| Community Heritage Project: Wattan Report |
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Despite an initial assumption that a study of Syrian/Lebanese immigrants in Queensland would need to rely on oral history methods, systematic research has shown useful documentary material does exist. If the researcher had relied on oral history methods important parts of the story would have been missed because they have not been passed on to the second generation. For example, most descendants of the immigrants did not realize they were classified as Asian, had for a period of time been excluded from citizenship and had been enemy aliens during the first world war. This silence about the past is especially surprising because the immigrants come from a culture with a strong oral tradition.
It is from the documentary evidence that the significant aspects of Syrian/Lebanese become apparent: the importance of racial classification; the degree of legislative discrimination and its impact on immigrant adjustment and occupational choices; and the economic role of women and the family. Documentary sources also provide the opportunity to verify or challenge anecdotal evidence and commonly accepted assumptions about Syrian/Lebanese immigrants in Australia.
The documentary evidence reveals the overwhelming importance of racial classification in the lives of Syrian/Lebanese settlers and it's critical significance in determining the course of immigrant adjustment within Australian society in the period being studied and beyond. It is precisely because Syrian/Lebanese were classified as Asian that official records are so useful to the researcher.
Despite the many obstacles put in their way the Syrian/Lebanese settlers obviously believed their children had a good future in Australia. Faced with enormous pressures to conform, perhaps they consciously decided the less their children knew about their experience as outsiders the better. They knew from their own experience that their children would need to be as 'Australian' or more accurately as 'British' as possible if they were to succeed and prosper.
ANNE MONSOUR PhD CANDIDATE
UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND - DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY