When former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd apologised to the Aboriginal people of Australia, I cried. I was, in that moment so very proud to be Australian and I felt that there was hope for the future of this country.
During the recent election campaign, Tony Abbots sloganism and simplistic chanting of “Stop the Boats” and “No Big New Taxes” brought me back to earth with a thud.
Scratch the surface of white Australia and you will find racism in all walks of life. From the milkman who mutters,”bloody Abos,” to the white school boy at Cronulla with the crude slogan on his t-shirt, We grew here, You flew here to a Prime Ministerial wannabe with his appalling catch cry of, “Stop the Boats.”
And it makes me tired.
Here in Tasmania, the Aboriginal people are a marginalised people trying to save their shattered culture. The enduring myth in Tasmanian society is that there aren’t any Tasmanian Aboriginals left at all, that the line stopped when Truganini died. The differences in our society are highlighted very clearly by the treatment of two groups of protesters at the hands of the Police here in Tasmania.
Aboriginal protester Sara Maynard was arrested for trespass while protesting at the Brighton bypass construction site last year,
Ms Maynard said it took her a long time to recover from the trauma of being strip-searched before facing the Hobart Magistrates Court.
“I was told that if I refused they would hold me down and take my clothes off for me,” Ms Maynard said yesterday.
“When you’ve got five men standing around and I’m the only female there … it was quite terrifying.”
She refused to be strip-searched in a cell with cameras, so was forced to undergo the procedure in a toilet by a female officer.
Gardening guru Peter Cundall was also arrested last year for protesting on the steps of Parliament house in Hobart. Mr Cundall is quoted as saying he was appalled by the treatment meted out to Ms Maynard. Mr Cundall also said that he and his fellow protesters were treated like royalty, with the police making it very clear that they didn’t want to arrest the 58 anti pulp mill protesters and treating them with the utmost courtesy.
Sigh, and there you have it in a nutshell.
Until we the ordinary people of Australia stand up and say this is wrong, this sort of appalling behaviour will continue on through the generations.
My friend has started a blog and I would highly recommend that you read this post, A day in the life of an Aborigine.
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Another excellent blog post. This is why I keep reading your posts.
This desire to look down upon and drive out marginalised populations seems to be increasing at the moment, France is set to expel Roma’s and here in the UK the demonisation of immigrants and welfare dependants is horrifying. Thank you for alerting those of us elsewhere in the world to the situation in Tasmania. I’ll be sure to check out your friend’s blog. BG Xx
*stands up and applauds*
Discrimination such as that described in the post at blakandblack and in your post is insidious. It’s the unspoken, buriedc ostrich-head truth that so many people refuse to acknowledge. Thanks for helping to put this issue up front. X
fabulous.
I want to cut and paste this post into my brain for future reference. You are always able to say things clearly, fairly and without the ‘us and them’ mentality… thank you
I’ve said many times, I’ll never understand why people are treated differently just because of skin colour.
When I was much younger, I spent a lot of time at the local beach, by the end of summers I was tanned deep brown, having brown eyes and dried out sun-bleached hair I was sometimes mistaken for one of the many aboriginal children who hung around the beach, but not mixing with the other kids much. I remember walking home with a school friend and being refused entry into the house because her mother didn’t recognise me as the same girl who often came to play in the winter.
Sigh. When will Australia grow up?!
“Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away, and that in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.” Martin Luther King
Kim, I have a cousin who stated she’d far rather tell people her grandmother had slept around with a Spaniard or such to explain her dark skin (a complete lie but her lovely grandmother is conveniently dead) rather than accept that we are of Indigenous descent.
If it weren’t for blogging I wouldn’t have such unique perspectives on politics around the world! Very interesting.
http://www.pampersandpinot.com
Jayne, I understand but am saddened that anyone should feel shamed about forebears when their only “crime” is to be born the wrong colour. Choosing to identify as Indigenous is hard, but how much harder is it to deny your heritage?
I have a book that may interest you in mind – “Nowhere People”, by H. Reynolds, ISBN 9780 143001911. It’s in print now. Explains the concepts that led to this sort of attitude and that I think, still curse this country today.
Wow. My heart goes out to Sara. I never realized just how bad it still is down under.
When will people understand that natives to the land you live on deserve respect for having survived so long with their traditions and way of life.
This is a big world, an old world. How can one group of people truly believe that only one “group” who have come along at this point in time, over the whole history of time, is worthy of being treated with compassion and humanity?
Things like this steam my britches.
I had no idea that ms maynard was treated in such a humiliating way. I personally think the media has a lot to answer for, because all or most of what we know about our aborigines comes from the media. After decades of negative stories flashed across the tv, it kind of gives us a distorted view.