“They were literally transforming themselves into the caricatures of Chinese people that frequently appeared in Australian newspapers before the Commonwealth of Nations.”
One of the most notorious cartoons from the period before Australia’s Federation in 1901 was Mongolian Octopus The poster, which Sydney magazine The Bulletin ran in 1886 alongside a xenophobic article about Chinese immigrants, showed a Chinese man with squinty eyes and bucktoothed eyes with octopus tentacles attached to his head, clutching symbols of typhoid, low-wage labor and immorality.
Par Capita researcher Osmond Chiu said the number of racist names in Australia would be much higher if road and track names were included in the count.
Unlike Australia, these countries have had “explicit discussions” about renaming these places, he said.
“It’s shocking that these place names are used as if there’s nothing wrong with them. Today, we would never call them ‘Chinaman,’ or even call someone a ‘Chinaman,’ which shows how important this word is.”
Mosman City Council claims that Chinaman’s Beach gets its name from Chinese market gardens that were set up there in the late 19th century, but historians such as Sophie Roy Wilson from the University of Sydney say it could have been named after Chinese anglers who used to fish nearby.
Either way, these were reminiscent of the waves of Chinese immigration during the gold rush of the 1800s, which would later fuel anti-Asian sentiment. In response, the White Australia Policy was implemented in 1901 to curb Chinese immigration, and was eventually repealed in 1966.
At the time, Australia viewed non-white populations as “inferior to whites in all respects, particularly morally and intellectually,” according to an online article about the White Australia policy from the National Museum of Australia.
It’s this painful history that troubles Melbourne-based Asian-Australian writer Mabel Kwong.
‘[Chinaman] “The word is similar to ‘chink’ and is often seen as a racist insult. I’ve been approached on the street by white Anglo Australian strangers and had the word ‘chink’ shouted in my face in a spiteful manner,” she said.
“When I hear or see this phrase in local places, it reminds me that Chinese people have not always been welcome in Australia. It belittles what it means to be Chinese. [suggests] “If you’re Chinese, you’re ‘lower’ than other people.”
At the same time, the offensiveness of a word may also depend on the surrounding context in which it is used.
Origin of “Chinaman”
The terms “Chinaman” and “Chinamen” first appeared in Australia in the 1800s as racist slurs in news publications, primarily coinciding with the gold rush, according to a 2017 paper by geographer Jimmy Feng of the State University of New York College.
Use of these terms in newspapers peaked in the 1850s with the arrival of the first waves of Chinese immigrants, and then again in the 1880s, at a time when “white Australian nationalistic pride” was on the rise.
“Anti-Chinese sentiment in print reached its peak during a time of fierce economic competition and the perceived ‘otherness’ of the Chinese people,” Feng writes.
“Certainly, analysing the news over the past few decades only gives one perspective, but there is no doubt that white Australian media have been biased against Chinese people.”
The paper further notes that while xenophobia is less overt today, “ideological fragments stemming from established white supremacist policies of the past remain.”
Helena Liu, an associate professor at Bond Business School, said arguments for removing “Chinaman” and “Chinamen” from place names could be complicated by racist ideology that has persisted since the derogatory terms first appeared in Australia’s colonial period.
According to “Unsettled Multiculturalism: Racist Experiences of Asian Exclusion/Removal in Australia,” a research paper Liu published in February with Kyunghee Yu and Chris F. Wright, racial differences are merely tolerated in Australia, and “multiculturalism” often serves as merely a cover for addressing deep-rooted racism, where white supremacy remains vicious.
“I believe that in Australia, we generally struggle to acknowledge racism, which means the legacy of colonialism and white supremacy persists,” Liew told This Week in Asia.
“It is impossible to take responsibility for racism without acknowledging it, and so change is slow. Grassroots movements and policy changes to promote multicultural coexistence often face backlash, with every two steps forward being one step back.”
Mr Liu said prejudice against Asians persisted in Australia but was less overt now than it was in the 19th century.
“White Australian leaders across business, labour, politics and religion characterized Asians as servile indentured servants,” Liu, Yu and Wright write in their paper. “Asian immigrants were also seen as contaminated because they were relied upon to perform dirty, dangerous and difficult work.”
While such blatant prejudice may no longer be openly displayed, discrimination against Asian Australians persists in more subtle forms, such as exclusion from business and political leadership positions, Liu said.
Anti-Asian immigration rhetoric from Australian politicians such as Queensland senator and leader of the right-wing One Nation party, Pauline Hanson, has reinforced negative public perceptions, with phrases such as “we’re overrun with Asians” she used in her first parliamentary speech in 1996.
But Dr Leong Wing-fai, a China scholar specialising in culture and media at King’s College London, says the “Yellow Peril” theory is not unique to Australia.
The focus on Asian people as “dangerous and deviant,” whether manifested through cartoons or news reports, has become especially pronounced during the pandemic, she said.
Do you want to change it along the way?
Chinese-Australian lawyer and politician Pierre Yang last year called for 26 places in Western Australia to be renamed because they contained the “racist and derogatory” term “Chinaman”.
Author Kwong agreed that renaming these places after people would make more sense as it would help acknowledge the “personal stories” of different Chinese and Asian Australians, rather than perpetuating broad, shorthand labels.
Not all Chinese people are from or have lived in China.
“Although many Chinese immigrants have cultural similarities, each Chinese person is unique. Not all Chinese people are originally from or have lived in China,” she said.
Historian Roy Wilson said the presence of Chinese gardens and fishermen in 19th century Australia may have led to the “Chinaman” naming convention, but it showed Chinese immigrants were farmers who knew how to work the tough soil and provide food for people, including white Australians.
These Chinese settlers had enduring connections to Australia and were integral to the country’s early development and survival, she said.
Piercy suggested that at the very least, these locations should have signs and explanations explaining the historical and social context of the use of the term “Chinaman.”
“Australian politicians often say their country is the most successful multicultural nation in the world,” he said.
“In many ways this is true, but it can only work if the country honestly acknowledges Australia’s less than admirable record of state-sponsored racism and widespread social fear-mongering against its Asian neighbours.”
