SORRY - AT LAST T-Shirt

saying sorry is not necessarily an admission of guilt steve, there are two meanings for the word sorry… one in apology, one to say in empathy, “i’m sorry that happened’ and I doubt that any australian knows enough history to discount any family involvement ever… I just found a huge chunk of my family tree which is highly dubious in the history of this country…

my best friend is a tireless worker for her aboriginal community, I have worked in government departments dealing in indigenous affairs and I can say this, even in a working environment the white people didn’t really talk to the black people and vice versa, it was a tension that remained unsaid and cold…

the difference between what happened to your mother and the stolen generation (and please don’t let me upset you) is that the indigenous people were ethnically cleansed of their race and culture… they were encouraged to believe they were something they were not… and there was more rape in those communities than you can imagine…

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to receive indigenous cultural awareness training and I was crying my eyes out at the end of it… i can’t tell you how angry it makes me when I hear certain opinions cause the simple fact is that unless you have studied history or been exposed to the truth and cultural awareness in that manner, you can’t understand the barbarity of it… it was more than just taking babies it was ethnic cleansing…

we in australia are appalled by these behaviours in other countries, we say that human rights should be upheld there… but this was our grandparents generation… not very long ago, and their parents were the pioneers of this land… how did they take control, with guns and violence and misinformation and repression of the traditional owners… it makes me sick…

god… thanks melinda… I’ve been needing to get that all out all week…

I was listening to talk back on the topic on the radio the other night and was screaming at the top of my voice… people need to seek education on this topic or they look quite evil…

nevertheless… ho hum…

sorry to my indigenous kin, I hope I can move forward with you as a sister of australia…

Hey Steve and Kathleen – great to get your feedback. From my point of view it’s the empathetic sorry I support. I too had nothing to do with the actions of the past and as such a sorry for my actions version would be meaningless. But I am certainly sorry for the pain and continued anguish it has caused. So I guess that’s where I’m coming from. But all opinions welcomed :)

Hey Melinda, good on you. For me I believe I’ve benefited indirectly from the injustices, so for me it’s both an empathic sorry and a guilt sorry. I think an apology of either sort is sorely needed and appreciate kathleen’s views – the more I read, hear and learn, the more I understand this ongoing pain that’s an ugly underbelly of our lovely country. I’m glad Rudd and the wider government has the guts, quite frankly, to even tackle the healing process.

I try to imagine what it might be like for white Australians if another country invaded and killed us and wouldn’t let us speak English, or move about as we wished. If they insisted we lived in specific locations and in a way that went against our deepest beliefs and wishes. If they insisted that we assimilate and then took away any ‘half-caste’ kids of ours, whether they were a result of rape or love… If they believed that enough of us had died already and that our ‘race’ would soon be gone and good riddance to us. Then judged us for our despair and dysfunctional behaviour. Good lord.

I think it’s terrible that it happened, no doubt. I only wish a simple word would make everything better.
It’s such a complicated issue. Ideally I don’t believe people should receive extra treatment based on their skin colour. In reality they need it because the people who should be giving them service, be it health, education or housing won’t help them.
But this is a catch 22. You give special treatment and people will become bitter about it, perpetuating racism and the issues it causes. There’s really no easy answer.

Unfortunately humans have done terrible things to other humans throughout the centuries, and will probably continue to do so.
There’s only one thing to do. Pick yourself up and get on with making the most of life. That isn’t to trivialise the matter, but dwelling on it will do nothing, and I hope ‘sorry’ means Australia as a whole can move forward for the benefit of all.

I agree Alison. We have benefited from the crimes and “mistakes”, of our parents and grandparents, so we should feel some guilt. If you go into aboriginal communitees you can see the disfunction that we have caused. The alcoholism and child abuse doesn’t happen (as much) in our society because we have our self esteem. What a shattering impact it must have been to a community to have their children forcibly removed and brought up with no heritage, not even a white one because we never accepted them as our own. We then cast them adrift with nothing. To think that I didn’t do this, it was only my parents or grandparents is just continuing the cruelty. I do think that an apology is an inportant step and it is an acknowledgment of some guilt. I think it is very self serving to just say “I’m sorry for your situation, but it’s not my fault”. From the aboriginee side that would seem to be saying that we’ve benefited from all that has gone before between our races, but we’r dammed if we’re going to give anything back. The biggest thing they need is their self respect and a real apology will be a step in that direction. Some half hearted thing just isn’t good enough.

Gee, looks like a lot of bubblers haven’t traveled much or read a history book…

Is it good to go though life feeling sorry for yourself and blaming others for your current position? I had a pretty rough start to my life, but after just forty years I’ve rectified that quite well.

History is history, modern day Australians have done an awful lot to try to achieve equality and a balance, but it will take commitment from both sides, and not flowery words, to achieve change.

I don’t believe anyone should be limited or restricted from achieving their goals, but heck, life is full of limiting factors. The only thing that can stop you overcoming those limiting factors is you and your choices. Aboriginal groups have been asking for this step in their progression to acceptance and happiness, lets hope they can maximise the benefits and achieve some real progress on the back of this symbol.

Will you tell us about your hard life Greg? And how you have travelled to aboriginal communities and the history books you have read?

well done

Quite Ironically Steve, My dad built houses for the communities in the Gulf of Carpentaria, I actually spent 5 years of my life living the aboriginals lifestyle and schooling, right down to eating “bush tucker” and nearly spearing the regional priest, I think it was an accident ;-). I don’t intend publicly expose details of my life, but like many Australians, I live the life of a low income family who never had holidays away from home and had to suffer public schooling with my fellow aboriginal friends. I served in the military with aboriginal oppo’s and even had an aboriginal as a father in law at one stage. I have lived and worked with many very well adjusted and successful full blood aboriginals.

All I’m saying is that where you are in life now is not where you have to be a year from now, and nothing can prevent you changing your circumstances except yourself. Words are not the answer and white man can never fix the problems of the aboriginal community. As for the history books, I think you’d be hard pressed to find any piece of land on the planet that has had the same inhabitants for the 200,000 odd years since humanoids started claiming ownership. Time is not going to go backwards and 40,000 years from now there may not even be any recognisable races left, but the land will still be here, so is it really worth stressing over? (Lets hope there is only one race so we loose that excuse for failure and oppression) Australia has done ok, the era has passed and laws have been fixed and enforced, and we have worked hard to be world leaders in human rights and equality, I suspect that on the 14th of Feb, there will be no fewer problems in the communities. After all, this apology is only about the stolen generation, one small aspect of the big issue and an area where the state was trying to do the right thing, not slaughter but assimilate the races. Maybe not the right idea, but humans are stupid buggers really aren’t we, I stuffed up three times today and I’m bloody brilliant!!

The issue of ‘sorry’ came up in the ‘Bring Them Home’ report when it was recommended that the affected people receive both an apology and compensation. With regard to compensation, Rudd is simply saying.. “nope, no compensation, sorry.”

Every State Government has already said ‘sorry’. The Pope has already said “sorry”. And now Rudd is going to say “sorry”, on behalf of his Government only, and it sounds like that is going to be enough to make the loony left all feel better about themselves. Everybody else, those who don’t really care, can just feel pleased that it has finally been done and at no cost to them. So, who is this ‘sorry’ on 13th really for? It’s for the voters I think.

The Lost Generations happened because of an arrogant, self-righteous attitude that resulted in not only mixed race children being removed from their families but also, as Steven pointed out, babies and children removed from any family that didn’t fit with the required ‘Christian’ values of the do-gooder policy makers. Strewth, look at the countless victims of the ‘child migration’ schemes – kids removed from English families and shipped off to distant shores where they became cheap labor for the Christian Brothers and Sisters of Mercy.

I say “sorry” to all of them.

Of course my children and their children will have to say “sorry” for me and my generation. Mine is a generation that has had both Howard and Rudd deliberately change the law to ensure the relationship of same sex couples, and the people in those relationships, and the children in those relationships all remain ‘second class’. Mine is a generation that has allowed the Catholic Church to preach to the populations of AIDS infested countries that it is a ‘sin’ to use a condom. Mine is a generation that complacently leaves all manner of power to a United Nations steeped in self importance and corruption ignoring genocide and other crimes against humanity. Mine is a generation ……..

The arrogant self-righteous attitudes are still here. We need to start looking at ourselves instead of just pointing the finger of blame at our parents.

Well said Del, though I’m not so sure about it being driven by arrogance. Pretty much all decisions in life (particularly the big ones) are made from positions of extreme ignorance, and that’s simply because we can’t get all the facts, can’t see all the points of view and can’t predict all the changes that will take place after the fact. In the end, life will be happier for me if you do thing’s my though huh.

Greed gets in the way of good decisions as well, and as much as I find greed repulsive and get exceedingly frustrated by the short sightedness that feeds it (look at our current housing situation in Aus and the USA right now for instance), there is also a part of me that is driven to a grudging acceptance of it’s need. We wouldn’t be living in air conditioned, clean, well fed comfort without it’s driving force. China provides a good example of that right now.

We have a very interesting Government in Australia at the moment. It is one that used the media to get in, but in the process, looks to the media for the indicators of “what the nation wants”. Sadly the media has only extremest views and half thought out ideas servicing the narrow bands of populations they service.

In then end, it doesn’t hurt and it doesn’t help (much like putting a fossil fuel burning ship out in the southern ocean for months to take pictures of whalers without taking action). The Rudd government is looking like being pretty touchy feelly but ineffectual at the moment. It is quite a change from the hard nosed, enforced compliance of the Howard era.

I’m confused about any of this even beeing on the bubble i thought we were not suposed to be pushing our political views on bubble if it is actually ok please let me know. susan

Its a Good day for All Australians

Nice design !

Thanks for your reply Mel, i’m not against it i think it was long over due and i just asked because there are a few shots i have to share but i wasn’t sure if i could state my oppinion with no hassles.

Imagine the country we would be living in now if when whites arrived, they listened…
Those Blackfellahs (yes, I’m taking it back, because its meant with respect to their skin and culture) ran their countries with more sophistication and level-headed-ness than the white leaders can currently muster. In some clans each person had a ‘totem’ flora or fauna and it was their individual responsibility to monitor that living group (each group passed from their parent) – hunting less when the numbers were low and protecting that group from other clans, hand-pollenation or starting fires to help germination. Some groups were completely run and regulated by women, their men in awe of their awesome power to create life. There was a calendar (of sorts) that was counted not by days or months, but by signs like heavily flowering wattle or the way a Frilly lizard held its head particularly high, or the wind patterns. Imagine having that much knowledge and sensitivity of your environment – how could you pollute it? Log it? Wisdom beyond me, I’m sure.
There was respect for what mother nature provided, there was pride in maintaining that respect through story and ritual. A Murri friend likened his connection to his land ‘like I am a hair on my mother’s arm, I am a part of her but I have my own role and without me, or anyone, or any natural part of this world, She will cease to be whole’.
I am sorry for the heartache and displacement of these people, its horrific and something you expect to read in a Middle Ages history book, but I am most sorry for the loss of that incredible insight, the wisdom, regulation systems and foresight that might have prevented the environmental and social issues we face today, if it were just listened to.
So…yes, Sorry…at last :)