AUSTRALIA - DOES IT HAVE A RACIST PROBLEM?
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**** AUSTRALIA - DOES IT HAVE A RACIST PROBLEM? ****
We take pleasure in releasing the following article from "Multicultural Life", Issue 3, Dec. '98, with the kind permission of the Office of Multicultural and International Affairs (OMIA), Govt. of S. Aust,, 24 Flinders Street, Adelaide, S.A., 5000.
"THE PROSPERING OF RACISM" - by Professor Colin Bourke, founding Dean of Australia's first Aboriginal and Torres Islander studies faculty of the University of South Australia.
Colin Bourke, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Aboriginal and Islander Studies at the University of South Australia, answers a few questions which you may feel challenged to consider..…
# Q. Aboriginal people in particular have been the prime target of this racist rhetoric …." It is difficult to say whether those who have targeted minority groups are leading or being led. There is another minority out there, very disaffected and in need of reassurance, which adds fuel to the racist fire. Pandering to fear is no answer. Nor is legitimising racism."
# Q. What is your vision, or your hope, for Indigenous People in the next millenium? ….. "There is a 50 years difference between the Australia of the 1950's and Australia 2000. We are all here together in this land. Great partnerships can be built. I would like to see a richer, more tolerant and exciting Australia, where Indigenous Australians are equal partners in society. How can a country fully develop if one part of its people are not involved? Look at current changes in South Africa. Look at the U.S.A.. More broadly, look at women - half the world's population. Globally speaking, could the world, as it stands in 1998, make genuine progress with only one gender allowed a voice?!"
# Q. You once spoke about the effects of assimilation….. "Indigenous cultures and languages can only survive here. They draw their strength, their very being, from this land. If they can't survive here, they will not survive anywhere else. Indigenous cultures and languages are one of our great assets - they represent a different philosophy, a different understanding, a different knowledge of the world - unique to Australia. This should not be forgotten."
# Q. What, in your opinion, has been the impact of recent events on Indigenous People ? …… "The rise of extremist parties can only be negative - not only for Indigenous People, but for all Australians. There is no doubt that racism has increased. Possibly, the most affected are those most vulnerable and defenceless in our society - children."
MYTH v FACT - based on "As a Matter of Fact", by Office of Public Affairs, ATSIC, Canberra - 1997 - 98
A NEED FOR SPECIAL TREATMENT ? It is a myth that Aboriginal People receive higher social security benefits than other Australians. It's a fact, however, that there are special health, education, housing and legal programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. This recognises that they are the most economically and socially disadvantaged group in Australia : Life expectancy is 15 to 20 years less than for other Australians; infant mortality is 3 - 5 times higher; infectious diseases are 12 times higher; fewer complete schooling compared to the national average of 77%; fewer have tertiary degrees compared with 13% of all Australians; unemployment is 38% compared to 8% of the general population; mean, individual income is 65% of that of the general population; only 28% of Aboriginal families own their own homes; compared with 67% of all Australians; Aboriginal people have their special needs because of their common experience and not because of their race. In this case they are like …. Veterans, farms in drought - affected areas, and so on. ( By Simon Longstaff, Executive Director, St. James Ethnic Centre, 'Australian' - June 1997)
WHO ARE THE FIRST AUSTRALIANS ? :- Australia has two indigenous peoples : Aboriginal people who live on the mainland, Tasmania and many off-shore islands; and the people of the Torres Strait Islands. Together, they make up about 2% of Australia's population.'
Ethnically and culturally, they are different, and have different histories. While most Aboriginal groups were dispossessed of their land, Torres Strait Islanders were not dispersed from their homeland. However, both peoples experienced the same restrictive legislation, denying them citizen rights - basic rights in relation to children, marriage, movement, property, award wages, voting.
WHO IS AN ABORIGINAL ? :- Old definitions of Aboriginality were based on percentages of "blood". This produced results that were brutal and inconsistent. In the early 80's a three part definition was accepted by the courts, which is also accepted by governments and by the Indigenous community:
"An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person is a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island decent who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives."
Alongside the myth that Indigenous People must have dark skins, another persists that "real" Indigenous People live traditional lives in the Outback. The fact is that Indigenous society is just as diverse as any other ethnic group. The 1991 census showed that 33% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People were, in fact, living in rural communities. But the majority - 41% - were living in small country towns, and 27% in cities. The cultures of Indigenous People living in Melbourne of Maree are no "less Aboriginal" than the cultures of those living in Arnhem Land or the Kimberleys.
"Even today, many of us are questioned about the depth of our Aboriginality. This is particularly the case if we live in cities, or are fairskinned, or lead lifestyles similar to non-Aboriginal lifestyles."
WON'T WORK - CAN'T WORK ? :- It's a fact that unemployment for Indigenous People stands at around 23%, compared to 8% in the general workforce. Contributing factors range from past, limited educational opportunities to the decline in rural industries, reduced economic growth and lingering prejudice among employers. It's a myth, however, that Indigenous People do not want to work. Their labour was fundamental in establishing cattle, fishing and pearling industries in remote Australia, labour that was often only paid for in rations. The advent of equal pay in the 1970's, saw many Indigenous People lose their jobs.
In 1977, remote communities sought an alternative to receiving "sit-down money". As a result, the Community Development Employment Projects program was established. Under this program, approximately 30,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People choose to work for the equivalent or less of the Newstart allowance.
There is no evidence to suggest that Aboriginal People are any less reliable than non-Aborigines. Where there are, it is likely to be a consequence of poor health, low levels of education, short history of employment experience, poor housing, or low self-esteem, and certainly not because they are likely to "go walkabout"…
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REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENTS BY INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS IN THE DEFENCE FORCES.
The Defence Act of 1909, prohibited any person not of "substantially European origin", from serving in the Australian armed forces. The fact that many Indigenous People chose to ignore this is documented in an Australian War Memorial touring exhibition - "Too Dark for The Light Horse" !
1. Leonard Waters, the RAAF's first Aboriginal pilot, flew 95 operational sorties in Kittyhawk fighters with the
No. 78 Squadron, and reached the rank of Warrant Officer before his demobilisation in 1946.
2. At least 400 Indigenous Persons served in the First World War and 3000 in the Second World War, many with distinction. In the First World War, Warrant Officer Irwin was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal, and Warrant Officer Rawlings a Military Medal. In the Second World War, Reg Saunders, son of one of these veterans, became the first Aboriginal to achieve commissioned rank, and went on to serve in the Korean War.
3. In 1868, the first Australian Cricket Team set off for England to play for "The Ashes" Cricket had become popular with the South Australian Aboriginal population in the 1870's. Missionaries encouraged the game as a "civilising" process. By 1905, however, exclusion and "protection" policies put an end to Aboriginal participation. The first team to leave for the U.K. became the focus of what came to be known as the famous black tour of England in 1868 - exactly a decade before the first white team went abroad. (TO BE CONTINUED)
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