The content of this post was cut and pasted from here
Austraia is set to say sorry to indigenous peoples on Wednesday morning around 8am. I found these myth busting statements really very good and relevant. Feel free to comment. I won’t be a round to respond but then again – I don’t need to ;)
I have also posted this in the community forums under soapbox
Cheers
Robert
GETUP – PO Box A105 – Sydney South, NSW, 1235 Phone: 02 9264 4037 Fax: 02 9283 1371 info@getup.org.au www.getup.org.au
The Stolen Generations’ Apology – 7 Handy Mythbusters
There are many myths floating around about the apology so we’ve put together the following mythbusters. When you call up talk back radio, write to your local newspaper or are simply discussing the apology around the dinner table with family and friends, you can now consider yourself armed!
Use the following facts and arguments and help get everyone on board with the apology. The language used here is deliberately colloquial – which we hope will assist you to convince your fellow Australians. Good luck!
Myth 1 – I will not be made to feel guilt and shame for something I didn’t do
Individual Australians are not responsible and should not feel guilty. ‘Sorry’ does not have tobe an expression of shame or guilt. It can be an expression of empathy, as in ‘I’m sorry to hear your friend died’ or ‘I’m sorry you got hurt in that car accident’. If people are still confused on this front, they might recall that several years ago, John Howard apologised on behalf on the nation to Vietnam Veterans for their poor treatment when they returned from the war. In any case the apology will not be made on behalf of the Australian people but rather limited to the Australian Parliament.
Myth 2 – The Stolen Generations are a thing of the past
Of all the Stolen Generations myths, this is one of the biggest. The facts are that the removal of Indigenous children continued well into the 1960s and early 1970s. These people are still alive today and the effect on individuals, families and communities lasts a lifetime (and beyond).
Myth 3 – Saying sorry won’t deliver better results in health, housing or education
Saying sorry is not of itself supposed to deliver health, housing and education. The
fundamental flaw of this particular objection is that it implies Australia can’t deliver practical outcomes while simultaneously delivering symbolic gestures. In other words, it suggests we can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. The government must also pursue practical measures to address Indigenous disadvantage, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t begin the process with a symbolic act.
Myth 4 – It’ll cost us a fortune
Contrary to popular opinion, a national apology will have no legal impact on the capacity of members of the Stolen Generations to seek compensation. The ability of members of the Stolen Generations to pursue legal claims has existed since they were taken and nothing changes that. As a nation, an apology costs us nothing.
Myth 5 – The people who performed the removals thought they were doing the
right thing
Good people do things that turn out to be wrong – but that doesn’t mean they’re excused from apologising. The majority of Indigenous children were removed from families not on the basis of the level of their care – but simply because of the colour of their skin. Many kids experienced physical, sexual and emotional abuse in their foster families and institutions after they were removed. For those people who believe that forced removal actually benefited the children – it’s pretty difficult to find a member of the Stolen Generations who is happy about being denied the love of their parents and extended family.
Myth 6 – Saying sorry won’t change the past
Sadly, it won’t. But it will have a massive impact on the future – Stolen Generations
members have already started healing since the promise to apologise was announced. An apology means an enormous amount to Indigenous people and the nation as a whole – and will cost us nothing.
Myth 7 – Saying sorry just leads people to think everything’s been fixed
Whether you’re for or against it, anyone who thinks that everything will be ‘fixed’ with the apology is kidding themselves. No-one is claiming that uttering the word ‘sorry’ is going to solve all the problems facing Indigenous Australians. Whatever your view on the apology, everyone agrees that practical actions still need to be taken. The apology is an important first step.
Who are the stolen generations? The term ‘Stolen Generations’ refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who were forcibly removed from their families and communities by policies of government, welfare and church authorities as children and placed into institutional care or with non-Indigenous foster families. The forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children began as early as the mid 1800s and continued until the 1970s.
(http://www.reconcile.org.au/getsmart/pages/sorry/sorry—faq.php#1)
The apology? A central recommendation of the 1997 ‘Bringing Them Home’ report was the need for a national apology to those individuals and their families and communities affected by past policies of removal. Members of the Stolen Generations have indicated that recognition by the Government that the policies were wrong would help in addressing the trauma and suffering that they have experienced. The need for a national apology is also regarded as an important component of the broader reconciliation process between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
(http://www.antar.org.au/content/view/112/1/)
Thanks to Chris Graham for his inspiration for this document.
Ashley Ng, 5 months ago
well written
Carson Collins, 5 months ago
I’m still waiting for our Congress to apologize to the Native Americans here in the USA. I guess this interests me more than the average guy because my father’s mother was Cherokee. My great, great grandmother was actually born on the Trail of Tears and survived.
That era was dark and shameful, as has been the entire history of western Europe’s invasion of the rest of the planet.
marieancolie, 5 months ago
i’m always sad when I see people doing what they do only by interest in any country at any time.
We should apologize for all of them, as a human should never hurt another one.
Melinda Kerr, 5 months ago
YEAH YEAH YEAH ROBERT!!!! I’m SO excited about this Wednesday. It’s such a wonderful thing to exersize compassion, and empathy. I posted this shirt a few days ago
(Don’t mean to hijack your thread!!). Good on you for posting this. I hope the entire world reads it ;)
margo, 5 months ago
Thanks for posting this thread Robert. SORRY – AT LAST! We should all shout it at 9am on Wednesday.
Lumineux, 5 months ago
Robert, thank you for the above mythbusting facts. Finally the barriers are being deconstructed, and a way forward is visible.
skunk, 5 months ago
Wnderful post, Robert
Lawford, 5 months ago
Maybe after this one a campaign for the next sorry should be started for all the young un married girls of 15 & 16 who had babies on the 1950’s & 60’s who had the new born child wrenched from their arms and passed to “families” for adoption so they would have a better life because the stigma of being a bastard would be carried with them for life.
Crowmanic, 5 months ago
Interesting, and for many pertinent and timely… though as an Aboriginal/Australian I feel somewhat a bit late incoming, but heh, that’s just me.
I’m reminded of the “walk across the Bridge” rallies, a few years ago, when a couple of 100,000s nationally, joined numbers and had a great day walking across significant bridges throughout Australia … note I said, a couple of 100,000s, in a population of 21mill Plus…. and whilst it was a grand statement (so I’m led to believe) they really didn’t have to “give” anything at all, and even fewer can/would rate an Aboriginal/family amongst their close friends… we’re talking minorities here folks, in the mainstream supporting even a smaller minority!
As for the “Sorry” Statement from a Govt that supports cover-ups and deceit and mismanagement of Aboriginal values and culture… its called “white-washing” and again means little, as They have covered theirs and the Nation’s arse by saying, here’s the words and the sentimental gesture… but don’t forget to assimilate, educate, work, and “join us” if you want to get along in this country… we shall indoctrinate but we won’t “give” back anything that reinforces your (1) unique Aboriginal culture, (2)spirituality, (3) country (sacred site), (4) self-determination, (5) Cultural revival/survival… it seems to me its all about “being seen to be doing” but not actually “giving-back” and/or real reciprocation and not just as compensation.
Anyway, this space is too brief to further explain/clarify… hope you don’t mind Robert, and b4 any one wants to slam my apparent cynicism, I am a 3rd generation Aboriginal survivor of such discrimination and assimilation policies, and the grandson of of Lali re Linden Girl, as well as a father of a child who was literally taken from the hospital and given away, which took me 18 years to “track him down”.
Sorry folks, this isn’t a pleasant nicety, its reality for a few that have survived with our sanity attacked.
PS: according to a News poll I did this AM, more than 70% of about 8000 responses, believe that this “SORRY” want change a darn thing… maybe I’m not a minority survivor after-all…
Robert Knapman in reply to Crowmanic’s comment, 5 months ago
Thanks David. Of course I don’t mind at all…keeps it real.
Robert Knapman in reply to Melinda Kerr’s comment, 5 months ago
No worries Melinda – no hijacking has occured
shayne2011, 5 months ago
With with live coverage, big screens being set up outdoors, BBQs and dancing, classes being stopped and demands for a public holiday, not to mention the t-shirt, this is turning into quite a circus. But I don’t think this should be the end of it, but the beginning. There are 13,000 Aboriginal children stolen from their familes who are now grown up. They deserve compensation just as any other citizen who had suffered at the hands of the government would be; and I believe a trust should be established. Further, indigenous Australians continue to suffer a greater burden of ill health than the rest of the population and are more likely to experience disability and reduced quality of life due to ill health, and to die at younger ages, than other Australians. While an apology will lighten the burden of guilt for a lot of liberal thinking Australians, somehow, ‘sorry’ just sounds like a cop out, if that’s all there is.
Robert Knapman, 5 months ago
This post (copied and pasted) is getting some attention here also. You might like to check out what the rest of the bubble thinks. Cheers
Crowmanic, 5 months ago
Perhaps some may be interested in what a famous Aboriginal author wrote in the 70s? Mr Kevin Gilbert ... I have posted his short-story Grandfather Koori here
shayne2011, 5 months ago
LOL Robert, thanks; you’re like my Net Nanny :)
botanicali, 5 months ago
I’m hoping that ‘sorry’ will just be the start of a much-needed healing process. Acknowledging and apologising for past hurts is huge, for people who’d rather bury certain things under the carpet, employ the stiff upper lip and say “just get on with it, people!”
William Grow, 5 months ago
The US Government needs to aplolgize to the Native Americans, I don’t know if they officially appologized for the Slave trade days as well, as well, there is one overlooked apology that needs to be addressed as well.
Here in the western US, in 1953, in a small town of (then Short Creek), the government raided the community and took away their children on the basis of thier “Illegal” religious practices.
The government and other religeous entitiies still persecute the people that still live that lifestyle. They claim ALL of these people are abusive and no person should live in these conditions. They claim ALL of these people are brainwashed by their “leaders” and should have their own free will to chose as they will. They claim ALL these people mooch off the government and thrive on “milking the system”.
The general population is just as guilty if not more so than those who practice these religious teachings that brought about the “Short Creek Raid” of 1953.
The general media as well forces these little familial disputes into the light and makes a bigger deal to the public about them than is necessary.
I personally think that ALL persicutions of any group of people by other groups of people should stop, because 90% of the time these persecutions are founded on lies and deciet. The whites against blacks, the muslims against jews, religoins against religions, it’s not just a localized thing there in Austrailia, it’s a world wide epidemic and NEEDS to be cured.