Overcoming Racial Stereotypes In Australia

Australia is a country that is home to a very diverse range of people, with 2011 census data reporting that 24.6% of the Australian population was born overseas (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). Despite almost a quarter of the population being from overseas, many Australians still struggle with the tolerance, understanding and acceptance of cultures that are different. Despite there being a number of obstacles that people of different cultures face, there are also a number of solutions that will allow Australia to continue forward on a path of cultural tolerance, acceptance and understanding.
One of the major obstacles to cultural tolerance, understanding and acceptance is racial stereotyping. Racial stereotyping is the act of categorising a person based on their heritage or skin colour and using this preconceived idea to judge them, perhaps before ever speaking to them. While racial stereotyping may seem harmless, it can especially become an issue if there is a negative association to that stereotype and it is this negative association that blocks communication. (“Overcoming Racial Stereotypes”, 2016, para. 3). Pauker, Nalini and Apfelbaum (2010) suggest that the solution to combatting racial stereotyping is early childhood education about skin colour not …show more content…
While we have a preconceived idea on what we think someone of a certain culture does, we may not have the background knowledge as to why they do that or if it is actually a misconception. A solution to this lack of understanding is early childhood education on different cultures, not just from text books but with first-hand experience. Buchori and Dobinson (2012, p. 52) also suggest going further and having universities teach students undertaking degrees in education about the needs of multicultural children in the classroom and offering hands on experience with school children from diverse