Racism and Cultural Difference in Australia for Psychologist

Question: Dsicuss about theRacism and Cultural Difference in Australia for Psychologist. Answer: I think Pauline Hansons was trying to speak in the behalf of a white Australian. In her speech, she has cried foul about the untrue fact that the indigenous Australians are getting privileges and the white people are not (Wellings, 2014). She was aggressive towards the people of Asian descent. As an immigrant, the speech made me feel like I am unwanted in this country. She was so fierce against Asians and described us as anti-white, which is wrong. I do not agree with her thoughts at all. The indigenous population has been discriminated for centuries until recently. It was a historical day for the Australians as the Hon. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized for the discriminations the indigenous Australians faced for centuries. Kevin Rudd spoke in the behalf of the Australian Government, as the policies made by the past governments were discriminative towards the indigenous. I think, this apology brings both of the populations (indigenous and non-indigenous) together. The apology speech was a step forward towards a wonderful relationship between the indigenous and non-indigenous Australians (Hastie Augoustinos, 2012). Yes, I definitely thought that the speech was an emotional experience. The indigenous people has suffered from racism and faced discrimination for centuries (Kunitz, 2017). May be, the speech is not compensating the loss the stolen generation has faced, but it can be a start for the stolen generations to keep faith to the Australian Government (Hastie Augoustinos, 2012). Yes, I definitely agree. In indigenous culture, the word sorry has a complete different significance. Many of the indigenous people thinks that sorry is an English word which is used in many of the rituals surrounding death. Kevin Rudd used the word sorry twice. I felt, the sorry was not for the legal requirement; it was a genuine and powerful expression which shows respect towards the stolen generations of indigenous population. Yes, it affected me directly, though, I do not belong to the indigenous population. However, I am a resident of Australia, who belongs to another cultural group. Sometimes because of my ethnicity, I become a target of racist comments myself. When I heard the speech, I thought the speech is a step forward to the pathway to equality. We need a form of belongingness to identify ourselves. The term, community can be described as a group or unit who have something in common (Herring et al, 2013). We can form a relation, such as friendship with only those people whom we can identify with. National or cultural identity is one of the belongingness, which shapes our need to belong in a particular group and society. The sense of belonging somewhere is essential for our health and happiness (Moran, 2014). As an immigrant, I need to belong with those people I can identify the most. As I am from a different culture than that of the typical Australian culture, sometimes I want to experience the basics of my roots too. However, the people I usually meet with are typical Australians. I think I belong to them the most as the way of our thinking is common and many of them share the same goal as mine. Those people who have an open mentality towards every culture of the country would fit in to a completely different society. They are the easiest people who accept the diversity in an open mind (Goodall, Ghosh, 2015). The orthodox people do not fit in easily in a culturally different society. They finds it difficult to talk to them or to have a friendship with them (Priest et al, 2016). It is up to the choice of the particular people that if they are able to accept the cultural difference or not. Sometimes, it also depends on the policy of the government. Reflective paragraph: The quote explains that, acceptance of cultural difference is a tough job for most of the people. Mick Dodson explained it as the part of the human nature. As we can see in our neighborhood, people from some particular culture find it very tough to adjust with the people from other culture. Even the people from eastern origin cannot accept the culture of that country they live in. As I am from a different culture living in Australia, even I felt some of the Australian cultures as unacceptable. To feel included in a different society, we have to build relationships amongst us. This will further help us to accept the cultural difference. The white Australian policy: The history of the white Australia Policy dates back to the 1850s, when the miners with white skin resented the Chinese miners, which led to the violence on Victoria and New South Wells. In 1901, the federal government passed the Immigration restriction Act that restricted the immigration of mentally unstable people, affected people with contagious disease and people with criminal background. To pass the barrier, the people used to pass a written test (Wellings, 2014). The Migration Act 1966 has abolished the white Australian policy by establishing a legal equality between all the migrants including the non-European migrants. This legislation brought the same rules and regulation for all the migrants (Wellings, 2014). Yes, I have experienced this kind of experience myself. Last month, when I was coming from India to Australia, my seat in the flight was allocated besides a person with white skin. The person refused to seat beside me and asked the airhostess to change his seat, next to any other white skinned person (Nelson, Dunn, 2013). I was angry about the situation and I told that person to change himself. The person started abusing me, after that the airhostesses apologized to me about the incident and moved me to a better seat. It made me feel like an untouchable person. That person behaved as if I have a contagious disease and he could be affected by it. The whole experience was very humiliating for me. References: Goodall, H., Ghosh, D. (2015). Beyond the poison of prejudiceIndian and Australian women talk about the White Australia policy.History Australia,12(1), 116-140. Hastie, B., Augoustinos, M. (2012). Rudd's Apology to the Stolen Generations: Challenging Self?Sufficient Arguments in Race Discourse.Australian Psychologist,47(2), 118-126. Herring, S., Spangaro, J., Lauw, M., McNamara, L. (2013). The intersection of trauma, racism, and cultural competence in effective work with aboriginal people: Waiting for trust.Australian Social Work,66(1), 104-117. Kunitz, S. J. (2017). Trapped in the Gap: Doing Good in Indigenous Australia. Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., Moran, S. V. (2014).Managing cultural differences. Routledge. Nelson, J., Dunn, K. M. (2013). Racism and anti-racism.'For Those Whove Come Across the Seas...': Australian Multicultural Theory, Policy and Practice, 259-276. Priest, N., Walton, J., White, F., Kowal, E., Fox, B., Paradies, Y. (2016). You are not born being racist, are you?Discussing racism with primary aged-children.Race Ethnicity and Education,19(4), 808-834. Wellings, B. (2014). Lest you forget: Memory and Australian nationalism in a global era.Nation, memory and great war commemoration: Mobilizing the past in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, 45-59.