Culture

This treatment of Indigenous people is not unique to Australia. It's happened amongst every country that has indigenous cultures. Aborigines have fought for years for recognition of what our government and society did to their culture and until only recently this was acknowledged. Highlighted in the media are the drug and alcohol abuse, child rapes and destruction of a culture that has happened to the Aboriginal community. But people of Australia cannot turn back time and put measures into place that will resolve what happened to the Aborigines. Now they can only celebrate what they have left and what the Aborigines can contribute to the culture in Australia. PREJUDICE AGAINST IMMIGRANTS One main aspect in reflection of cultural diversity of Australia is food, which is visible in certain areas and plays an important role in people’s daily lives and the development of culture diversity. It seems clear that ethnic groups are divided by various cultures (Chryssochoou 2004). As an aspect of culture, food plays an important role of affecting the distribution of different ethnic groups. Equally, this effect is mutual effect that it influences the food, too. If you want to have Indian or Pakistan foods, you won’t need to take flight to South Asia or Middle East any more. In addition, Chinatown which locates in the City of Melbourne is an ethnic enclave within the city centre. It not only contains many Chinese Restaurants, but also some Thai, Malaysian, Singaporean and other Asian restaurants. It is good not only for majority but also for other minorities. As a result of variety of foods from other countries, people save a lot of time and money. Furthermore, people have more choices than before to arrange their meals so that it is not monotonous any longer. Besides, people can learn some cooking methods to develop their own food culture. Most of all, it is beneficial to foster cultural diversity, because distinctive food ‘set various ethnic populations on very different evolutionary trajectories’ (Chryssochoou 2004). Some local people are very sensitive and they are worried about being assimilated and losing their own food culture. This feeling can be understood but it doesn’t make sense. According to Chryssochoou (2004), it is just a sense of being threatened. And the main reason is that people cannot have positive self-feeling. Many of Australia and especially Melbourne's cultural backgrounds are celebrated in these designated areas. Festivals are conducted each year to highlight cultural food and traditional dress. For example, traditionally, Jewish men and boys wear the kippah which is a kind of skullcap to cover their heads as a sign of respect and reverence for God at all times, a symbol of their awareness of, and submission to, a "higher" entity (Chryssochoou 2004). Even though more and more local people are accepting this visible culture diversity, there are still some people who dislike these beautiful dresses. For example, for the local people, they may think that foreigners’ dresses are strange and they cannot understand them. It is not supposed to blame them for this because people from dominant cultural groups need time to deal with novelty that foreigners represent (Chryssochoou 2004). Besides, many fashion designers get inspirations from the dresses from other countries so that they can make a lot of classical work and develop garment industry prosperous.   But by allocating these areas or areas that have been populated amongst the diverse cultures, are prejudices only being highlighted again' With good intentions of trying to educate and celebrate the cultural diversity within Australia, it only highlights each individual culture. (Hanyon, 2008) TOURISM There is a massive tourism industry that exists in Australia that attracts visitors from all over the world. Although many towns and cities rely on tourism, it is very likely to hear an Australian say, "You must be a tourist." Not so long ago, one of Australia's finest beach destinations, the Gold Coast appeared to be invaded by "Asians." The tourists were recognizable by their white skin, untouched by the dry sun found in this southern land and their cameras. You wouldn't have to wander far to hear a local say, "Nah, too many tourists down there." Besides the tourists being one of the greatest sources of income to these hot spots and providing worldwide exposure, they are still treated poorly. (Hanyon, 2008) PREJUDICE AMONGST DIVERSE RACES Although there is a huge cultural diversity that exists in Australia, each culture has its own individual prejudices. Past wars and conflicts are still being fought about today although the generations were far removed from this past conflict. An example to use will be the Greek community and the Croatian community to highlight this point. Many younger generations that claim to be of a cultural background, truly do not understand the struggles their ancestors suffered. Although born and raised in Australia, the younger generation still feel the need to be loyal to past conflict and fight out their battles within their communities. PREJUDICE AMONGST ANGLO AUSTRALIANS Prejudices also exist amongst the Australian society in Australia.  There are the "City slickers" and the "country bumpkins". There exists prejudice amongst classes, those who are more refined and those less so. This is highlighted amongst many films and television shows that are made in Australia. Those of interest would be "Kath and Kim". (Hanyon, 2008) WHY IS AUSTRALIA PREJUDICED' Australia is a very insular country. This means that there exists a huge population of people who do not know what lies outside their own land. This is mainly recognized through the generations, especially the older generation who were born and bred in Australia and haven't traveled. They've witnessed they're local area grow from vineyards to huge metropolis suburbs within a short period of time. (Hanyon, 2008) Small towns, small-minded people, uneducated and unworldly generations contribute to the prejudice that exists within society. Each generation continues to learn these prejudices. This not only exists in small towns, but only 30-50 kilometers outside large cities. Insulated Aussies, who stay within their same group of friends and family, remain in the same urban landscapes and continue to live the same lives they've lived since born, exhibit prejudice. Prejudice is a result of education, or a lack of it and the reluctance to change. If a culture cannot educate itself and continue to be prejudiced due to its inability to evolve, then it will be a continuing problem. Individual cultures, although performed out of loyalty to their birth land need to also accept change and evolve. Although Australia is a land of cultural diversity, Australian’s need to become more educated as to the countries that exist outside its borders. When and if this ever happens, prejudice may be less evident within Australian cultures.         References http://www.racismnoway.com.au/about-racism/population/ http://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/examples-racist-material-internet Cultural Diversity: Its Social Psychology, Xenia Chryssochoou, 2004 http://www.helium.com/items/966173-Australia-South-Pacific, R. L. Hanyon, 2008