IDENTITY

Identity construction is an issue integral to youth subcultures. Belonging to an ethnic minority serves to accentuate this. Young persons born overseas and second generation youth must locate themselves with respect to their parent cultures and languages as well as the ethnic majority Anglo-Australians. Support networks and friends are important for such young people who may be highly visible because of their physical characteristics or behaviour and thus come under more scrutiny from other young people and members of the community.

1. Self-Description, Networks and Collective Identity - Who do we say that we are?

Noble, Poynting and Tabar (Ch 14) studied a small group describing themselves as “Lebanese-Australian” youth. The study revealed that their ethnic origins were, in fact, quite diverse. While the majority had Lebanese origins, some had Syrian, and others Greek background. Yet, being 'Lebanese' formed the dominant group identity. Their interests and hobbies were various, including cricket and rugby league. They came from a variety of religious backgrounds, both Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim. However, it was felt by the group that Lebanese people loved God (the Christian God or Allah) more and had a stronger sense of tradition and morals than Anglo-Australians. This identity was by no means static. Students sometimes considered themselves 'Lebanese', sometimes 'Australian' according to the situation. In relation to their parents, they sometimes distinguished themselves as 'Australian', and were critical of some of the parents' traditions. With their peers, they were 'Lebanese' to distinguish themselves from Anglo-Australians and Asians. This shared identity provided a basis of support for the group against racism and discrimination:

If anyone called me a wog they wouldn’t be speaking to me alone.

These identities were based largely on linguistic and cultural stereotypes. Asian students were typified by use of weapons in fighting, eating noodles and being academically gifted. The Lebanese were held to fight with their hands, be less intelligent and run their own businesses.

Moreover, their identity, based on shared symbols of language, and culture, served as a shield or identity marker and was heightened by conflict. For instance, after a stabbing incident one subject began to draw more heavily on aspects of his Lebanese identity.

2. Ascription - ‘Who others say I that am’

Identity is also shaped or ascribed by others. Palmer (Ch 12) explores the often negative impact of ascribed identity on Aboriginal youth. The media, academic research and politicians often present young Aboriginals as powerless victims, criminals, substance abusers, culturally impoverished and homogeneous. Palmer maintains that such descriptions are simplistic. They ignore the ability of Aboriginal people to act as independent agents and they have led to Aboriginal youth being overly associated with social problems.

In a like manner Pe-Pua (Ch 13), Noble et. al. (Ch 14) and Maher, Nguyen and Thanh Le (Ch 15) describe how ethnic groups of friends find themselves portrayed by the media (who subsequently influence mainstream attitudes) as violent gang members, school drop-outs, drug dealers and homeless people. While drugs and homelessness are a reality for some, they are foreign to the lifestyle of others. The young people interviewed reiterated that they felt like they were treated as drug dealers, trouble makers, and no hopers. ‘They call us the finished people’, they said. With respect to the media:

They show about Cabramatta all the bad stuff. They didn’t film the good place, they don’t show the kids playing basketball and that, just picture of the station, people dealing drugs and stuff.

Constant negative representation by dominant social forces jeopardises the construction of positive self-identity. It replaces it with shame and reduces the ability to define their own reality. At the same time, it heightens public misperceptions.

CONFLICT AND RACISM

Authority

Pe-Pua (Ch 13) holds that ethnic young people frequently face both age discrimination and racism. Age discrimination occurs because youth who ‘hanging out’ in public places are perceived as trouble makers. The young people interviewed by Pe-Pua (like the groups in the last edition: the skateboarders in Snow, chapter 2 or the street machine enthusiasts in Forrester, chapter 3) felt victimised if not harassed by police and shop keepers, often for just being in a public place:

When we hang around the plaza, the cops tell us to disperse, but when the old people hang around the same place, they don’t mind.

Pe-Pua’s interviews of Vietnamese youth included many stories of being picked up for petty offences such as sleeping on the train, spitting in front of a police officer or not having ID cards. They reported being sworn at by police, physically harassed and intimidated. Youth - police relations were often such that no respect existed on either side and, if in trouble, many Vietnamese youth did not feel they could seek police assistance.

When a major crime, such as the stabbing of a Korean school boy allegedly by a Lebanese student occurred (Noble et. al., Ch 14) the police officer supported the media assumption that it was the work of ‘ethnic gangs’ with racist statements such as,

Let’s not beat around the bush: we are dealing with ethnic based gangs who come from harsh environments where life is cheap. They are not playing by all the normal rules

Anglo-Australians

Another source of conflict is the attitude of some Anglo-Australians. A Vietnamese young person in Pe-Pua (Ch 13) remarked how ‘racist Aussies in cars would drive by and yell at us’. A girl described how, at school, other girls would run past and bump into her and pull her hair and even cut it. Another student described barely being able to follow the teacher in class and how ‘assistance’ from students involved teaching them swear words so they got into trouble. Outside of school, others described being baited into fights on the trains by people with racist attitudes.

Thus the cycle of racism is continued in a new generation.

Parents

Anglo-Australians blamed the Lebanese culture for the stabbing incident referred to earlier. However, spokespersons of the Arabic said that, if the perpetrators did speak Arabic, their behaviour reflected the Australian environment and culture which they were adopting, rather than their Arabic background. Many parents considered they had lost control of their children who had ceased to respect them, their religion or culture as a consequence of the pervasive influence of the Anglo-Australian culture (Pe Pua, Ch 13). Maher et.al. (Ch 15) explored such conflict in their ‘Wall of Silence’ project which was designed to bring out the experiences of immigrant street youth in Cabramatta. A young woman described her father's fury when she wore a midriff top.

Likewise, the Lebanese students, when drawing on their Australian identity, spoke of conflict with their parents over their friends, how they spent their free time, and dating.

CONCLUSION

Ethnic youth, even more so than Anglo-Australians, experiment and try various identities. These identities provide a sense of individual and collective identity in relation to a number of others such as parents, police, shop-keepers, Anglo-Australians, and members of other ethnic groups. These identities are constantly changing and used strategically for support or as shields against conflict.

In addition to the inter-generational conflict experienced by Anglo-Australian youth, ethnic youth complain of being harassed. Their physical differences make them more visible and thus easy targets for police and people with racist attitudes. While such groups often have strong self-described identities, negative identities ascribed by others can contribute to low self-esteem in these young people. Often dominant figures and institutions, such as politicians, the police and the media, portray certain groups or suburbs as havens only for criminals, heightening problems.

If positive stories and experiences of youth and marginalised communities were well represented, this would promote internal pride and a stronger community as well as external admiration. Surely this would better outcome than broadcasting only the problems and enhancing shame, stigmatisation and misrepresentation.

Sharon Bond

References

White, Rob, editor, (1999) Australian Clearing House for Youth Studies Australian Youth Subcultures: On the margins and in the mainstream, Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies, Hobart, Tasmania.

Chapters Reviewed:

Palmer, Dave, “Talking about the problems of young Nyungars,” Chapter 12.

Pe-Pua, Rogelia, “Youth and ethnicity: Images and constructions,” Chapter 13.

Noble, Greg, Poynting Scott and Tabar, Paul, “Lebanese youth and social identity,” Chapter 14.

Maher, Lisa, Nguyen, Tram and Thanh Le, Tu, “Wall of Silence: Stories of Cabramatta street youth,” Chapter 15.