Mixed Matches: Interracial Marriage in Australia - Softcover

With the rise of multi-cultural Australia an ever-increasing proportion of Australians are touched by interracial marriage. In fact it has been estimated that by 2030, 75 percent of Australian families will have an interracial marriage in their own or extended family. Mixed Matches: Interracial Marriage in Australia reveals the impact of interracial marriage on Australian society and shows how Australian society has changed over time, with the great majority of Australians now accepting mixed unions when once they were not only rare but provoked hostility and hate. Broadly set in a chronological or historical context, Mixed Matches considers the history of interracial union in Australia since 1788, including between Aborigines and non-Aborigines. It considers the impact of 19th century events such as the Gold Rushes and the arrival of thousands of Chinese miners, and the importation of Afghan camel drivers and indentured labourers from modern-day Vanuatu (the Kanakas). Twentieth century phenomena covered include the White Australia policy, dictation tests and deportations, World War II and its aftermath of refugees and war brides and the Colombo plan. A major part of the book consists of revealing interviews by the author with more than 100 cross-racial couples from all around Australia, along with 20 of their adult or near-adult children, set against a backdrop of the national and community moods and events of the time.

June Duncan Owen is an experienced author with several published books to her credit and has worked as a social worker, a teacher and as a farmer. She lectures and runs workshops to help people tell their own stories and reminds them that these stories are unique and worth preserving. In uncovering and then documenting the extraordinary array of emotional responses from those she talked with while researching and writing Mixed Matches.