James Moloney- ANGELA

 What Australian students think about reconciliation... 

Facts: Reconciliation

                     Bradly

Kit

Interview of Cloe by Martina

questions and answers: Nicole and Amy

Background: The stolen generation  (Linda & friends, Aurich) From the 1880s to the 1960s tens of thousands of Aboriginal children were systematically taken away from their families to be brought up by white families or raised on government and church missions and orphanages. The kids were brainwashed to forget their own culture, weren’t allowed to talk their language, became soulless and disoriented and were often abused. Breaking up families was an insult for the Aboriginal community, especially as Aborigines live(d) together in family-groups, and caused long lasting grief. All that happened because the government at that time thought to be able to give them a better (white) education and better living conditions. “It clearly was attempted genocide,” Sir Ronald Wilson, president of Australia’s Human Rights Commission, said. “It was believed that the Aboriginal people would die out.”  Reconciliation  The reconciliation-process began 1991 when the parliament made a declaration with which all the Australian inhabitants were asked to respect and recognise continuing customary laws, beliefs and traditions and to create a future where everyone enjoys equal rights and opportunities and shares understanding. In 1998, white Australians were invited to sign „Sorry Books“ designed to allow the public to apologise for the mistakes of their ancestors. The basic idea was that the white Australians apologise and the Aborigines accept this apology! Even Australia’s churches apologised officially for their past in what they say was a Nazi-style policy of assimilation. They admit their role was to break the Aboriginal spirit. Cathy Freeman Cathy Freeman is a brilliant Aboriginal athlete and the transcendent symbol of the whole country. The pressure on her during the Sydney Olympics was immense as she symbolises a painless reconciliation between black and white and at the same time was expected to win the gold medal in the Games  Her father left the family when she was five, her stepfather, who was white, encouraged her talent and was there for her and the family. There were many people expecting her to make a stand for her people and she replied,  “I love my people and where I come from but I am not at the Olympics to be political“. Luckily  she won in the Olympic Games again and both Australian flags were raised.

Von: Bradly Whitworth <q9623078@mail.connect.usq.edu.au>
An: Maike <Safiria@t-online.de>
Datum: Samstag, 3. März 2001 09:09

G'day Maike,

You're still haunted by 'Angela' I see. 

Okay, firstly my standpoint: I genuinely don't see people in my country as being any different because of their skin colour. By that I mean I couldn't care less whether the person is Afro-American, Anglo-Celtic, Asian, Aboriginal, or even a combination of the lot. I do however care what the person's character is like. Naturally you can find good and bad people, regardless of their race. I believe this because it is what my mother taught me. My belief has nothing to do with anything else - therefore, I think people who have been taught differently could have a vastly different (including harmful) opinon.

Currently, I think the Aboriginal community makes up less than one percent of the population. Therefore, I believe, that since there are so few Aborigines in the community, those that you do meet, tend to influence your opinion of the whole. Moreso than if they were white amongst a large group of white people. Unfortuantely, bad traits are more likely to come to one's attention than good traits. This means that people often have a negative opinion towards the whole group, because of the acts of a few. This I believe is true of all minority groups including gay, religious and political groups and other ethnic groups.

Last year in my history classes I sat next to a woman called Jeannie and another girl called Emma. Jeannie is an Aborigine. I thought of her as no different to any one else in the class. 

Not all people in Australia are as accepting of other races as the people in my history class. I will not deny for one second that racism does exist. Naturally, I believe there should be zero-tolernace to racisim. As such any occurence - no matter how small - should be dealt with. I believe that the reason why the people in my history class are anti racist, is that education is the best method of eliminating the problem. Associating with people of good education means that one is less likely to be exposed to racism. However, I am not suggesting that one cannot be both educated and a racist. Indeed politically, that combination is the most dangerous. I am just suggesting that as a rule people who are educated are often to to question things (such as racism), and to have an open mind.

I am not an overly religious person, so it would be easy for me to be critical of the churches. However, regarding the 'Stolen Generation', the churches believed that it was in the interests of the children to remove them from there undeniably harsh living conditions. They wanted to feed, clothe, and educate them. On paper, this in itself isn't a bad thing. However, it did remove the affected people from there way of life. They obviously cannot get that back. Some children would indeed have died if they were removed (the infant mortality rate for such populations was extremely high), but the point of the matter is that it should have been the parents' will, and not that of a church. I was not alive at the time - so I cannot know the complete truth of what occured then. 
And now that it is in the past the truth will probably never be accuratley realised. All that can happen is speculation. For better or worse, this will endure.
Some people in my country resent the reconciliation debate because it is perceived as an admission of liability. As you are most likely aware, the Prime Minister of my country (John Howard), cannot publicly say 'sorry' for events that have happened in my country's past. This has led to the 'Sorry' debate, in which if Howard (on behalf of past and current Go