“There is really discrimination everywhere”: Experiences and consequences of Everyday Racism among the new black African diaspora in Australia

Abstract

In this article, we use Philomena Essed’s (1988) concept of ‘Everyday Racism’ as a theoretical framework to introduce critical perspectives for understanding experiences of contemporary racism among the new African diaspora in Australia. The concept deals with the everyday manifestations and (re)production of systemic inequality based on race and/or assumptions around race, whether intended or unintended. Our findings expose the covert, subtle and contestable forms that racism takes in Australian society and the consequences it has for black Africans. By discussing participants’ views and opinions about working and living as skilled black African migrants in Australia, this article explores how racism continues to be perpetuated in Australia, where most citizens profess a commitment to the democratic principles of justice, equality, tolerance and ‘a fair go’. We conclude that, for our black African respondents who experience racism regularly in their daily lives, the consequences are real and painful, manifesting in recurring themes such as the burden of proof; the weight of history and historicity; the ‘constriction of experience’; and a superfluous self-surveillance and selfinterrogation.