Racial moral panic and African youth in Australia

Since the mid-1980s, Australia has resettled thousands of African refugees. This paper focuses on the racialization of youth violence and the damage it sustains on refugee-background young Africans. The discussion proceeds in two interrelated stages. In the first stage, to understand the representat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of intercultural relations 2021-09, Vol.84, p.95-106
Main Author: Molla, Tebeje
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African cultural groups
African refugee youth
Australia
Black people
Everyday life
Frame analysis
Guilt
Hoarding
Literature reviews
Media violence
Moral panic
Otherness
Politicians
Presumption
Public sphere
Racialization
Racism
Refugees
Research methodology
Violence
Youth
Youth violence
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Summary:Since the mid-1980s, Australia has resettled thousands of African refugees. This paper focuses on the racialization of youth violence and the damage it sustains on refugee-background young Africans. The discussion proceeds in two interrelated stages. In the first stage, to understand the representation of African youth in the public sphere, the paper reviews the relevant literature, media headlines, and political commentaries. In so doing, it establishes that the continual framing of African youth as dangerous and violence-prone by conservative politicians and media outlets amounts to racial moral panic. In the second stage, guided by narrative research methodology, a small group of young Africans were invited to reflect on their everyday life under racialized frames. Accounts of the youth are presented under four themes: the presumption of guilt, emotional ill-being, opportunity hoarding, and the permanence of otherness. It is argued that, if left unaddressed, the racialization of youth violence can diminish the integration outcomes of African youth.
ISSN:0147-1767
1873-7552
DOI:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2021.07.005