Shi LiUniversity of New England

01/10/2014

A Long Road to Australian Cultural Respect for Chinese

Research question:Is there equal cultural respect for Australians

towards Chinese?If not, how long it can be attained?

Research Method:An empirical analysis on historical and current documents, such as newspaper articles

Review of cultural supremacyConstructivismCultural supremacy of Australians over

Chinese before 1973Undercurrent of cultural superiority over

Chinese since 1973Discussion and conclusion

Review of cultural supremacy Anthropologist view: culture is “not blood, but upbringing

which determines all of … [our] way of behaving” (Mead, 1943);

Humanist view: Culture is the pursuit of one’s perfection (Arnold, 1994);

Nurture vs nature Confucianism is an integration of both views

Review of cultural supremacy Birth and end of cultural supremacy

Social Darwinism in the 1880s: a correlation of cause and effect for evolution between advanced technology and a superior and civilised race;

Failure in the tests of the two World Wars

Cultural superiority stemming from egocentrism

Constructivism◦ Thought has a life only in an environment of socially

constituted meaning;◦ Knowledge is constructed in a specific social and cultural

setting, which goes beyond purely cognitive process;◦ Socio-cultural constructivism emphasises the socially

and culturally situated nature of individual and social activity.

Cultural supremacy of Australians over Chinese before 1973

Suspicion, fear, enmity and hostility for 120 years starting from the gold rush in Australia

1855 the first Chinese Exclusion Act; 1901 the Immigration Restriction Act, resulting to a

fall of 56% of Chinese immigrants; 1946 “Populate or Perish” open for Europeans.

Cultural supremacy of Australians over Chinese before 1973

Images of Chinese as gamblers, drug addicts, and moral degenerates with disease in Australian media

White or Yellow John Sleeman’s article in The Sydney World

Newspaper Concerns of Australians were cheap labour and the

communist threat

Undercurrents of cultural superiority over Chinese since1973

Dramatic changes to bilateral relations in economics, science, education and culture Public opposition to Chinese investment (56%, a

10% higher than the average rate for a general aversion to investment from all countries);

The number of Australians in China was comparatively extremely small;

The Pauline Hanson outburst of the 1990s.

Undercurrents of cultural superiority over Chinese since1973

Reluctance or even resistance to treat Chinese equally and respectfully in public media

“Union's plea: racism not all right on site” (11th October 1988 Herald Sun);

“Our Newest Market But Are We Letting Them Down?” (8th September 2010 The Cairns Post);

Sydney train assault on two Chinese adult students (23rd April 2012 the Sydney Morning Herald)

Undercurrents of cultural superiority over Chinese since1973

No apologies from Australian government for its discriminatory policies

New Zealand in 2002; Canada in 2006; California in 2009.

Apologies to indigenous Australians in 2008 and the "forgotten Australians"

Discussion on failure of cultural respect Poor mutual communication; Neglect of education on culture

Distinctiveness of a culture An active process Internal diversity Differences between culture and habitual practice

Discussion on failure of cultural respect Chinese language learning with a lowest number of

school students learning Chinese comparing with other major foreign languages taught in Australia;

Disparity of living conditions between China and Australia

Conclusion Cultural respect for Australians towards Chinese can be attained to some extent through better communication and education;

However, disparity on economical and political status and a fear of the abundance of natural resources and social welfare being shared by non-white peoples may imply there will be a long road of cultural respect for Australians towards Chinese

Shi LiUniversity of New

England

Thank You