Australia, often commemorated for its’ diverse landscapes and laid-back lifestyle, has recently been grappling with confronting and complex issues. Whilst the community boasts about our multicultural identity, beneath that surface lies the reality that First Nations Peoples (FNP’s) are suffering from discriminatory acts of racism and institutional prejudice. Persuasive texts like “I’m A Blackfella” by Steven Oliver, and “The Rabbits” by John Marsden, concur with Australia’s lack of inclusivity. We, the readers of Electric Lit, can see these reoccurring acts and aren’t doing enough to fix them. Australia needs more ongoing conversations about inclusivity, equality, and the absolute need for systemic change. We need to learn from our past in …show more content…
The arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 was the beginning of racial prejudice, and it is blatantly obvious to this day that it is still occurring in Australia. Steven Oliver’s text was an example of Australian racism in 2013, however even more recent discriminative events have occurred involving well-known individuals. In July of 2022, Pauline Hanson, One Nation leader and senator of Australia, was called out for being racist by walking out during the acknowledgement of country. During the acknowledgement to the Ngambri people, Hanson interrupted, yelling from her seat, “not I won’t, and I never will,” before leaving the Senate. Hanson has had many previous incidences of her racist comments, slurs, and was sentenced to 3 years jail back in 2003 for fraud within parliament. How can our nation still support parliamentarians with records like hers? A quote in Steven Oliver’s text reads, “I’m a black fella.Not a drunk criminal, uneducated, unemployed welfare dependent slack fella.” This is an allusion to the stereotypical assumptions placed upon FNP’s like Steven Oliver by people like Pauline …show more content…
The children experienced neglect, sexual abuse, and their culture being ‘drained out’ of them. This horrific moment in Australia’s past is referenced in “The Rabbits” with the quote, “and, stole, our children.” The effective use of pauses between each word portrays the intensity of the event and how the rabbits envisioned the FNP’s as products rather than human beings. How would you feel if you were treated like an animal? Whilst the government lives in a secluded bubble, the question of our governments systemic racism continues to surround the community. In accordance with the Parliament of Australia, the 46th Parliament includes 6 parliamentarians who identify as FNP’s. Overall, there are 223 members of parliament, meaning that only 2% of Australia’s parliamentarians come from a First Nations background. This lack of perspectives cannot create diverse change and only impacts certain groups of people. A quote from “The Rabbits” displays this through minimalistic language, “Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits”. Millions and millions of
The 2014 Walkley Award winning documentary, "Cronulla Riots: the day that shocked the nation" reveals to us a whole new side of Aussie culture. No more she’ll be right, no more fair go and sadly no more fair dinkum. The doco proved to all of us (or is it just me?) that the Australian identity isn’t really what we believe it to be. After viewing this documentary
All three authors recognize that difference constructs discrimination. The concept of othering (Hall 1997) and Anglo dominance presented by Moreton-Robinson (2015) help understand Judith Butler’s findings as to why oppression and exclusion cannot be reduced completely. It is same fear of the ‘other’ and white dominance in Australia that keep Australian institutions from reaching integration and equality—film being one these institutions. The filmmakers of The Sapphires attempt to tell the Aboriginal narrative. The scenes mentioned in the previous paragraphs, educate a diverse audience about Aboriginal discrimination in Australia in the 1960s. However, even though the filmmakers reveal some truths of Aboriginal discrimination, they do it in a way which the Aboriginal narrative is suppressed and Anglo dominance is maintained. “The Sapphires” plot is not centered on Aboriginal discrimination, rather a story of how four Aboriginal girls learn about love and friendship. Aboriginal discrimination in the 1960s forms only a small part of the journey to entertain American Troops in Vietnam. By presenting a musical comedy-drama film, the filmmakers sugar coat Australia’s dark past. The movie also ends on a good note. Cousin Kay who at some point rejected her Aboriginal roots, overcomes her prejudice and gets more in touch with the Aboriginal culture by partaking in an Aboriginal ceremony. By the end of the film the audience barely recalls the discrimination scenes and only remembers a happy ending. This is dangerous, as the film deceives its white Australian audience to believe that racial inequality in Australia is an issue of the past not the present. Therefore, promoting the idea that the Australia does not continue to privilege white people over Aboriginals
The marginalised Australian experience traps groups and individuals based on one or many aspects of their life. Both the poem ‘capital letters’ by Omar Musa and Craig Silvey’s novel ‘Jasper Jones’ explore the Australian Experience of marginalisation. They share many aspects of marginalisation including racism, injustice, resilience, consequences and life on the margin. Marginalisation can have negative psychological and emotional responses, however in capital letters and jasper jones, the consequences of overcoming marginalisation and the build-up of resilience are emphasised. Omar Musa’s poem capital letters looks into his own life and experiences growing up on the margin in Queanbeyan, Australia. The poem displays both the harsh consequence, as well as the
The poem “We’re not trucking around” by Samuel Wagan Watson presents an Aboriginal perspective on Australian National identity, showing the audience that Australians still mistreat Indigenous people, expressing his perspective through the ideas that white men still mistreat Aboriginals and the marginalization of Aboriginal culture. Watson reinforces his idea through poetic and language
The idea that indigenous Australian communities are underprivileged and do not receive the same justice that the white community accrues is represented through Jay Swan and his interactions with the corrupt white police officers and the indigenous locals of the town. My empathetic response to the text as a whole was influenced directly by way the text constructs these ideas as well as my knowledge of the way indigenous Australians are represented in the mainstream media and the behaviour of the police force as an institution. These contextual factors and the way Sen has constructed ideas influenced me to empathise with the indigenous
The contributions and achievements of Indigenous role models continue to make substantial impacts upon our history in areas such as the arts, sport, education, science and more increasingly; the world of Politics. Modern Australia is recognising and celebrating the achievements of Aboriginal people more than ever before, where the social landscape is changing (albeit slowly) as a result. The gradual change of peoples ingrained preconceptions, unfounded ideas and prejudiced notions are being challenged and ultimately transformed.
...ndigenous recognition and the removal of racist remarks has been an on-going theme for a vast majority of time. The necessity of Constitutional reform to close the gap on cultural divide as well as support the on-going concept of reconciliation is essential in ensuring Australia continues to improve and nurture its relationship with Indigenous peoples. The process of amendment through referendum has proven to be problematic in the past, with the success rate exceptionally low. Though with key factors such as bi-partisan support, widespread public knowledge and correct management, the alteration to remove racial discrimination and provide recognition for Indigenous persons within the Constitution is highly achievable. If proposed and eventually passed, this will provide assistance in eliminating many of the cultural gaps Indigenous persons face throughout society.
Throughout the world, in history and in present day, injustice has affected all of us. Whether it is racial, sexist, discriminatory, being left disadvantaged or worse, injustice surrounds us. Australia is a country that has been plagued by injustice since the day our British ancestors first set foot on Australian soil and claimed the land as theirs. We’ve killed off many of the Indigenous Aboriginal people, and also took Aboriginal children away from their families; this is known as the stolen generation. On the day Australia became a federation in 1901, the first Prime Minister of Australia, Edmund Barton, created the White Australia Policy. This only let people of white skin colour migrate to the country. Even though Australia was the first country to let women vote, women didn’t stand in Parliament until 1943 as many of us didn’t support female candidates, this was 40 years after they passed the law in Australian Parliament for women to stand in elections. After the events of World War Two, we have made an effort to make a stop to these issues here in Australia.
After the release of Rabbit Proof Fence, many `politically right' white Australians tried to promote that the film was based on myth and misunderstanding but in facet is not as the film itself promotes the openness of racism. Racism was not only a problem is Australia but throughout the world and is continuing to stay a problem, even in our own backyard. The racism between the white Australians and the Aborigines is quite similar to the racism shown in schools and even in parliament here in New Zealand between the Maori and Europeans, or once again between the `white' and the `black'.
ANTAR. (2014). Justice, Rights and Respect for Australia's First Peoples. Retrieved 05/12, 2014, Retrieved from http://antar.org.au/resources/cr-campaigner-kit?sid=3726
“Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human History. We reflect on their past mistreatment. We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation’s history. The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future. We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians” (apology by Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, 16th November 2009, Parliament House, Canberra.)
The Stolen Generation has had a profound impact on every aspect of the lives of Indigenous communities. It has jeopardised their very survival. It has impoverished their capacity to control and direct their future development. The Stolen Generation has corrupted, devastated and destroyed the souls, hopes and beliefs of many Australian lives through damaging assimilation policies established in an attempt to make a ‘White Australia’ possible. Discrimination, racism and prejudice are some of the many permanent scars upon Indigenous life that will never be repaired. However, recently Rudd and the Australian public have sincerely apologised for the detrimental effects the Stolen Generation had caused. The Stolen Generation has dramatically shaped Australian history and culture.
Throughout both ‘Rainbow’s End’ and ‘The Rabbits’, the audience discovers the plights that the Aboriginal Australians faced, due to discrimination and assimilation, in intensely confronting, yet intensely meaningful ways. We see how the discrimination and forced assimilation of cultures was common in the lead up to modern times because of composers like Harrison, Marsden and Tan reminding us of these events, allowing us to discover and rediscover our past wrongs through their works, in order to pave the way for a brighter, harmonious future. Without these documentations and retellings of events such as these, history would repeat itself, conflicts would be more apparent and we as a species would not be able to thrive and prosper due to our prejudices and superiority complexes.
The 2008 Apology speech was greatly significant in the struggle for Indigenous Rights and Freedoms, this is because the Indigenous community suffered from much oppression and inhuman acts against them through the time of the 1900’s such as segregation and persecution, racism is still present in todays’ society towards their culture. After many years of this, former prime minister; Kevin Rudd vocalised his apology towards those of the stolen generations in 2008. His speech acknowledges the wrongs of the past and apologises for those who wronged the indigenous people. In Rudd’s speech he persistently uses language that makes viewers understand the hardships and wrongs of the past. The apology holds much significance because the prime ministers refused
Penny Wongs 2014 speech opposing the proposed amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 provides insight into civic participation among those racially vilified through analysis of the act, and its effects on free speech. The proposed amendments would remove the words “offend” and “insult” from section 18c of the act, a proposal which Wong views as favouring the “rights of the bigots” (2014). The amendments proposed come as a response to views held by many that racial vilification laws impinge on the individual rights to free speech. The accuracy of Wongs denial of this effect can be assessed through analysis of this act, and its affect on civic participation among minority groups in Australia can be understood.