4 ms·

Throwaway, because this is unfortunately a contentious issue. You shouldn't get a pass for treating people like shit regardless of what your ancestors did or d

Throwaway, because this is unfortunately a contentious issue. You shouldn't get a pass for treating people like shit regardless of what your ancestors did or did not do, so it pains me to hear your story. I never had much trouble at school with anyone except for poor or 'cashed-up' bogans, and yes it was damn traumatising. I can see a lot of personal bias in the comments here - whether that's warranted or not I don't know but it's interesting to see how people reflect on indigenous matters. I was schooled in multiple Australian states, and 'indigenous studies' was a mandatory class in all of them. I'm not sure how valuable they really are. Yes, I can make cave art and face paint with ochre. I can safely eat a few otherwise inedible looking plants in my backyard and the bush if I so choose. We got to pat crocodiles and learn languages that have probably since died out. (Fun fact: Some aboriginal languages are now mere heuristics completely made up by people in government/local municipality-run initiatives with next to no association to indigenous cultures but with an enormous sense of undeserved guilt). Thanks to those classes I'm also aware of the various atrocities that took place, it was drummed into us constantly that we should feel personally responsible for what some dead or otherwise decrepit people did or did not do. Most Australians are migrants, even more so now than in decades past. Why should they be made to feel guilty or be 'short-changed' as you so put it? It's ridiculous and stifles humanity's progress if you ask me. I suppose that's my biased opinion. Respect to all, but I don't believe indigenous issues have much to do with me or millions of other Australians. We didn't do anything wrong, why should we pay the price? It's got nothing to do with me or my family.

jpgvm 4y ago
My personal opinion is that we should acknowledge what was done wrong unto them and do our best to support those that are disadvantaged through no fault of their own. However I draw the line at ignoring or being more lenient when it comes to crime, poor behavior in schools, vandalism etc. Yes, bad stuff happened in the past but it shouldn't create license to be poor members of society forever. There have been periods where we have seen this from different socioeconomic/racial groups and usually they moved past it. I remember when I was studying in Sydney there was a lot of angst about Vietnamese gangs in the South-West, over time that gave way to Vietnamese being welcomed and considered some of the most friendly communities in our society. I hope we are to see similar take place with the Sudanese in Melbourne, currently characterized similarly to what the Vietnamese gangs were and still undergoing difficult integration into Australian society. At it's core Australia is a multi-cultural nation, almost entirely composed of immigrants from all around the world. It's unfortunate that it came at the cost of the traditional lands of the indigenous Australians but they really should be able to see at this point that it's not race that holds them back, otherwise other disadvantaged and displaced would similarly have the same issues.

jpgvm 4y ago

My personal opinion is that we should acknowledge what was done wrong unto them and do our best to support those that are disadvantaged through no fault of their own. However I draw the line at ignoring or being more lenient when it comes to crime, poor behavior in schools, vandalism etc. Yes, bad stuff happened in the past but it shouldn't create license to be poor members of society forever. There have been periods where we have seen this from different socioeconomic/racial groups and usually they moved past it. I remember when I was studying in Sydney there was a lot of angst about Vietnamese gangs in the South-West, over time that gave way to Vietnamese being welcomed and considered some of the most friendly communities in our society. I hope we are to see similar take place with the Sudanese in Melbourne, currently characterized similarly to what the Vietnamese gangs were and still undergoing difficult integration into Australian society. At it's core Australia is a multi-cultural nation, almost entirely composed of immigrants from all around the world. It's unfortunate that it came at the cost of the traditional lands of the indigenous Australians but they really should be able to see at this point that it's not race that holds them back, otherwise other disadvantaged and displaced would similarly have the same issues.