Onya Kevin!!
Medicated-Genius
Posts: 359
I just watched Kevin Rudd's formal apology to Indigenous Australia. Finally, we may see some real progress towards reconciliation in this country. Saying sorry can't take the pain away from these people, nor can it change what happened to them. But it's a start, it's an acknowledgment of their suffering, and an opportunity for all of Australia to know the truth of what happened, and to understand some of the monumental challenges these people face because of it.
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i hope this means our next generation of Aussies are going to be learning about the stolen generations, something that never came up during my schooling years
I hope so. Sure didn't come up throughout my education either. I knew about it, but never knew the extend of it until I went back to Uni last year and did a unit on Indigenous health and illness. Fucking blows the mind man.
yeh i didn't have such an understanding 'til my ethics/rights course.. it's long overdue - time for change
I think there were plenty of Australians who were all for it though. I don't know the stats, but the Sorry movement has been pretty big, with people all over the country supporting National Sorry day. The fact that the Australian government so stubbornly refused to do this for so long, was going against what a lot of Australians wanted, and felt was the right and just thing to do.
With that said, you're right. There still remains a strong prejudice against the first Australians. I tend to think the majority of this is born of ignorance. As one poster mentioned, we didn't learn about this stuff in school. The whole ugly episode of Australian history was swept under the rug and hidden, and when people starting finding their voice to speak out about it, it was underplayed and discredited. It was regarded as an over exaggeration, so the black fella could squeeze more benefits and "perks" from the government. So, for a lot of people, learning the reality of the Stolen Generation is new to them. It certainly was for me.
If you've not seen Rabbit Proof fence, I recommend it. It highlights the journey of three little girls who were forcibly removed from their family and their efforts to get back home. They ran away and traveled thousands of miles on foot, made it home, only to be removed once more. This is one story. Over 50,000 children were removed from their families, community and culture between the 1920 to early 1970's in an effort to "breed the blackness out of them". The consequences of this were enormous, and the effects remain today. Saying sorry in this way, is the first step of many towards improving the lives of these people.