The Performance of Whiteness: Accounts of Aboriginal marginalisation and racism in Newcastle

There is no obvious racial divide in Newcastle, nor is there an evident race relations problem, as in other towns such as Wilcannia, Taree, Dubbo, Walgett. Federal and state anti-discrimination legislation provides a system of regulation and disciplinarity and the number of reported complaints in Newcastle are so low as to suggest racial discrimination is not an issue of concern. Yet, in-depth interviews, participant observation of community events and informal discussions with local Kooris and Gooris living in Newcastle revealed racism in the form of racial vilification on buses, racial discrimination in shops, and derogatory references to Aboriginality and culture at work, as well as the more subtle forms of institutional racism evident in the education system and media, are a day-to-day reality. Here though, the accounts of marginalisation and racism are examined through a different lens; that is, as the performance of whiteness. The objective is to expose the invisibility of whiteness, its dominance and marginalising effects, in order to understand how whiteness in and of itself is often received as an act of marginalisation and racism. The paper draws on data from fieldwork conducted in Newcastle, which commenced as a study of racism and became a study of whiteness.