Structural racism in Australia today is a nonsense

Of course, it remains to be seen to what extent indigenous people and other Australians interact in future years given that an increasing number of Australians identify themselves as Aboriginal, included many from mixed couple families.

On the one hand, one source notes from 2006 census data that 52% of Aboriginal men and 55% of Aboriginal women now had non-Aboriginal partners.

With researchers concluding that Australia's history of cultural division was not inhibiting intermarriage if couples had similar levels of education and earnings, intermarriage was highest in the capital cities.

Yet, another 2012 source indicates that 90% of non-Indigenous Australians do not interact regularly with Aboriginal people with at least half not knowing any Aboriginal people at all, although people in rural areas were more than twice as likely to mix regularly than those from capital cities.

Despite the lack of interaction between indigenous people and other Australians, opportunities and policies do exist to provide Aborigines professional employment opportunities.  

With indigenous people already comprising around 12% of players in the National Rugby League and 11%  in the Australian Football League at a time when representing just 3.3% of the total population as of 2018, the former US National Basketball Association star Charles Barkley is right to stress that black kids have far greater professional opportunities beyond professional sports if they pursue education.    

While issues relating to interaction may long persist given the reality that nobody can force people with different cultural viewpoints to interact and accept all differences, only the willpower of indigenous people themselves will determine their future success or failure.  

I personally doubt that the majority of Australians will ever embrace the idea of Aboriginal people being subject to their own criminal justice system, or have complete control of allocated resources to overcome their 'disadvantage' as suggested by those who argue that services should be run by Indigenous people. 

To conclude, while the term structural racism has now been extended to sport in Australia, as evident by the recent report on the Collingwood Club with its supposed entrenched racism, it is a nonsense to suggest that Aboriginals do not have legitimate opportunities to overcome adverse economic and social outcomes.

Notwithstanding the greater difficulties faced by Australia’s indigenous people when compared to other ethnic/minority groups, improving race relations in Australia and opportunities should not be ignored by academics, including those determined never to forgive Australia for its past racism.