So I'm minding everybody's business reading News.com when I happen upon a story about how all the "federal money thrown at addressing indigenous community" problems is being wasted because it's not affecting adequate change.
The story itself was true enough but as I suspected, the site moderators gave favour to comments from those who are either outwardly racist or just so plain ignorant that I can still call them racist.
Case in point - a reader who takes it upon himself to dictate that indigenous people should follow the rest of the country's lead and pick up stumps and move to more populated areas to gain employment, housing and access to health care.
It seems a simple, possibly even harmless, enough concept. That is, until you stop to consider that the suggestion completely lacks any consideration for culture. And I don't mean Cafe society, Art Gallery or Sunday brunch with the other soccer Mums type of culture. Those sorts of things are the bastard children that resulted from the rape of our land by His Majesty's kingdom and after a failed bid at genocide, resorted to assimilation to breed out the bad and enforce the word of the "Lord". But going down that line may reveal a long closeted passion for activism that rivals the defensiveness of the racist for his ignorance.
Therein lies my rebuttal to the assumption that culture is considered irrelevant because of preconceived notions people have about the adoption of laws and behaviours that still barely recognise it's importance. The immediate approach for most people is based on religion. Indigenous groups' loyalty is to the earth itself and all it provides for their survival. The reality is that European culture breeds contempt for it's surroundings. Associations are shallow and self serving and objects are disposable. Indigenous groups from every country in the world lived in societies where people coexisted in a way that benefit every member and the surroundings they survived on.
Most religions at first glance have a chain of command. The indigenous people of Australia are taught that our ancestors rose to create (and remain in the form of) rock formations and rivers etc and are equal to every other creation, not better than. One culture dictates respect for the heirarchy and the others, respect their world and fellow being. Which brings me to my point.
Each clan or language group of indigenous Australia believes they belong to the land from which they and their ancestors were created. Despite 200 odd years of colonisation, integration and assimilation those cultural beliefs are as ingrained in our psyche as much as Christianity is ingrained in the mainstream psyche. So it's not as easy as packing up ones life and relocating in the pursuit of materialistic comforts and elevating a social status. The expectation that people so closely tied to cultural beliefs can remove themselves from their traditions is a giant step backwards for cross cultural relations and really highlights the ignorance that went with the removal of aboriginal children from their families as recently as the 1970's.
So I ask myself, what was the point in an apology to the stolen generations when the mentality that culture is disposable still exists? "Australia Day" celebrations have taken a different course in the last couple of years and more and more we hear people commenting that migrants to this country should learn to live like we do, or go home. Yet when immigrants do try to integrate, all we do is criticise them. Muslims have taken and absolute bashing for their long held traditions. The Lebanese, Asian, Greek and African migrants or those who are first and second generation Australians are relentlessly accused of living insular lives associating only with people from their own backround. Seriously, what choice have they got when they know there is every possibility they will be subjected to some form of abuse without the presence of cultural peers?
The most recent addition to the target practice of the fair skinned community is Indian students. Whether or not the number of assaults levelled against indians is a deliberate act or a coincidence is questionable. Indians have obviously been persecuted here to some extent for decades and to my mind the most recent string of events is the straw that's broken the camels back. As bad as it is, it's nothing compared to the years of and extent of abuse endured by the indigenous. Incomparable also to the suffering experienced by asian occupants since at least the gold rush days. Greek migrants have been abused terribly for many years. Any wonder then that Indian migrants are scared, they know this country's history and what they have to look forward to.
So yes, Australia is a beautiful place of opportunity and freedom. As long as you aren't richer than Australians, don't take Australian's jobs, don't take up space in Australians classes and don't speak your native languages, you should be fine.
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