CULTURE: “Culture comes from the Latin word colere. It means to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honour. It refers to human activity. Culture is the way people interact in their day to day lives. It is also the particular beliefs and thoughts of people.

The Cronulla Beach riots took place late in Cronulla is a popular beach in Sydney. It became the stage for a race riot that involved over 5000 white Australians. Many of them wore Tee-Shirts that had slogans printed on them, saying things such as “Wogs out” and “Leb Free Zone”.

The Nicky Winmar Incident! This is one of the most famous Australian displays of pride by a person in their Aboriginal culture and heritage! Nicky Winmar was one of the greatest Aboriginal players to play Australian football. Australian football was always considered a level playing field for blacks and whites alike. All were equal. Nicky claimed that on the field he was subject to a racist taunt and this is how he responded. In Australia this is a very famous image. He said as he lifted up his jumper “I’m proud to be black”.

Australians are one of the most diverse countries in the World. The 2001 census showed that one- fifth of Australians populations were born overseas. In 2002 overseas born residents accounted for 4.6 million people, or 23% of the entire population.

CountryPersons% Total population Australia13,629, % United Kingdom (a)1,036, % New Zealand355, % Italy218, % Vietnam154, % China (b)142, % Greece116, % Germany108, % Phillippines103, % India95, % Netherlands83, % South Africa79, % Malaysia78, % Lebanon71, % Hong Kong67, % Poland58, % Yugoslavia55, % United States of America53, % Sri Lanka53, % Croatia51, % Ireland50, % Indonesia47, % Malta46, % Fiji44, % Macedonia, FYROM (c)43, % Korea (South)38, % Singapore33, % Egypt33, % Turkey29, % Canada27, % Top 30 birthplaces of the Australian population 2001

One of the original reasons many people came to Australia was to get away from the destruction caused by the 2 nd World War. Many people vowed never to return to Europe. Now, one of the main reasons is for a place to raise children. “There is so much open space, clean air and cheap activities for the children to participate in”. Mrs Clayton from England. Another reason is also education.

The most obvious solution to the problem is education. People who commit racist acts should be made to undertake cross- cultural awareness programs. Another solution is to stop racism at its roots in society. A problem is that race crimes are very difficult to prove. As Australia is the result of thousands and thousands of immigrants coming to the country over 200 years, it doesn’t have a blueprint for a national cultural policy.