Multiculturalism In Australia
“Do you think multiculturalism has led to a decrease in social cohesion? Why?”
There are many countries that celebrate multiculturalism in today’s society, yet none have the diversity of what Australia holds. Since banning the “white Australia” policy in the 1970’s, we have become one of the most culturally varied countries on the planet. Though despite the many ethnicities in this society and the abolishment of the “white Australia” policy, a great divide has still been created between sub-cultures. Many political figures have control over the thoughts and potentially actions of the Australian public, and one individual in particular had voiced their views on anti-multiculturalism, and had created such a stir that a term was coined …show more content…
This largely impacts Muslims, as there is so much debate over wearing of the burqa in public. Nussbaum opinionates, “a climate of fear and suspicion, directed primarily against Muslims, threatens to derail these admirable commitments.” Many of the Australian public disagree with Nussbaum and her claim, saying that when they wear it it’s “un-Australian”, melodramatic to cover up so much of your body in this modern world and the uncomfortable confrontation that many non-Muslim experience when seeing it on someone. Non-Muslims automatically recognise this as not following the Australian norm and overlook their religion as being something that doesn’t belong. Secularism has even been proposed, such as in France, but with the amount of religious societies in Australia, an outburst is surely to occur. Hassan (2012) expresses the irony of Australia being portrayed as harmoniously multicultural, yet voices their views on the subject as “encouraging divisions, discrimination and racism.” Australia is known for its national slogan of a “fair go”, however, because of deeply embedded notions of white supremacy being the way to go, racism is a problematic matter in contemporary Australia. Statistics were even declared from Hassan that around 85% of Australians believe that racism is a problem in
There are many countries that celebrate multiculturalism in today’s society, yet none have the diversity of what Australia holds. Since banning the “white Australia” policy in the 1970’s, we have become one of the most culturally varied countries on the planet. Though despite the many ethnicities in this society and the abolishment of the “white Australia” policy, a great divide has still been created between sub-cultures. Many political figures have control over the thoughts and potentially actions of the Australian public, and one individual in particular had voiced their views on anti-multiculturalism, and had created such a stir that a term was coined …show more content…
This largely impacts Muslims, as there is so much debate over wearing of the burqa in public. Nussbaum opinionates, “a climate of fear and suspicion, directed primarily against Muslims, threatens to derail these admirable commitments.” Many of the Australian public disagree with Nussbaum and her claim, saying that when they wear it it’s “un-Australian”, melodramatic to cover up so much of your body in this modern world and the uncomfortable confrontation that many non-Muslim experience when seeing it on someone. Non-Muslims automatically recognise this as not following the Australian norm and overlook their religion as being something that doesn’t belong. Secularism has even been proposed, such as in France, but with the amount of religious societies in Australia, an outburst is surely to occur. Hassan (2012) expresses the irony of Australia being portrayed as harmoniously multicultural, yet voices their views on the subject as “encouraging divisions, discrimination and racism.” Australia is known for its national slogan of a “fair go”, however, because of deeply embedded notions of white supremacy being the way to go, racism is a problematic matter in contemporary Australia. Statistics were even declared from Hassan that around 85% of Australians believe that racism is a problem in