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The stolen generation
- Thread starter wednesday
- Start date
kai
ragamuffin
its reconciliation with the aboriginals thats needed they have been treated terribly and need to be treated as the elders of australia not backward drunken "untermenchen"
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Australia apology to Aborigines
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Australia apology to Aborigines
PureX
Veteran Member
You should apologize because you have benefited, and the aboriginals have suffered greatly, for what your parents did. And you should understand that a mere apology will not amend the terrible damage that's been done to them. The next step, then, is to begin looking for ways that this damage can be amended. That will likely cost some money, but it will likely require you to change the way you think, too.
What you should not be doing, is whining about how you are so innocent, and so you shouldn't have to do anything to help out the victims of such terrible cultural and societal injustice.
kai
ragamuffin
well said purex, the full text can be found here
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Full text: Apology to Aborigines
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Full text: Apology to Aborigines
kadzbiz
..........................
I find the idea of trying to exterminate a race abhorent. Yes, the current government needed to apologise for the acts of previous governments. Should I say sorry however? Why should I? I didn't come to this country until 1970, with my parents, as did many many other people. Let me also say this to all of you who don't realise; millions, probably billions, of dollars have been spent on trying to give the aboriginals of this country a helping hand, major advantages and a great deal of benefits, but what have the majority done with this aid? Wasted it. Not taken advantage of it to better their lives, but squandered it in alcohol abuse and destroying the very structures that have been put in place to assist them. How do I know? I have seen it first hand, have dealt with many of them and have very close friends that have worked in aboriginal communities for the past 20 years. I am not a racist. I give everyone a fair go and treat everyone as I would want to be treated. I even had an aboriginal girlfriend for some time. I am sick to death with the continual unjust condemnation of the very people that are trying to assist these aboriginal communities. I couldn't care less if a flood of compensation claims follow this national sorry day, but I'll tell you now, most of any payments made to these aboriginal collectives will be completely wasted. Too few aboriginal people have made the most of their entitlements and made something of themselves, and I am proud of the ones that have. IMHO, it appears to me that the aboriginal people themselves don't really know what they want. They talk of living like they once did, but at the same time want the lifestyle of many middle class individuals in the cities. They can't have it both ways. And I mean that literally as I've seen many many aboriginal families get given houses and cars because they "needed" them and then just totally trash these same things. Those that I have seen like this have just no respect for themselves, their culture, their families or their society. It is a very sad situation. I don't know what the answer is, but it will not be resolved in my lifetime.
kai
ragamuffin
who asked you to say sorry?
and i am not surprised the aboriginal people dont know what they want are you, the whole culture is very nearly destroyed, languages lost , they have very nearly all been converted to christianity there only identity seems to be a "blackfela", they have only had the right to vote since 1962.
and just so people know what stolen generations is all about
The Stolen Generations (or Stolen Generation) is a term used to describe the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, usually of mixed descent, who were removed from their families by Australian government agencies and church missions, under various state acts of parliament, denying the rights of parents and making Aboriginal children wards of the state, between approximately 1869 and (officially) 1969. It was asserted that these children of mixed descent were not accepted by their communities and were therefore at high risk of harm. The policy typically involved the removal of children into internment camps, orphanages and other institutions.[1]
i lived in australia for six years and i as a human being am sorry for what they have had to go through.
Stolen Generations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PureX
Veteran Member
OK, so now you understand the true depth of the damage that's been done. The next step is to take some responsibility for having done it. It was YOUR white European culture that did this to them. And that is still doing it to them with attitudes just like the one you're displaying, now, as you blame them for not adopting your European lifestyle after your European culture has totally trashed theirs. They were treated like dumb animals, and even hunted and killed as pests. And now you're surprised that so many of them have no self respect? Can't you see how difficult it would be to embrace a culture that has done this to you, and is continuing to do it to you in a thousand subtle ways even today?
It's not about throwing money or European goodies at them. That's still just treating them like nothing more than the unwanted evidence of your own collective guilt. Somehow, you're going to have to REALLY acknowledge what your culture has done, and is still doing, and then WORK at changing those behaviors and attitudes within yourselves, so that you can finally embrace these people as your brothers and sisters ... and as your equals. Only then will they finally begin to see themselves that way.
kadzbiz
..........................
Me personally, nobody. Me collectively as an Australian, all aboriginals.
I've hardly ever seen an aboriginal at the polling booths or in any church.
I'm not denying that what they went through wasn't terribly traumatic, but how do you mean you are "sorry" for what they went through? That doesn't make any sense. You can feel sad for them, pity for them even deeply hurt for them, but how can you be sorry for it? You can't be sorry for something you didn't do or for something that resulted from what you failed to do.
Did you live in an aboriginal community for those six years? How much interaction did you actually have with aboriginals in your time here?
kai
ragamuffin
if it makes no sense for someone to feel sorry for someone else then i cant explain it to you. and hey i had lots of aboriginal friends but does that matter a jot , its like saying "i know lots of black people i am not a racist" its a cliche. i am not accusing you of anything so dont be defensive you have your opinion i have mine.
kadzbiz
..........................
PureX, with all due respect, MY European Culture DID NOT do anything to them. You don't even know where I am from. Why do you have this perception that nobody knows how to WORK with aboriginal people? I don't have an "attitude" about them at all. I am telling you exactly what I have experienced directly in my life and there are MANY aboriginal people WORKING with aboriginals that are having the same issues as every EUROPEAN CULTURED Australian. Treat them like equals? They are getting treated BETTER than most caucasian Australians! They are being given everything they say they want and still aren't happy. I don't know what more they can possible have.
Y'know, I think a problem with some American views is that they are trying to compare the Australian aboriginal to the American Indian - big difference.
kadzbiz
..........................
I know you're not, but I get defensive of course when people say stupid things like this ......
PureX
Veteran Member
Perhaps what they want back is their self-respect. YOUR culture took that from them when it devastated their culture, under the presumption that they were ignorant stone-age primatives that needed to be "fixed" according to your own definitions of what human beings are supposed to be.
So how do you give them back their self-respect after so thoroughly and systematically destroying it? Do you really think that blaming them for not appreciating your guilt-gifts will do it? And how is that working out for ya? By your own admission it's not working too well.
kadzbiz
..........................
I agree with the government's apology. Of all the things that are in place at the moment for the aboriginal people, I don't know what else can be done to help them regain their self respect.
sandandfoam
Veteran Member
PureX
Do you hold a similar view regarding native Americans ?
Do you hold a similar view regarding native Americans ?
kai
ragamuffin
good point i personally think its exactly the same issue isnt it!
kadzbiz
..........................