Bonnie+Searle

Student Number: n8800049 Tutor: Michelle Cornford The High Price of a Cheap Laugh: The Health Consequences of Everyday Racism

[|Tarmac Takeaways news story]

THE ARTEFACT This artefact was found outside a takeaway shop in Caboolture (sourced from the internet). In the attached news article, ‘Janelle’ described how confused she is by

the accusations that it is racist saying that there have been many other jokes about blondes and New Zealand that haven’t taken offence. Additionally, the joke

had originally been sourced by her daughter from Facebook.

PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE The Tarmac Takeaways sign represents a widespread public attitude of covert racism and discriminatory ideologies in Australia. This type of ‘everyday racism’

will be examined in relation to the effect it has on the health of Indigenous Australians. Whilst all forms of racism are linked to adverse health effects, this wiki will

be focusing on the effects of the covert, everyday racism embedded in Australian society.

LITERATURE REVIEW The differences in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are now well documented, at least in terms of statistical information. The

2012 AIHW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework produced figures that point to large health inequalities. Indigenous Australians

can expect to experience seven times the rate of chronic disease, twice the rate of circulatory disease, and seven times the rate of renal disease. (AIHW 2013)

Health inequalities are linked to social determinants of health and considering that 49.2% of Aboriginals are in the lowest income quintile, compared with 19.8%

of non-Indigenous Australians (AIHW 2013) it is hard to dispute that there is a clear link between poverty and ill health. Levels of education, literacy and

numeracy and employment are also strongly implicated (AIHW 2013).

However, the reasons why Indigenous Australians experience more socio-economic disadvantage than non-Indigenous Australians need to be explored as a matter

of urgency. Racism is increasingly being recognized as determinant of health (Anderson 2012) and there have been several studies worldwide that strongly link

experiences of racism and physical and psychological poor health. Here, we focus mainly on studies conducted in Australia due to the unique nature of our

political landscape and colonial history.

Research by Larson, Gillies, Howard and Coffin (2007) identified negative relationships between self-reported racism and health. Importantly, they concluded that

chronic exposure was the most harmful with long-term effects. Other studies have found similar correlations (Priest, Paradies, Stewart and Luke, 2011, Ziersch,

Gallaher, Baum and Bentley 2011, Anderson 2013 and Paradies & Cunningham 2012). There have been some attempts to define harmful physical reactions to

racism. Anderson (2013) describes how stress induces cellular ageing at an increased rate, which eventually has a negative effect on body systems resulting in

disease. Similarly, Larson et al (2007) asserted that anger, frustration and humiliation induce a biological response that results in the stress hormone cortisol being

released and Priest et al (2011) described links between racism and psychological distress, hypertension, cardiovascular reactivity and chronic health conditions.

Mental illness emerged as a common theme and result of experiences of racism, in particular depression. Chronic experiences of stress and negative emotions have

been linked to the internalization of stereotypes, damaging health behaviours (smoking, drug use etc) and emotional reactions such as aggression (Ziersch et al

2011).



These figures are concerning especially when we consider the scale of racism in Australia. A cross sectional survey conducted in Western Australia found that 69%

of respondents in regional areas revealed racist attitudes towards Indigenous Australians ( Larson et al 2007). Self-reported experiences of racism tell a similar

story across studies, with large proportions of Indigenous Australians experiencing racism on a regular basis (Larson et al 2007). Paradies (2005; 2) goes as far as to

say:

“Racism against Indigenous Australians permeates the very  fabric of contemporary Australian Society”. Briefly, racism in the 1850s saw a scientific paradigm espoused by Arther Comte de Gobineau that placed white races at the top of a hierarchy and as ‘naturally’

superior, a worldview that was enthusiastically adopted by Adolf Hitler when justifying his drive for a pure Aryan race. Although this ‘evidence’ has now been

discredited, Tuffin (2008) claims these attitudes laid the foundations for current racist beliefs. Racism has been constant in many forms in Australia through the

years in government policy such as White Australia, the Stolen Generation, the Northern Territory Intervention and current rhetoric surrounding immigration and

asylum seekers (Tuffin 2008).

Looking more closely at everyday experiences of Indigenous Australians is helpful for understanding the scale and nature of everyday racism in Australia. This

has been coined ‘new racism’. This is less about biological inferiority and more about threats to cultural and social values (Nelson, Dunn & Paradies 2011). Ziersch

et al (2011) examined the responses of Indigenous Australians to perceived racism through interviews. Many respondents talked about the emotional and physical

reactions mentioned previously, including anger and a desire to escape reality through drugs or alcohol. Women, in particular experienced feelings of inferiority.

One lady described deep feelings of a lifetime of internalized racism,

“…growing up, I mean…it’s just you feel inferior you know…people are staring at you, watching you. You just know it….I’m not coping with people..” (Linda, 50yrs) (Gallaher et al 2009)

Finally, there is little discrepancy over what actually constitutes racism. Academic authors are generally clear and consistent with definitions of racism that

generally describe unfair treatment based on race. Everyday racism, described by Walton et al (2013) is more problematic as it relies on complex and subtle

understandings of society, culture and language. However, interpretations of what constitutes racism to the lay-person is likely to be highly subjective and varied.

For example, a male blue-collar worker interviewed identified racism as aggressive behavior such as violence or swearing (Walton, Priest, Paradies 2013). A racist

joke was on the whole found to be acceptable by the respondents if no harm was intended. However, Park, Gabbadon & Chernin (2006 cited by Walton et al ,

2013) claim that most racist humour only serves to strengthen damaging stereotypes.

Studies that aimed to explore the intricacies of experiences of racism by interviewing subjects are limited by their very nature, as individual experiences can only

ever be subjective. Most studies asked respondents about experiences during the past month to eliminate errors of memory recall, however this in itself creates

problems when discussing frequency of racist events and long-term effects. There is the distinct possibility also of under or over reporting of racist events although

popular accusations of racial oversensitivity, and excessive political correctness (Dunn, Forrest, Burnley & McDonald 2004) are mediated by the reality that

indigenous Australians are more likely to underestimate experiences of racism (Paradies & Cunningham 2010) as over time they become ‘normalised’.

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ANALYSIS Culture and society is examined here from a perspective of critical whiteness theory. This theory puts forward the concept of ‘whiteness’ not as a social identity

but as a social structure that normalises whiteness and the associated values, interests and needs of that group. (Owen 2007) Critical whiteness theory is an attempt

to explain the invisibility of whiteness and the idea that being white (like being male) is a rarely acknowledged privilege (Hatchell 2007) and that white people

will rarely think of themselves in terms of race.

From this perspective of privilege we can propose that for white Australians there coul be a common lack of deep understanding or empathy around low-level

everyday racism. Empathy requires us to put our self in the shoes of the other person and see a racist joke through the filter of two centuries of disempowerment

and current assumptions and stereotypes, which start from before we are even born. In this case then, the worker who earlier stated that a joke is only racist if it is

meant to cause offence clearly has no concept that the continuation of racial stereotypes is precisely what makes racist jokes so harmful. The intent of the speaker

is really quite irrelevant.

It is argued that the White Australia policy that ended in the 1970s cemented the idea of a cultural homogeneity ideology, the idea of one true national Australian

identity together with the concept of what it means to be un-Australian (Dunn et al 2004) Despite the actual diversity of cultures that hold Australian Citizenship

and call Australia home, forty-five percent of respondents in a survey replied openly that there are some cultures that should not be in Australia (Dunn et al 2004).

The enormous question of how to tackle contemporary racism may partly be answered by exploring bystander anti-racism. Consider that those who demonstrate

strong racist views vastly overestimate peer support for their opinions and that racist talk is often used as social glue for many groups (Nelson et al 2011). Nelson

et al (2011) also found that although seventy-five percent of people wanted to speak out against a racist joke, only forty-five percent actually took action. This

serves to maintain the misconception of peer support for racism. The power of bystander action is that unsettles and destabilizes the dominant racist discourse

within the appropriate social context and Nelson et al (2011) argue for bystander anti-racism to be a part of social policy.

ANALYSIS OF THE ARTEFACT

The Tarmac Takeaways sign represents an example of everyday racism that is seen as socially acceptable. One often hears the words, “I’m just telling it like it is”

as a justification without any understanding of the reasons why it may be ‘as it is’. It is not just a lack of understanding that strikes me as important but also a

strong resistance to accept personal responsibility for continuing the cycle of Indigenous disempowerment.

The artifact, I believe is a good example of very casual racism although most people would be more cautious about their audience, perhaps sharing the joke with a

peer group who they were sure would also find the joke amusing.

On a personal level, this wiki has made me think deeply about the roots of racist behaviour in the Australian context and I have come to an understanding that part

of the problem is the ‘invisibility’ of Indigenous Australians and their culture. Without more positive Aboriginal presence in the media and in government it is

easy for white Australia to maintain the damaging stereotypes. The presence of Aboriginals in sport is encouraging. However, I would question whether Aboriginal

sportspeople are accepted because they conform to the cultural values of competition and individual success that we hold so dear.

On the whole, undertaking this wiki has confirmed my suspicions that there is nothing harmless about racist jokes and that we all need to take responsibility for

our part in building a more inclusive Australia.



LEARNING ENGAGEMENT AND REFLECTION

1. [|2.]

REFERENCES

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doi: 10.1111/j.1475-682X.2012.00433.x

Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council. (2012). Aboriginal

And Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2012 Report. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra. Retrieved from: [|http://www.health.gov.au/indigenous-­][|‐] [|hpf/]

Dunn, K.M., Forrest, J., Burnley, I. & McDonald, A. (2004). Constructing racism in australia. //Australian Journal of Social Issues, 39//(4), 409-430.

Larson, A., Gillies, M., Howard, P.J. & Coffin, J. (2007). It’s enough to make you sick: the impact of racism on the health of Aboriginal Australians. //Australian and//

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Nelson, J.K., Dunn, K.M. &Paradies, Y. (2011). Bystander anti-racism: A review of the literature. //Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 11//(1), 263-284.

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Walton, J., Priest, N. & Paradies, Y. (2013). “It depends on how you’re saying it”: the complexities of everyday racism. // International Journal of Conflict and //

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Ziersch, A.M., Gallaher, G., Baum, F. & Bentley, M. (2011). Responding to racism: Insights on how racism can damage health from an urban study of Australian

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