"WHITE AUSTRALIA":
ASSESSING AUSTRALIA'S RESISTANCE
TO NON-WHITE IMMIGRANTS DURING
EUROPE'S "GREAT MIGRATION" PERIOD
The "Great Migration" of European History, primarily spanning the decade primarily between 1900 and 1910, saw 11 million immigrants leave the confines of home and embark on both domestic and overseas journeys in search of new homes and new lives. Of the "overseas" nations, the United States and Australia saw the biggest influx of immigrants.
We will use Australia as a "case study" for understanding how nations put up "white fences" against the influx of foreign immigrants. Read through the scholarly articles below, examine the photos, drawings, and images, and answer the provided questions.
We will use Australia as a "case study" for understanding how nations put up "white fences" against the influx of foreign immigrants. Read through the scholarly articles below, examine the photos, drawings, and images, and answer the provided questions.
Part I: Immigration Restriction
Source: "Immigration Restriction in Australia"
By Everard Digby, 1903 and 1908.
By Everard Digby, 1903 and 1908.
It was British journalist Everard Digby who first exposed the Australian immigration policy for the world to see. Below are excerpts from his text:
In the year 1840 it was proposed by employers in New South Wales [Australia] to introduce Indian coolies [Asian “slave” or manual laborer] as laborers. At that time and down to 1849 immigrants consisted mainly of convicts, whose labor in certain instances was let out to the settlers....Owing to a good season in 1847, there was not sufficient labor to do the work of the Colony, and again the settlers looked towards the East to supply the want. The merits of the Chinaman as a laborer were well known, and in 1848 a very large number of Chinese were introduced into the Colony, but against strong protests. The expressions of disapproval to objectionable immigrants were of no use to keep them out....
Year after year, down to 1861, the Chinese came into New South Wales freely, the discovery of gold in Australia in the early 'fifties proving a great attraction. They became so numerous that they competed with the white man in every branch of labor, living thriftily and saving their winnings, in marked contrast to the white men. At the celebrated Lambing Flat Diggings at Burrangong, New South Wales, in 1861, a serious riot occurred, in which the white diggers rose and attacked the Chinese in their camp at the diggings. The tents and other property of the Chinese were destroyed, and many of the yellow men were seriously injured.
Year after year, down to 1861, the Chinese came into New South Wales freely, the discovery of gold in Australia in the early 'fifties proving a great attraction. They became so numerous that they competed with the white man in every branch of labor, living thriftily and saving their winnings, in marked contrast to the white men. At the celebrated Lambing Flat Diggings at Burrangong, New South Wales, in 1861, a serious riot occurred, in which the white diggers rose and attacked the Chinese in their camp at the diggings. The tents and other property of the Chinese were destroyed, and many of the yellow men were seriously injured.
1. How, and why did the Chinese first come to Australia?
2. What was the real reason for the attack on the Chinese camp? Look further than racism and ethnophobia...
2. What was the real reason for the attack on the Chinese camp? Look further than racism and ethnophobia...
Eventually, the Chinese had to pay poll taxes of 10 British Pounds (over $1,200 today...) to come to Australia. And, later that poll tax was upped to 100 pounds! Shippers were fined for carrying too many Chinese on board, as "ratios" of "Chinamen to cargo weight" were created to keep numbers low. Digby continues:
[The Chinese Restriction Act of 1888 mandated that] "no certificate of naturalization shall be issued to any Chinese on any ground whatever." ....[Later, it was the Immigration Act 1898 which] secured a "white Australia" and prevented for ethnological reasons a possible invasion by Asiatic peoples. [The phrasing of the Act is listed below defines the very kind of immigrant to be restricted]:
- (a) Any person who when asked to do so by an officer fails to write out at dictation and sign in the presence of the officer a passage of fifty words in length in an European language directed by the officer. [TRANSLATION: Anyone who can't speak or write English.]
- (b) Any person likely in the opinion of the Minister or of an officer to become a [danger to] the public...
- (c) Any idiot or insane person.
- (d) Any person suffering from an infectious or contagious disease of a loathsome or dangerous character.
- (e) Any person who has within three years been convicted of an offense, not being a mere political offence, and has been sentenced to imprisonment for one year or longer therefor, and has not received a pardon.
- (f) Any prostitute or person living on the prostitution of others.
3. Which "restriction" surprises you the most?
The Japanese newspaper, the Japan Times had the following response to the immigration ban:
Digby concludes his investigation by saying, "Australians resolved to keep the Commonwealth for the white races, and there has been no hesitation shown in declaring that the so-called educational test [again, taken in English only…] is only a euphemism for the resolve to keep out the black and colored races."
- "We are ourselves strongly inclined to resent the unfair discrimination made against our nationals in the countries named above, and we have never missed an opportunity to condemn such discrimination. We can, therefore, understand the strong feeling exhibited on this subject by our weekly contemporary. Nevertheless, we must remind the latter of the very serious, injurious influences that might follow the use of such intemperate language. A war with either the Americans or the English is out of the question, as nothing would be gained by it, while everything might be lost."
Digby concludes his investigation by saying, "Australians resolved to keep the Commonwealth for the white races, and there has been no hesitation shown in declaring that the so-called educational test [again, taken in English only…] is only a euphemism for the resolve to keep out the black and colored races."
Part II: Postwar Restriction
Source: Navigating
Globalization: Immigration Policy in Canada
and Australia,
1945-2007 by James Walsh, 2008.
1945-2007 by James Walsh, 2008.
According to Walsh, "Migration
policies are inevitably forms of social engineering and provide a window
into the internal life of the state." The picture above shows the Austrilian struggle with the Aboriginal population, indignious people who lived in Australia's "outback" and had were almost "African" in ethnicity. In "White Australia", the aim was "...not to
obstruct human movement but, rather, to regulate it and define the
conditions under which it may legitimately occur."
Often times, the Chinese that were admitted, or had sneaked in undetected, had to be "willing to engage in industrial labor and assimilate to British political and cultural norms."
4. What are some of the "political and cultural norms" of British lifestyle shown above?
It was Australia’s first prime minister, Aurthur Calwell, who proclaimed the need to "populate or perish" and sought to increase Australia's population by 1% per year, but without upsetting its racial and ethnic homogeneity. And it was the migrants to Australia who became known as "factory fodder" who came to the manufacturing sector at double the rate of the native population. According to Walsh,
4. What are some of the "political and cultural norms" of British lifestyle shown above?
It was Australia’s first prime minister, Aurthur Calwell, who proclaimed the need to "populate or perish" and sought to increase Australia's population by 1% per year, but without upsetting its racial and ethnic homogeneity. And it was the migrants to Australia who became known as "factory fodder" who came to the manufacturing sector at double the rate of the native population. According to Walsh,
- Nationality was given precedence in the selection process; British were "preferred" and were actively recruited, Europeans were accepted, assuming they were willing to assimilate, and non-Europeans were largely "restricted": Said one Australian official: "I do not think that an [educated man] can follow the mental processes of an Oriental mind"
Source: Visions and
Realities: Images of Early Postwar Australia
By Elizabeth Kenworthy, 1991.
By Elizabeth Kenworthy, 1991.
Kenworthy states that after World War II, and in order to alleviate the labor shortage and in the context of postwar reconstruction, "...pamphlets,
posters, advertisements for British newspapers, and even six films" were made "...in
order to encourage residents of the United
Kingdom to consider migrating to Australia." This is when Australia's immigration policy would change, sort of...
In 1947, it was recorded that there were nearly 200,000 Britons registered at Australia House as intending migrants. And many of those who arrived were responding directly to the immigrant pamphlets written by a small team of Commonwealth Government employees in the Department of Information in Canberra, Australia.
In 1947, it was recorded that there were nearly 200,000 Britons registered at Australia House as intending migrants. And many of those who arrived were responding directly to the immigrant pamphlets written by a small team of Commonwealth Government employees in the Department of Information in Canberra, Australia.
5. In examining the pamphlet above, entitled Know Australia!, what's attractive about it from a migrant point-of-view?
But, according to Kenworthy, "the
general picture of Australia
presented by the pamphlets is utterly different from the slum world" of the real Australia. Inner-city slums had been "...a
topic of concern since the 1930s; the housing shortage was extreme and was
to be a major issue in the State election in February 1947."
But the pamphlet did not include these images.
But the pamphlet did not include these images.
6. Again, according to Kenworthy, "several pamphlets feature a photograph of sailing boats skimming over sunlit water,...[or] two female skiers in sunny conditions at Mount Kosciusko." What do you see in the image above that's particularly attractive?
The pamphlet above has the subtitle that reads: “The factories featured have no tall smoking chimneys but are low-rise and landscaped.” Furthermore:
Kenworthy states that: "The idea of feeling 'at home' was stressed. It was claimed that British migrants would find much that was familiar."
Yet letters of those returning home to Britain, disappointed, mentioned the hostility of Australians, who felt migrants would take their jobs, and general unfriendliness. Said one letter home:
- '"In Australia's modern factories working conditions are good. Cafeterias with low-priced meals, modern wash-rooms, rest-rooms for female workers, separate locker systems, and recreational facilities are provided in most large plants."
Kenworthy states that: "The idea of feeling 'at home' was stressed. It was claimed that British migrants would find much that was familiar."
Yet letters of those returning home to Britain, disappointed, mentioned the hostility of Australians, who felt migrants would take their jobs, and general unfriendliness. Said one letter home:
- "Instead of a God's-own-country attitude, mention of the flies, heat and other defects would be much better preparation for the shock of the difference between Britain and Australia ... Many of you just don't want us; you're afraid your jobs may be in danger and yet you want cannon fodder should the need arise."
8. The above cartoon refers to the American immigration, but it seems to define the Australian "nativist sentiment" as well. What's the thesis of this cartoon? And how does it relate to the above "letter home"?
Time and cultural sensitivity would reform Australia's immigration system. Today, Australia has an immigration system based on "points". The "point ranking system" is shown below:
Time and cultural sensitivity would reform Australia's immigration system. Today, Australia has an immigration system based on "points". The "point ranking system" is shown below:
9. What are some of the conclusions you can draw about what Australians value in their immigrants?
10. This activity relates directly back to the European history topic of "The Great Migration". What did you learn about Australia and how it relates to the "Great Migration"?
10. This activity relates directly back to the European history topic of "The Great Migration". What did you learn about Australia and how it relates to the "Great Migration"?
