'Life in one colour'

Indian Australian perceptions of social inclusion in regional Queensland

Authors

  • Robert Mason University of Southern Queensland
  • Dianne Jones University of Southern Queensland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1017/qre.2014.26

Keywords:

Violence against Indian students, young white Australian males, violent racism in metropolitan centres, social inclusion, regional communities

Abstract

In April 2010, an Indian university student was robbed while leaving the campus of his university in regional Queensland. Soon afterwards, the local newspaper described how a ‘gunman’ had accosted the student and ‘forced [him] to lay [sic] face-down on the ground’. The event was not isolated in the national context; there had been a sharp rise in media reports of violence against Indian students in Australia during the preceding six months. The attack in the regional city of Toowoomba appeared to echo these other incidents, given that the victim was an Indian student and the alleged perpetrators were young white Australian males. The case called our attention to how reports of violent racism in metropolitan centres might affect perceptions of social inclusion in regional communities.

Author Biographies

  • Robert Mason, University of Southern Queensland

    Robert Mason is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Southern Queensland. His research focuses on culturally and linguistically diverse communities in regional Australia. He is particularly interested in historical legacy and memory in contemporary communities, and in Australia’s Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking communities.

  • Dianne Jones, University of Southern Queensland

    Dianne Jones lectures in journalism at the University of Southern Queensland. Her research on the role of local news media in democracy and gender representation in the online sports media has been published in Australia and overseas, and cited in international textbooks on sport and the media, two federal government inquiries and government-funded reports on women’s sport and the media in Australia and the United Kingdom.

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Interview 1, 12 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 17, 3 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 16, 20 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 6, 28 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 20, 4 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 20, 4 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 14, 14 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

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Interview 15, 14 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

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Interview 12, 4 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

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Interview 1, 12 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

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Interview 11, 4 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 16, 20 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 13, 11 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 17, 3 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 4, 25 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 5, 26 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 15, 14 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 20, 4 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 9, 30 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 6, 28 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 19, 3 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 8, 30 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Interview 6, 28 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

Published

2014-12-01

How to Cite

Mason, R., & Jones, D. (2014). ’Life in one colour’: Indian Australian perceptions of social inclusion in regional Queensland. Queensland Review, 21(2), 203-216. https://doi.org/10.1017/qre.2014.26