One in 10 Tasmanians racist
September 29, 2008 12:00am
MORE than two in five Tasmanians, 41 per cent, believe some cultural or ethnic groups do not fit in Australia, a new study shows.
And about one in 10 Tasmanians, 9.6 per cent, believe that all races of people are not equal.
The study, which shows the incidence of racist views in Tasmania is on a par with the national average, shows one in 10 Aussies have outwardly racist views.
New South Wales -- with 46.6 per cent saying some ethnic groups do not belong in Australia -- is the most racist state.
The study's lead researcher Kevin Dunn put the NSW numbers down to Sydney being a focus of international migration.
The study, by the University of Western Sydney, reveals racism in Australia has waned but the figures remain high.
Prof Dunn will unveil state-by-state statistics on Friday at the 4Rs international conference -- Rights, Reconciliation, Respect and Responsibility -- at Sydney's University of Technology.
Challenging Racism: The Anti-Racism Research Project randomly surveyed 12,500 people in the past eight years.
Prof Dunn attributes the results to people's overarching views.
"It's an indicator of a narrow view of what constitutes Australianism," he said.
People were asked which cultural/ethnic groups do not fit into Australian society.
"The most often-mentioned groups were Muslims or people from the Middle East," he said.
The racist views were more prevalent in older Australians.
Prof Dunn and his team would release regional results within each state early next year.
They will also recommend strategies to lower Australia's level of racist views, which he said remained low by international standards.
CULTURE CLUB
Are there any cultural/ethnic groups that do not fit into Australian society (yes)?
NSW 46.6%
Perth 45.4%
Qld 42%
Tas 41%
SA 40.1%
Vic 35.9%
NT 35.3%
ACT 28.2%
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,24417449-3462,00.html |