Consuming Whiteness: Australian Racism and the ›White Sugar‹ Campaign

The ›white Australia policy‹ has so far largely been discussed with regard only to the political-ideological perspective. No account was taken of the central problem of racist societalization, that is the everyday production and reproduction of ›race‹ as a social relation (›doing race‹) which was supported by broad sections of the population. In her comprehensive study of Australian racism and the ›white sugar‹ campaign, Stefanie Affeldt shows that the latter was only able to achieve success because it was embedded in a widespread ›white Australia culture‹ that found expression in all spheres of life. Literature, music, theatre, museums and the sciences contributed to the dissemination of racist stereotypes and the stabilization of ›white‹ identity. In this context, the consumption of sugar became, quite literally, the consumption of ›whiteness‹: the colour of its crystals melted with the skin colour ascribed to its producers to the trope of doubly ›white‹ sugar. Its consumption was at the same time personal affirmation of the consumers’ membership in the ›white race‹ and pledge to the ›white‹ nation; its purchase was supposedly a contribution to the ›racial‹ homogenization and defence of the country, and was meant to overall serve the preservation of ›white‹ supremacy.