<
https://theconversation.com/should-the-census-ask-about-race-its-not-a-simple-question-and-may-reinforce-racial-thinking-185295>
"Unlike census questionnaires in the US, New Zealand and Canada, the Australian
Census doesn’t include questions about “race” or “ethnicity” and asks instead
about “ancestry”.
That may be about to change, with new Minister for Immigration, Citizenship,
Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Andrew Giles saying he wants a new
approach to “ethnicity” data in the next census in 2026.
Without this data, Giles said, Australia faces a “fundamental barrier to
understanding the issues that face multicultural Australians.”
But is it ethical to classify the population by what is effectively race?
A large body of research on Malaysia, for example – including by anthropologist
Joel Kahn and historian Sandra Manickam – shows systems aimed at classifying
populations this way do not reflect naturally existing categories, but rather,
create them.
Over time, these categories harden, so such systems function as “race-making
instruments,” as political scientist Debra Thompson has put it."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
