And that’s without getting into the various alcohol abuse issues and other serious problems unfortunately facing the various Aboriginal communities.
So we’re not allowed to acknowledge that there are people- a lot of people, in this case- who hold a view contrary to what might be considered “acceptable”, unless we deride those people for having those views? Perhaps I’ve spent too long as an historian, but that’s not the way I like to look at things (ie, acknowledging the existence of things or events without assigning blame).
If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think the Aborigines should just go away. But their culture does have a lot of problems, without easy solutions, and it’s either magical hand-waving or sticking ones fingers in ones ears and saying “Lalalala I can’t hear you!” to pretend otherwise.
The Government has recently (a year or so ago) launched the Northern Territory National Emergency Response to try and deal with some of the more serious issues facing Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. As Grumman and Vox Imperatoris rightly point out, it’s a cultural issue. Unfortunately, all the members of that particular culture happen to have a dark skin colour, which leads to the whole “race” issue getting dragged into the discussion and getting sidetracked from there…
Just to point out the obvious, but the aborigines are a pretty diverse lot. There’s originally hundreds of different tribal groups from all over the country, with different languages and customs. Many of them probably didn’t make or play didgeridoos, and so wouldn’t give a toss either way if our Nicole stuck one up her pert arse.
As to what white Australians think about the indigenous Australians, again there’s a lot of diversity on both sides. There are highly bigoted whites, and those entirely sympathetic, and most are somewhere in between. There are rural and remote area blacks with huge social problems, and others with their shit more or less together. There are aboriginals in the cities living in squalor, with major drug and crime issues, and others with nice houses, good jobs, stable lives. Some are into activism, most I’m guessing just want to get on with their lives. On average, yeah, they aren’t doing too well. We need to work on improving that, and so do they.
As a whitey, I don’t “just wish they’d go away”. I do wish they could get it together, and find a way to improve their situation, without losing the good aspects of their culture. It’s a bit of an ask though.
Its seems to me that race/cultural (if you like) relations in Australia are AS complicated as those in the US, but not any more so.
But this is leading to a derail of the topic at hand.
Martini Enfield, you seem to be under the impression that these are unique issues to Australia that non-Australians couldn’t possibly understand. I assure you that this is not the case. Although the United States doesn’t have a population identical to Australian Aborigines, there is no problem you’ve described that doesn’t apply to one or more racial, ethnic, or cultural minorities here. If anything, the situation in the US sounds like it may be MORE complicated, since we not only have an indigenous culture nearly wiped out by white settlers and with extremely high rates of alcohol and drug abuse, poverty, and crime, we also have a very large population descended from people brought unwillingly to our shores and kept as slaves for many generations, and who also have very high crime and poverty rates, not to mention an ever increasing population of people who come here willingly because we hold ourselves out to the world as a bastion of freedom and opportunity for the tired and poor huddled masses who find when they arrive that they are often unwelcome and discriminated against.
I certainly don’t want to play a game of our-minority-problems-are-worse-than-yours, but I would like you to acknowledge that this is a problem that many countries deal with around the world, and that the US is no stranger to complex and intractable social problems much like Australia’s.
Finally, I have no problem with anyone presenting the situation with the disinterested eye of the historian. But historians do not generally apologize for the view they present. Beginning with “How to put this…delicately?” and then presenting a viewpoint you attribute not to any specific group of people but to the general population of which you are a part and using emotive and value-ridden language to do so does not give the impression that you are merely reporting neutral sociological data. It gives the very strong impression that you hold (or are at least very sympathetic to) the views you describe, but don’t want to take the heat for presenting them as your own.
There are plenty of left wing types who are concerned for aboriginal rights. The new govt came into power with a mandate to acknowledge past injustices and the like, ie the ‘sorry speech’. I could bore people with history but anyone who really cared could find out with 5 minutes of google, its by no means a ‘long time ago’ issue and there are plenty of people who care about it, its a somewhat divisive issue though as pretty much any topic like this is along left/right lines.
As to the specific issue, its probably as much about the lack of respect to a cultural icon being shown as the gender as such, there actually is a tradition of Aboriginal women using it, although not formally. I cant think of an equivalent, maybe the US flag being burned for a talkshow stunt or the like.
Ie there would be various people who wouldnt give a toss and write it off as mainstream media shlock, but your guaranteed die hards making a hullabaloo who would get the mikes.
Otara
I think we can certainly agree that the US’s race relation problems are as complicated (if not moreso) than Australia’s. They’re also very different at the same time. Perhaps it might make an interesting discussion for another thread?
Also, as I’m sure you’re well aware, these boards do have a culture of shooting at the messenger if they dare to say anything not readily accepted by the rest of the board as being the epitome of tolerance and rainbow-huggery. Thus, I was trying to find a way of presenting a viewpoint held by a number of people here in Australia, without expressing it in a vulgar manner (which is usually how I hear it expressed by the people who do actually hold those views.)
Besides, I’ve been on the boards long enough that I would have thought people would know that if I support a particular viewpoint, I’m going to come out and say it; I’ve certainly supported some very unpopular views here on the boards before. If I personally had a problem with the Aborigines and wanted them to go away, I’d have said so. I don’t and I don’t, and like chicken wire? I sincerely wish they could get it together and have the same opportunities and benefits of being part of Australian society, instead of having all the problems that they do. Unfortunately, there’s a long way to go there and no-one’s entirely sure what the best approach is, and what works for one group doesn’t necessarily work for another.
Huh. So I don’t get an apology and I don’t get to watch you flame out. Well this has been a disappointing debate! 
Seriously, I don’t know you other than to recognize you as a somewhat frequent poster, and I’m not going to run a search on someone I disagree with just to see if they’re usually weaselly or not. But if you say you wish well for the Aborigines, I’ll take you at your word. I do find it disappointing that you attribute bigotry and vulgar manner to the majority of Australians, but that’s a comment on your country as you perceive it, not on you personally. I’m no dewy-eyed patriot, but I certainly think better of my fellow citizens than to suggest the average American is a racist bigot, even though racism and bigotry are far too common.
BTW, I did learn something from our disagreement. Native Americans have many of the same problems as Aborigines, but they’re largely over-romanticized by the culture at large, who are more likely to see them as noble savages than as dangerous undesirables. My slight familiarity with Australian culture had led me to think that Aboriginal culture was, if anything, even more over-romanticized. I stand corrected on that point. Maybe it’s just American culture that has a fetish for tribal peoples supposedly oppressed but uncorrupted by White imperialism.
My wife says I’m entirely too reasonable sometimes, too. You’re not alone there.
I will apologise for giving the impression that the majority of Australians are uncouth, Aborigine-hating racists. That’s most certainly incorrect. But a LOT of people here- a significant minority, and many of whom live in rural areas, I think we can safely say- do have some less than enlightened views on the subject.
It’s not like there’s a question on the census “Do you hate Aborigines? []Yes []No []Didn’t they have that hit song back in the '80s?” to link to any empirical data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on the matter, unfortunately.
On a topic more closely related to the OP, I’ve never heard the “Women Shouldn’t Play The Didgeridoo” thing before; so it may very well be a taboo in some tribes but not others.
The Native Americans (and the Maori in New Zealand, along with the Zulu in South Africa) have a documented history of successfully adapting European technology and resisting (with varying degrees of success) European attempts to take over their land- the whole “Noble Savage” thing, as you say.
The Aborigines do not have such a well-documented history of same (I’m not aware of any instances of musket-armed Aborigines fighting British troops or settler militias, for example, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen), which might partially explain the lack of respect often accorded to their culture by many Australians, if that makes sense.
It seems ridiculous that they should bow to pressure on this. It’s a book for westerners. What should it matter if they follow the cultural rules for a musical instrument when they are not part of that culture? I could see them being upset at westerners being encouraged to play the instrument at all, but not in one particular violation of their related customs.
Perhaps if they all identified themselves with an armband or badge…