The stolen generation

[PureX]

What do you suggest we do about reconciliation towards the stolen generation then? We've taken the leap and said sorry, what now?

Excellent, THAT's exactly the next question that needs to be addressed. And not just between you and I, but throughout Australia as a nation. I suspect the answer will be to implement a number of different policies and programs that intend to re-instill the respect, and self-respect that has been destroyed by years of systematic cultural and physical genocide. Some attempts at this will likely fail, but if the goal remains clear, these can be stopped or altered to better achieve that goal while the policies and programs that do work can be enhanced and heralded.

We have a similar problem here in the U.S., not so much with native americans as with african americans and our history of slavery. But things are slowly getting better. African americans are more and more becoming fully accepted as citizens of our nation and are being afforded all the same respect and opportunities as any other citizens. We're still not there, yet, but we have come a lot closer to that goal in the last 40 years and I think we can expect that this trend will continue.

I think the important thing to remember and understand is that black americans don't want to be white americans. They simply want the same rights and respect as white americans. And they deserve no less then that. But it still takes generations for people on both sides to finally forgive and live together.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

Repairing the damage means giving them money, they've been given enough for doing nothing. Also i am innocent, im not old enough to vote, and would you in your right mind walk out to aboriginal communites and say sorry', my grandparents took your children, i think not.
You seem to not understand these people, they want money, but lack the intellect to deal with it, so we throw more money at them. My problem with it is i pay tax to them and yet i go to the emergency ward and have to wait 5 hours because the government gave aboriginals a few hundred million instead of building another hospital.

:sarcastic They have a higher infant mortality rate, a shorter life span, are more prone to diseases that the rest of us don't even have to deal with and would laugh at if we did. We applaud our doctors for going to third world countries and handing out eye operations, we donate money to worthy causes like that and pat ourselves on the back because we're such good and caring people, and we completely ignore the same issues in our own back yard. Why? Because we can.
There are plenty of members of the aboriginal community as a whole - our last years Young Australian of The Year is a case to point - who will happily stand up and tell the other members of their community to get off their arses and do something with their lives, and actively work toward that end, but if we hadn't spent so long throwing money at individuals,giving them things but not necessarily respect, inviting a welfare mentality and hoping that would make the problem go away, maybe they wouldn't have to be doing that, maybe there wouldn't have been a problem of this magnitude to begin with. If we as a country have spent so long have no expectations of these people, how can we expect them to have any expectations of themselves? While we're sitting here saying,'We give them houses and they trash them...they don't respect anything.' which I'm not denying happens, because it's a story I've heard often from people in several different places who have witnessed it first hand, why aren't we asking ourselves why instead of just getting ****** off about the waste of taxpayers money?
There are some extremely successful aboriginals out there with jobs that require a great deal of intelligence (as well as a bucket load that you probably aren't even aware are of aboriginal origin) - the young lady I mentioned earlier is a lawyer - so it's just a little rude for you to label an entire sector of the community as lacking in 'intellect' just because you don't agree with a government apology.
As for blaming aboriginals because you have to wait 5 hours at the hospital, there would be a number of reasons for that, none of which involve aboriginals whatsoever. One of those is that we're lacking doctors, especially in country areas. The second reason is that there were probably people in far worse condition than you that required medical attention in front of you. Emergency isn't - and never has been - first come first served. Nor should it be, no matter how inconvenient it may be for us as individuals to have to sit around waiting.
But even if you were right about the cause of the wait, it's far more important that you have immediate attention for your obviously non threatening injury than it is to try and keep kiddies from going blind from a preventable disease.
As for compensation, the government isn't going into the business of handing out compensation to individuals, they're looking to improve infant mortality and lifespan in the shortest possible time.

 

[wednesday]

:sarcastic They have a higher infant mortality rate, a shorter life span, are more prone to diseases that the rest of us don't even have to deal with and would laugh at if we did. We applaud our doctors for going to third world countries and handing out eye operations, we donate money to worthy causes like that and pat ourselves on the back because we're such good and caring people, and we completely ignore the same issues in our own back yard. Why? Because we can.
There are plenty of members of the aboriginal community as a whole - our last years Young Australian of The Year is a case to point - who will happily stand up and tell the other members of their community to get off their arses and do something with their lives, and actively work toward that end, but if we hadn't spent so long throwing money at individuals,giving them things but not necessarily respect, inviting a welfare mentality and hoping that would make the problem go away, maybe they wouldn't have to be doing that, maybe there wouldn't have been a problem of this magnitude to begin with. If we as a country have spent so long have no expectations of these people, how can we expect them to have any expectations of themselves? While we're sitting here saying,'We give them houses and they trash them...they don't respect anything.' which I'm not denying happens, because it's a story I've heard often from people in several different places who have witnessed it first hand, why aren't we asking ourselves why instead of just getting ****** off about the waste of taxpayers money?
There are some extremely successful aboriginals out there with jobs that require a great deal of intelligence (as well as a bucket load that you probably aren't even aware are of aboriginal origin) - the young lady I mentioned earlier is a lawyer - so it's just a little rude for you to label an entire sector of the community as lacking in 'intellect' just because you don't agree with a government apology.
As for blaming aboriginals because you have to wait 5 hours at the hospital, there would be a number of reasons for that, none of which involve aboriginals whatsoever. One of those is that we're lacking doctors, especially in country areas. The second reason is that there were probably people in far worse condition than you that required medical attention in front of you. Emergency isn't - and never has been - first come first served. Nor should it be, no matter how inconvenient it may be for us as individuals to have to sit around waiting.
But even if you were right about the cause of the wait, it's far more important that you have immediate attention for your obviously non threatening injury than it is to try and keep kiddies from going blind from a preventable disease.
As for compensation, the government isn't going into the business of handing out compensation to individuals, they're looking to improve infant mortality and lifespan in the shortest possible time.

I'm aware of successful aboriginal's, every year of my school life we watched 3 hours of it. Also, i don't really care about the hospitals, it was just a weak example. My arguement is simply that why should we throw such a great deal of money at these people year after year when its doing nothing apparently. The whole intervention thing that cost the country a lot of money has not been a resounding success as far as i've seen. I think we should help the aboriginals through education, but how, every attempt to help them has been unsuccessful. Its tradgic to see them suffer with disease, malnutrition, abuse and alcohollism but what's it going to take to stop this? The apology is a good way to start, but in order to unite the country they have to be prepared to accept our help, which im sure many aren't to chuffed about. I was angered about the "calls for compensation"because the first thing that sprang to mind is what will this do? Money is not the issue in my opinion, but right education. Anyone can say don't drink alcohol and abuse your children but they will still do it and Kids will still go hungry because of poor living conditions at home.

How can we as ordinary Australians help this situation? What can the government do to solve this crisis considering every other attempt has failed?

 

[PureX]

Some suggestions might be to stop giving them houses and instead pay them to build their own houses, while teaching them the necessary skills. A house that I built myself will mean a lot more to me than one given to me by an enemy. And a man who is willing to teach me how to do things for myself is not my enemy.

Perhaps some kind of database and program could be set up to help all those displaced children find their family members, again. If the records are gone, maybe DNA tests could help siblings find each other.

Some people will respond to alcohol and drug treatment, if it's available, and 12-step programs might work even better because they're self-run.

The point is to start trying some of this stuff in earnest because as a nation you really do care about what's happened to these people. Most of these kinds of programs would be relatively inexpensive. And part of the healing would involve getting the programs self-sustaining. But it will take time and commitment, and some money.

 

[kadzbiz]

There are plently of aboriginal assistance programs, aboriginal co-operatives, aboriginal implemented initiatives, aboriginal legal services, aboriginal justice systems, etc. They are run by either by aboriginals themselves or with the input of white Australians. There are a multitude of opportunities for any aboriginal person in this country to achieve whatever it is they wish to accomplish, whether it's becoming a high court judge, an administrator of an aboriginal community or just a person who wants to live off the land as his ancestors once did. Aboriginals have more liberties and rights than any other minority group or majority group that I am aware of. I have seen a lot of time, money and effort by both indigenous and non-indigenous groups to help Aboriginals reclaim themselves - it's an incredibly difficult cause by everyone's admission.

 

[PureX]

There are plently of aboriginal assistance programs, aboriginal co-operatives, aboriginal implemented initiatives, aboriginal legal services, aboriginal justice systems, etc. They are run by either by aboriginals themselves or with the input of white Australians. There are a multitude of opportunities for any aboriginal person in this country to achieve whatever it is they wish to accomplish, whether it's becoming a high court judge, an administrator of an aboriginal community or just a person who wants to live off the land as his ancestors once did. Aboriginals have more liberties and rights than any other minority group or majority group that I am aware of. I have seen a lot of time, money and effort by both indigenous and non-indigenous groups to help Aboriginals reclaim themselves - it's an incredibly difficult cause by everyone's admission.

True enough. I think ya'll just have to keep at it. It will take time, and several generations, but it can be healed up in the end if that really is the majority's goal.

The U.S. ended slavery over 100 years ago, and we STILL have not achieved parity for blacks, yet. But we are gaining on it. And I do believe that in another generation or two skin color really isn't going to be a factor, anymore. MLK's dream is coming to pass, and will come to pass in the near future, I believe.

 

[kadzbiz]

Parity? The black kids I went to school with had a better opportunity of making something of themselves than I ever did.

 

[PureX]

Parity? The black kids I went to school with had a better opportunity of making something of themselves than I ever did.

Not if they were so psychologically screwed up that they couldn't take advantage of what you're calling an opportunity. Please remember that YOU are not the yardstick by which all "opportunities" are measured. You can lay the whole world before a blind man but if he's blind he's not going to be able to see it. And if he can't see it he is not likely to be able to appreciate the possibilities that it offers, either. So are you going to blame him because he's blind? Are you going to resent him because he can't see the possibilities that you can see, there? That would be pretty selfish, don't you think?

We have a lot of white people here in the states that love to complain about 'affirmative action' because they feel it's a bias in favor of blacks. And it is a bias in favor of blacks. But it exists to help counteract white prejudice against black people and the damage that has done over many years. Affirmative action can stop when racism stops. But of course they only want to see the bias that effects themselves, while they happily ignore the bias that has harmed others for so long.

They don't have my sympathy.

 

[kadzbiz]

......Affirmative action can stop when racism stops. But of course they only want to see the bias that effects themselves, while they happily ignore the bias that has harmed others for so long. They don't have my sympathy.

I don't seek any.

 

[emiliano]

Saying sorry to the aboriginals, what is your view?

Personally why should we apologise for something we didn't do? Why should we pay compensation, money won't solve a thing?

I see nothing wrong with saying sorry to them, because all the efforts of the past generations ended in disaster, the monetary compensation have been on for years, and it has done more damage than good to them, I think that they should be afforded the same rights and obligations that any Australian gets, but they don’t, they get a bigger share of the social security, the scholarships, they are actually privileged as compared to the rest of Australian, anybody know what is it that they want us to do? Are they willing to take responsibilities for the success or failures that their schemes whatever they may be?

 

[darkendless]

I see nothing wrong with saying sorry to them, because all the efforts of the past generations ended in disaster, the monetary compensation have been on for years, and it has done more damage than good to them, I think that they should be afforded the same rights and obligations that any Australian gets, but they don’t, they get a bigger share of the social security, the scholarships, they are actually privileged as compared to the rest of Australian, anybody know what is it that they want us to do? Are they willing to take responsibilities for the success or failures that their schemes whatever they may be?

I completely agree with this post.

I got told somewhere that every man woman and child who is aboriginal gets around $40,000 a year in benefits. I think they need to take half of that away and help out the rest of us who are getting crushed by the rising cost of living. I don't think its fair that they get so many benefits that a white Australian does not, does handing them money somehow make them equal? They should have to work for their money, slaves at restaurants earn less than that for 40 solid hours of work a week.