Racism in Australia

Australia is a tolerant nation. We are also the most diverse and multicultural nation on the face of the planet. At least, we are when looking at our predominantly urban society rather than our somewhat homogenous rural townships and settlements. Tolerance is a start, but tolerance does not equate to understanding and compassion for our fellow homo-sapiens. Indeed, the majority of us will tolerate new arrivals to our country, but only conditionally, and we certainly won't consider embracing such arrivals until those conditions are met. 

You're welcome to come to Australia, but you had better look white, sound white and/or love mainstream white culture. If not, then you'd best get your alien arse to one of our concentration camps on either the mainland or Christmas Island, until you at least reconsider your fashion sense, taste in religion, skin tan and accent.

Sadly, if you don't fit the requirements of being an Australian, but are already here, having migrated to Australia 60,000 years ago at a time too early for restrictions to have been put in place, then quite clearly you are a problem. Your very existence is an inconvenience to the mainstream who have over the past 200+ years tried to build up a history of great exploration, endeavor and accomplishment. The fact that your ancestors showed explorers the routes to take and where to find nourishment, and that the agricultural industry was built on your people's backs is not a matter to be discussed! It's not about you, it's about everyone else, and the sooner that you realize this or vanish from the face of the Earth, the better.

For you, as an Aboriginal person, you are to be expected to cop any negative comments on the chin, and go about being in the background, adding a slight, inoffensive, easily removed touch of colour to the decor. Step over this mark though and be prepared to be demonized incessantly. You're here to be on postcards, on tourist trails and work on remote cattle stations, nothing more.

To be Aboriginal in Australia, you must accept that it's perfectly OK to have your heritage dissected and labelled. Nigger, boong, abo, darkie, Full blood, half caste, quadroon; all are perfectly acceptable. You're also going to have to live with an occasional comment where if you have enough European heritage in your ancestry that you're fair game to be considered "not reaaaally an Aborigine", and this will especially be so should your skin be fair, hair be red, or your eyes blue - even if your siblings exhibit few if any of these traits, whilst sharing the same pair of parents, or that your children are dark despite both parents being fair! 

An as an Aboriginal person you are to be open to pseudo anthropological analysis from academics and layman alike. Get used to living in a fish bowl, because it's not your feelings that matter. They don't and they never did.

Yes, Australians are sensitive at times, but only to the needs of their own slices of life and those who inhabit the sphere they traverse on a daily basis. Self depreciation is an important part of being an Australian, but not as important as being swift in destroying those that differ from the Anglo-Celtic roadmap, or anyone who is an achiever, for that matter. 

In Australia you can call a person any name you like. You may even combine issues of abuse and go for a multi tasked assault and rip to shred any retarded nigger dyke you care to! Because in this country it isn't the feelings of those hurt that matters. It's the feelings of those making the abusive comments that matter! What's great about this setup is that it absolves the perpetrator of any and all responsibility for their actions! Fantastic, huh?

A 5 year old Australian child may insult their playmates with all manner of abusive terminology acquired from overhearing one's parents and other adult role models, and because they lack an understanding for their actions, their actions may freely be seen only as rude, and not racist, sexist or condescendingly brutal at all. It's so easy, try it yourself! Find an easy target, insult them in public, and because you don't understand the history of the word you've utilised, and aren't familiar with the baggage associated with such derogatory and oppressive behavior you'll be given complete social immunity and you'll be free to resume where you left off, if only on a slightly lower key. If anything, the media will give you sympathy and consider you to be the victim for being called out for your actions!

But if the Aboriginal people should ever raise an eyebrow to past injustices, never fear, there's an in-built safety mechanism. It's called the reverse racism discussion. You see, with this particular device, White people may go even further to insult and degrade, for the moment that a question of racism is raised, one can simply invoke this option and begin a spiel justifying all comments, based only on perceived benefits that Aboriginal people receive from the government, that are beyond those that white people receive. Should a white person have ever experienced an insult from a black person, or know of someone who did, then all bets are off. It's time to take a free penalty shot. For all Aboriginals are to be labelled pedophiles and lazy, leeching, drunkards. Huzzuh! Hell, you might even like to introduce your friends in the US entertainment industry to portray Aboriginal people as being primitives in the occasional sitcom one-liner! The possibilities are endless!!

And what benefits might you invoke in your defense to accompany your broad generalized insults? Well, certain educational and health care benefits, which some might dare to say were instituted to attempt to address the downsides to being black in a Anglo-Celtic run nation. But let's not speak of such down sides.

Let's never mention THE FACTS.

Civilization

Sometimes I have to wonder about this species of ours. I look on in depressed bewilderment at the way in which humanity pulls in a myriad of directions, never striving for a common goal or to better our lot on a global scale. Petty rivalries and jealousies are created every day and often thrive until replaced by another equally pathetic quarrel. Language is always the first tool to be utilized in helping fools differentiate between themselves and others. It's worse when words become a tool in such a manner, where it is non intentional.

One particular word that is unintentionally used, for the greater part, as a divider, is "civilization." Whilst not readily obvious to the vast majority, the usage does become clear when you are on the receiving end of classification, in the negative sense.

What is civilization?

According to a typical faceless online dictionary, civilization is:

noun

Definition:

1. highly developed society: a society that has a high level of culture and social organization

2. advanced development of society: an advanced level of development in society that is marked by complex social and political organization, and material, scientific, and artistic progress

3. advanced society in general: all the societies at an advanced level of development considered collectively

I would argue that historically the word has been applied sparingly in any of the contexts noted above. No, instead I find the term to be one used primarily as a means of condescension. If a culture or society is different, it's been far too common a case where integrity and willingness to develop a thorough understanding have been thrown out the window, in favour of condescending generalisations, meant only to place the known societies on a pedestal, above those cultures and societies mistaken for being primitive. Perhaps "civilization" should be replaced with "complication" as a far more logical means for differentiation.

Whilst European civilization has more often than not claimed the high ground, it has done so through cultural and social ignorance and by being totally oblivious to every other civilization on Earth. Indeed, it has inherited much of its prosperity on the back of the ingenuity of the civilizations it has so often mimicked, dominated or poured scorn upon. Having said this, the Europeans are far from being alone in this form of bigotry, as every major power has done and will continue to do the same. The ancient Greeks thought themselves superior to the rest of the known world, the Romans then superseded them and thought the same. Europe thought itself better than Asia, whilst Asia Minor and the Chinese both assumed their superirity to the West, whilst entertaining macro struggles within their own regions. One can only imagine what the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians thought, whilst now America, China, Christianity, Islam and Europe all are pulling at one another, and failing to get anywhere.

Getting back to the crux of the matter, it's the usage of the word "civilization" that I am forced to question. So often my own culture is targeted, yet the terminology is used as a throwaway device without any substance. Is the Western World really more civilized than Aboriginal Australia, and has it ever been? The answer is always a clear - no.

In 1788 when the first steps toward a multicultural Australia were taken, Aboriginal Australia was seen as primitive, yet the truth was quite the opposite. Whilst technologically poor, the fact is that the continent was home to numerous cultures and a society that had evolved into a highly functional and efficient machine - as could be expected given the 60,000 continuous years of development and refinement that were possible.

Aboriginal Australia evolved to meet the requirements of the environment of which it was a part. As the early European settlers found in their struggles, developing Australia was never going to work, until they had at their disposal the full resources of Europe and the world.

Australian soil is not suitable for sustaining crops without fertilization, which could have only come from non indigenous livestock. No Australian animal could ever have pulled a plough, and without beasts of burden there was never any reason to have made a wheel. To this day, no indigenous plants are a sizeable and sustainable cash crop, other than Macadamia nuts.

Without a means to cultivate crops there was never a reason or any particular logic for people to build permanent homes in most parts of Australia. Whilst there were some seasonal village settlements in S.E Australia, for those communities that farmed eels, or lived by large water courses, those are generally ignored by the history books. Despite roaming from one set camp to another, each tribe did have ownership over a particular tract of land within a clearly defined boundary. Calling an Aboriginal Australian a nomad would be the same as calling a farmer the same for maintaining livestock on one of the larger Australian cattle stations, which in cases rival the size of Britain and some of the smaller US states.

Technology develops where there is a need, and where resources allow for it. In Australia's case, it would take outside resources to advance Australian technology.

Socially and culturally however, it could be argued that few cultures can rival the organisational structures in place within traditional Aboriginal societies. It was, and in some cases still is far more advanced than is given credit.

Where the Europeans often saw what they termed a lack of civilization, they also equated it with a lack of intelligence of those being studied. Which again, was a foolish notion, carried only to improve a collective and ignorant ego.

I don't like civilization as a word. It's as superfluous as other outdated and ridiculous notions such as race and the study of phrenology. It makes me cringe and wonder at the intent of the individual using it. I suppose for me it is one of those words that can trigger an alarm to go off, and force me to tread lightly. Although I would say that, as I have "the brain-pan of a Stagecoach tilter."

Sorry?

The Aussie Government has finally decided to offer an apology to the Stolen Generations, and it's about time.

It's a reasonable enough gesture to make. It's human and shows the sort of compassion for fellow human beings who were wronged that the Howard Government would never have It's also the right thing to do, and for a number of genuinely fair reasons.

People of varying backgrounds are removed from their parents and extended families every day, but not as a smokescreen for an assimilation policy, meant to feed a slow form of genocide. Children are removed for the wrong committed by parents, and not for the colour of skin or cultural heritage. It's true that many people in government agencies since the 1800's have genuinely had the best intentions in mind when dealing with Aboriginal people, but the best intentions can at times be the genesis of the most heinous of crimes, as history has proven on countless occasions.

My own family provides for an excellent case study in the effects felt in Aboriginal communities regarding the generations that were removed.

My great grandfather was born circa 1874 in the Upper Murray region of Victoria. In about 1883 he was taken from his family, never to see them again, to be placed on a Christian mission in S.W Victoria. At that point in time whilst the intentions were honourable to give Aboriginal people an education there really is no excuse to have destroyed a family in such a manner. For all intent and purpose my great great grandfather became an orphan, and all for the sake of an education that focused heavily on Christianity, with reading and writing as an afterthought.

By the age of 13 in 1886, three year after having been taken, my great grandfather was cut free from his rudimentary education/indoctrination and then forced into working as a farm labourer. This was standard policy for all male Aboriginal children aged 13 and older. The policy incidentally was introduced in the same year, 1886.

After being moved to another mission/concentration camp, still in S.W Victoria, my great grandfather was allowed the opportunity to finally move elsewhere in about 1901, moving back to the Murray River, and a mission near Moama. There he met the daughter of an Aboriginal man who was one of only a handful who had been allowed to purchase his own land. They married in 1902.

Things went well for a while, until conditions began to deteriorate. Children and adults alike had a high mortality rate and disease spread through the community. Of my great grandmothers 16 children, only 6 survived. Land that the people had successfully cultivated and that had allowed for the community to be self sustainable was taken away and awarded to neighbouring white farmers. The community then went into great decline and became a burden on the government.

Whilst my great grandparents then moved to greener pastures in the NSW town of Wyalong, where my grandfather and his siblings were allowed the rare opportunity of a high school education, things were not as comfortable for my great grandmother's two sisters and their children still on the dwindling mission station on the Murray.

The early 1900's saw my great aunt's four daughters stolen from her. This was despite the fact that she was an assistant school mistress, had a husband gainfully employed, that she spoke 3 languages fluently (English, French, Yorta Yorta) and also trained as a midwife and helped deliver many of the successful births in her community. In the autobiography of one of her daughters the reader is shown the terror and heart rending loss as experienced through both mother and daughters eyes and followed the mothers years of documented struggle to regain her children.

The truly saddening aspect of this small slice of history is that the occasional successes of some of the stolen children are used by some as justification, and to promote the idea that policies were ever reasonable. Such logic is based on a loose understanding of matters, discounting of history and media spin as dictated by unsympathetic.

My great aunt's children are again an excellent example. They gained their education whilst with their family and then were placed in a training camp for domestic servants, far from their parents for no viable reason. There they sure enough were taught the multiplication tables, but a number also learnt about the pains of rape and other forms of physical and mental abuses, at the hands of often unskilled workers. When old enough, those girls (like their male counterparts learning to be stockmen, regardless of being from the city or country) were then sent out to upper middle class white families as low wage domestic servants, whose wages were then kept in trust whilst only being allowed sixpence as pocket money. The majority of those people who for all intent and purpose were slaves never did see their wages that were kept in "trust." That is why reparations are an important part of any government apology.

Despite those hardships those four girls did go on to make something of themselves. But not without seeing the trauma claim one of them in a suicide and another attempted suicide. One founded a college and became an author, another an author and co creator of a television series, and another the matriarch of a family whose achievements range from sports star to playwright, academic and novelist, whilst founding an Indigenous medical service and co-founding a legal service.

Despite the pains inflicted upon those four girls and many of their cousins in varying family lines, the barbaric assimilation and destruction practices remained in vogue until the mid 1970's. Despite my fair skin I missed being removed by less than 5 years. My father only escaped removal in the 1930's to 40's by being taken by his mother to Boys Town at Engadine, where her work in the kitchens and friendship with the school's founder saw that her son would remain unmolested by government policy. Sadly, that didn't save my father's six sisters. They followed in the footsteps of my great aunts children, being forced into slavery a generation earlier. There at the camp they weren't short for the company of family. It's no surprise that those girls who were most heavily traumatised are those that have commonly passed those unresolved issues and developmental pains to their own children.

Again another generation, and their children too were in some cases removed. And again there were suicides and those who drank themselves into oblivion to forget their pains and memories.

I don't think that the average Aussie should feel guilt, but empathy is most certainly something that more should feel as they are allowed to learn more of the truth. As in my prior post regarding Australia Day, I believe the government must take responsibility, as they represent Australia's past as much as they do Australia's present and future. They are leading a nation that has benefited in no small way from the injustices committed against Aboriginal people, for well meaning and ignoble reason. Acknowledging and regretting the mistakes of the past is as important as taking pride in the strides that have been made, because examining those mistakes and understanding them is the only way forward for all.

Procrastinating

It's half past a brass monkey and I'm sitting in my big lounge with my feet up, with the heater on, ignoring work and messing around on my family tree project and blog. It's been a very ordinary few days since my last post.

In regard to my family tree, I think I may be getting closer to solving a few mysteries that have eluded me and other distant cousins and researchers. This excites me. I'm sure you're either shrugging your shoulders or looking for the next topic, but I find that genealogy is more enthralling than any other form of mystery. So very few people know what their background is beyond 3-4 generations. I started from a point where I didn't even know the names of my maternal grand parents, so there was much to learn.

Since having started my project I've made many discoveries. I've learnt of my Swedish heritage, the areas of Ireland in which many ancestors came from, and that my English roots touch more than half the counties in England and with those details so far having been traced back to the mid 1600's. A parliamentarian, several convicts dating back to 1788, a fellow who founded a NSW country town and a woman who escaped the gallows for a new life in Australia make up some of the interesting characters in my mother's side of the family.

On my paternal side, I've found indigenous connections that tie me to people from as far and wide as the Northern Territory, South Australia and even the first nations of Tasmania. Not to neglect the fact that no less than 20 NRL players, 3 AFL players, numerous professional boxers and several major political/historical figures appear in my family tree. It's a fun hobby, even if it is one that is generally perceived as being quite geeky. But that hardly matters. It's not like I've ever bothered to fit any other stereotypes.

I'd imagine that like in the UK, once the Australian version of the TV series Who Do You Think You Are goes to air on SBS I'll be joined by a large influx of new genealogists. Hopefully one or two of those will have some of the answers I've been looking for.

Anyway, for the heck of it - here's a picture from last Saturday's Halloween gig. My brother the zombie.

Because one was just never enough.

I've started a second blog to cater for a particular niche interest I have, in Aboriginal literature, genealogy and history studies.

Black Books