I grew up in regional Australia so I have some experience with the clash of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures. For those who are easily offended, stop reading here. I’m not going to go on rants or try to convince anyone of anything, this is just a re-telling of my childhood and teenage years.
My first hand experience is not a favourable one, in my home town the Aboriginal population was predominantly:
[ul]
[li]drinking heavily (metho, goon, other cheap booze) most of the time[/li][li]kids sniffing a lot of petrol, running around covered in dirt, mucus and flies[/li][li]congregating in public parks, harassing the locals[/li][li]Aboriginals verbally abusing (racially) and threatening non-Aboriginals[/li][li]getting into fights, mugging people, committing crimes[/li][li]destroying their own free public housing[/li][li]getting paid more welfare than non-Aboriginals (e.g. AbStudy)[/li][li]getting access to classes, grants or other special treatment that others didn’t[/li][li]seeing that many activists claiming to be Aboriginal had whiter skin than most of the rest of us (many had 1/8th at most and it seemed just like “black supremacists” claiming some unusual strength in their own blood that somehow overpowered the majority non-Aboriginal blood)[/li][li]be told by activists they have a special connection with the land and we’re all bad enviro-rapists[/li][li]being accused of violating the land and environment while seeing Aboriginals claiming to “live traditionally on the land” driving Toyota Hiluxes and Landcruisers to go out spear hunting[/li][li]being accused of violating the land and environment while seeing Aboriginals sell mining rights to the highest bidder to rake in the cash[/li]
[li]be told by activists that the Aboriginal culture is superior to non-Aboriginal culture[/li]
[li]see activists trying to claim tracts of land in major cities and towns[/li]
[li]being told that it’s all our fault[/li][/ul]
As a kid I’ve been personally racially vilified by the aforementioned Aboriginals. So it probably comes as no surprise that me and my mates developed a racist attitude to “Abos” (a term I would now consider a pejorative), it’s hard to sympathise with people you see doing the things listed above and then have “white guilt” hung over our heads as if it was our (personal) fault that the British invaded 200 years ago and mistreated them since.
It’s a vicious cycle.
Having said that, one of my mates at school was Aboriginal, but we didn’t think of him in racist terms - we didn’t assume and attribute all negative behaviours to him simply because he was black. I don’t know if this is what all racism is like but we didn’t suddenly hate people because of black skin, we didn’t hate Africans or Americans, we just hated the Aboriginals who behaved as listed above.
Times changed, I left my home town and moved to the city. My views and attitudes mellowed since I didn’t have any more exposure to that behaviour although at the same time I didn’t exactly meet a whole bunch of Aboriginals who changed my point of view - there weren’t many in the city. I met enough people from walks of life to learn not to assume anything about people based on racial background, but that doesn’t suddenly make me forgive the behaviour I was exposed to growing up.
I recognise my earlier attitudes as racist, and while I probably would be considered racist by some here, I don’t really get into that anymore (other than this thread) because quite simply, I no longer care. When I speak to my parents and old friends who still live there, their racism comes across as cringe-worthy, so I do realise how much I’ve changed.
What do you think about the relationship between Aboriginal Australians and non-Aboriginal Australians?
It’s pretty bad and I don’t see how it’s going to get any better without a lot of change on both sides.
What do you think about our attitudes towards each other?
Largely negative. It may be improving, it’s hard to say. Broadly speaking I think regional communities have bigger racial issues than cities because people in cities don’t experience it first hand. Walk a mile in the other man’s shoes so to speak, and I’m aware of the irony of that statement.
What do you think about how our cultures mix?
I don’t think it mixes enough, but by the same token given that they are 2.5% of the population I think there’s an undue over-emphasis of their culture in tourism and the arts; there’s a lot more to modern Australia’s multicultural society than the Aborigines.
What do you think about how intergrated we are in every day life?
We’re not though, are we? It’s hard to integrate when there’s such huge cultural divides and where the respective populations are located.
What issues do you see/think come up socially and legally?
There is an moral imperative to help, but not because it’s our fault and not because of guilt. The reason to help is because it’s the right thing to do - everyone in our society must achieve the same quality of life regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. The problem needs to be addressed more in socio-economic terms than racial… I think race is just the obvious visual cue or label.
The ultimate dilemma is how to help without causing harm.
The epidemic of child sexual abuse that triggered The Intervention is a damning indictment of the existing situation. It was pretty clear that the government needed to get involved since the communities’ own inherent social and moral framework was utterly absent. And the recent (last few days) claims by Aboriginal doctors that The Intervention is hurting the children isn’t helping the situation at all.
By the same token, the Stolen Generation was a huge mistake.
What issues do you think the [other](please specify) discusses mostly about us?
I don’t know.
