gained momentum after the high-profile deaths of unarmed African American men Eric Garner and Michael Brown in 2014, and reached new heights in 2020 following the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police. Floyd's death sparked protests and rallies in towns and cities across Australia, drawing attention to oppression, contemporary systemic racism, and police brutality against Indigenous people. First Nations peoples in Australia have provided significant media commentary, reflecting their hopes that non-Indigenous Australians will continue to show solidarity regarding the injustices and broader systemic racism faced by Indigenous communities.
The "defund the police" movement has been interpreted in the Australian context by prison abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore, who calls for a transformation of the justice system. First Nations communities have long engaged in fierce advocacy, public protests, truth-telling, and organised resistance to address the fact that they are the most incarcerated people on the planet, and that they experience a disproportionate number of deaths in custody. Despite the visibility and mass outpouring of support for the BLM movement, 2022-23 was the deadliest year on record for First Nations peoples in Australia.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, there are Black people in Australia. Australian society typically views African Australians as a homogenous group, set in opposition to its constructions of whiteness. However, African Australians are culturally and socially diverse, coming from various ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious, educational, and employment backgrounds.
Large-scale immigration from Africa to Australia is a recent phenomenon, with Europe and Asia traditionally being the largest sources of migration to Australia. Coins minted by the Tanzanian medieval kingdom of Kilwa Sultanate, found on the Wessel Islands, are the oldest foreign artefacts ever discovered in Australia. Some people of African descent also came to Australia via the First Fleet, and others arrived indirectly through the 19th-century multicultural maritime industry. Following the 1823 Demerara Slave Rebellion in British Guiana, several hundred enslaved Africans who had participated in the rebellion were deported to Queensland, Australia. Immigration from Africa to Australia reached a peak between 1996 and 2005 with the admission of large numbers of refugees and displaced persons on humanitarian grounds from Central, East, and West Africa.
African Australians suffer a high degree of racial discrimination. A 2018 Australian Human Rights Commission report stated that "the five groups that experienced the highest level of racial discrimination were those born in South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, and those who identified as Indigenous." African Australians are also more likely to be criminalized and racialized in their interactions with the majority society. For example, the debate around so-called "African gangs" in Melbourne resulted in racist discourse on social media and fears that Black people would be arrested simply for congregating in public spaces.
The term "Black" in Australia often refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who have long identified with the term "Black" and, more specifically, "Blak" or "Blackfullas." However, there are also African Australians who descend from Sub-Saharan African immigrants or the descendants of such immigrants. The dominant Australian narrative often erases the existence of Black Australians of African descent, and they may not share the same racial experiences as Aboriginal Australians or Black migrants from other white-majority countries.
