Summary:
The origins and continuing problems with racism toward aborigines in Australia.
Aboriginal racism, what do we achieve from it? Love, happiness, forming a sense of Nationalism, or do we form rebellion and depression, which results in disruption of today's Australian society. Aboriginal racism has stuck around for hundreds of years and continues to cause heavy destruction of yesterday's, today's and maybe tomorrow's society.
What makes the aboriginal people unpopular and forced to posses a negative image? Is it their difference of skin colour, which was once used to protect the natives from the harsh Australian sun? Is it their cultures that are different because of their unique background and past? Is it the discussion and arguments that is still left over from Australian Federation? The questions are left unanswered and the answers unknown. Australian life and society continues to ride the roller coaster dropping of bad memories and vacating their carriage seats with new experiences, power and positive attitudes to build a better, stronger future. But still after all these years; one passenger still sits in the carriage, which stays with the past, the present and possibly the future, who is this rider you may ask? Aboriginal racism.
The indigenous tribes that roamed the land before white settlers came to invade, had strong connections and spiritual beliefs of their land, just like a child would with a doll, they loved it, took care of it and it was part of their religion and culture. But as time progressed Australia, an isolated paradise, was prone to settlers and explorers which were on the verge of expanding their empire to become more powerful and dominating the globe. Therefore, it was no surprise that the British Empire discovered and settled Australia in the imperialism period. As a result, the Aboriginal tribal lands were eventually taken from them, leaving the future generations to adopt the English lifestyle and losing their aboriginal lifestyle, culture and spiritual beliefs. Since the explorers settled, to present day, the Aboriginal people have still not got their tribal lands back, they have lost beliefs, dreamtime religions, culture and memories, which will eventually lead to the extinction of the aboriginal society and left with no evidence of aboriginal presence in Australia's history.
Government policies have affected the lives of indigenous people for decades. Many indigenous children have been removed and totally separated from their families, and as a result have been scared for life as they have not been able to reunite with their family and relations again. Also there have been many social problems for aboriginal people, which are the direct result of forcible removal of children from their families and communities generation after generation, for almost the entire length of European colonisation. Many aboriginal people have felt so lost without their family and community that they have great difficulty finding their identity, and often have no idea where they belong in society. They believe that they neither fit into indigenous communities nor the broader Australian culture, and say that they are totally alone. Further more, indigenous Australians have had to endure the removal of their children and also loss of human rights because they did not have the law to help them in their struggles, in fact the law worked against them. While indigenous Australians were suffering and enduring these policies, white Australians enjoyed the many freedoms and citizenship rights that they had taken for granted. This attitude to the aboriginal youth and community is disrespectful, selfish and racist. Why did Australia have laws that allowed stealing of aboriginal children from their families and communities, which left them unknown of their identity, rejected from Australian society and therefore venturing into adolescent troubles such as drugs, alcoholism, crime and suicide. This question I cannot answer, but one question I can, "What do we achieve from it"" We achieve sadness, depression, death, pain, suffering and most of all aboriginal racism.
The majority of the white Australian community does not know enough about our indigenous neighbours. Today's youth are brought up learning vaguely about Australia's once known natives, the natives that use to rule this secluded island, the natives that cared for it as if it was their child, the natives that use to live as tribes and walk the land. As time passes these children will then be confronted with negative images of the indigenous community, as the media portrays their arrogance for fighting for land rights, which is rightly so, and looking for a simple word "sorry" from the white man, as we, white people stole their children so they could become one of us, and learn and abide by the white culture.
The majority of Australia has been racist to the indigenous community. The majority of Australia has been unfair to our indigenous neighbours, our Equal Opportunity Commission is hardly equal, and our Human Rights are hardly right. The indigenous community has been tortured, disrespected and racially discriminated for hundreds of years in amongst land rights and justice scandals so that they can just connect with their native aboriginal culture, that once existed some time ago, and what do we achieve from racially discriminating the aboriginal community? The answer lies in the future, when Australia will become as one.
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