1. Shi Li University of New England 01/10/2014 A Long Road to Australian Cultural Respect for Chinese

2. 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

3. Review of cultural supremacy Constructivism Cultural supremacy of Australians over Chinese before 1973 Undercurrent of cultural superiority over Chinese since 1973 Discussion and conclusion

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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)

11. 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"

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. Shi Li University of New England Thank You