Australian stolen generation...

**McDuck** · 18th May 2008, 12:13

Yo. A friends daughter is doing an assignment and would like some opinions, here is a copy past of the email so if you would like to help her out and give some info feel free

The Stolen Generation – is saying sorry enough?

Hello! My name is Charlotte. I am year 10 and am doing a Social Studies assignment on the Stolen Generation. This occurred between the years of 1869 and 1969 in Australia. It involved the removal of children of mixed Aboriginal and European descent from their families to integrate them into white society. It was thought that by doing this the children would grow up into better people and was done in the interests of child protection. They were brought up to believe that the Aboriginal culture was bad; they were forbidden to speak their language and taught that to succeed they needed to integrate with white European culture and values. The plan being that eventually the Aborigines would be “bred out” and become extinct as a people and culture in Australia. The suffering of the children and their families was on a massive scale, and many of the ‘stolen’ children also suffered from physical and sexual abuse and girls were often trained for domestic service.

In February 2008 the Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd apologized to the Aboriginal people and in particular the survivors of the ‘stolen generation’ on behalf of the government. My question to you is: is an apology enough?

 YES, please explain you reasons.

 NO

a) why?

b) What would you suggest?

Thanks guys (and girls)

**98tls** · 18th May 2008, 12:24

I remember the reaction on another bike forum with plenty of Australian members,the way they saw it Australia has been shelling money out for years to "ease there pain" and the very public apology was rubbish.Personally i dont know enough about it so wont comment but as i say the comments then were pretty much "when is enough enough".fwiw.

**mowgli** · 18th May 2008, 12:39

Wow! A pretty heavy topic for a 10yo. MTCW

No, sorry is not enough. Right the wrongs that can be righted. Compensate the wrongs that can't be righted. Acknowledge the mistakes of the past and deal with them honorably. Only then will Australia be able to move on.

BTW I don't expect Australia will do the honorable thing preferring to apply band aids rather than sorting it once and for all. The reason I think this is that individually I find Australians are nice people. But as a country I think their racial prejudices run too deep.

**McDuck** · 18th May 2008, 12:47

Originally Posted by mowgli

Wow! A pretty heavy topic for a 10yo. MTCW

Year 10 as in 14 or 4th form you you old people. She is also a fuckload better than me at cello

**mowgli** · 18th May 2008, 12:53

Originally Posted by McDuck

Year 10 as in 14 or 4th form you you old people. She is also a fuckload better than me at cello

Haha that's quite funny. I'm not even that long out of school. Guess it shows much the twats in welly town have screwed with the edumication system. Spose I'll learn all about it when my girls reach school age.

Back on topic now. Wow! Pretty interesting topic for a year 10 student

**MIXONE** · 18th May 2008, 13:00

We can't even sort out the Waitangi Treaty claims BS so what right do we have to comment on the Australian situation which is probably just as messy!

**mowgli** · 18th May 2008, 13:16

Originally Posted by MIXONE

We can't even sort out the Waitangi Treaty claims BS so what right do we have to comment on the Australian situation which is probably just as messy!

A fair comment perhaps but at least New Zealand is working through the issue. Relations between Maori and our Government aren't nearly as f^&ked up as between Aboriginals and your average Aussie.

**Boob Johnson** · 18th May 2008, 13:25

Originally Posted by mowgli

No, sorry is not enough. Right the wrongs that can be righted. Compensate the wrongs that can't be righted. Acknowledge the mistakes of the past and deal with them honorably. Only then will Australia be able to move on.

BTW I don't expect Australia will do the honorable thing preferring to apply band aids rather than sorting it once and for all. The reason I think this is that individually I find Australians are nice people. But as a country I think their racial prejudices run too deep.

I lived over there for 3 yrs, was selling investment properties, traveled extensively, was in & out of thousands of Australian homes from all walks of life & from what I personally observed the Australian folk (in general) are very racist people still to this day & unashamedly so. I found it quite sickening to be honest. I really enjoyed my time over there but that subject & overtone came up all to often for my likings. Many things are dumbed down over there, quite brash & seemingly uneducated, I can only put it down to stemming from their convict roots.

**Boob Johnson** · 18th May 2008, 13:32

Originally Posted by mowgli

A fair comment perhaps but at least New Zealand is working through the issue. Relations between Maori and our Government aren't nearly as f^&ked up as between Aboriginals and your average Aussie.

NZ leads the world in "righting the wrongs" with indigenous people so be proud of that record. We aren't perfect, as a nation could have gone about it better but it was NEVER ever going to be perfect (and what IS perfect anyway??) the fact that we lead the world in this area IS something we can be proud of

The fact that Mr "I eat my own ear wax in public" Rudd has made this significant step is a HUGE deal. Just look at the turn out, the entire country stopped to it on TV, tears flowed, now you can't tell me that didn't have a positive impact

Still got work to do? I would imagine so but saying sorry was a major hurdle not only taking courage but from a legal stand point courageous so deserves it's 15 mins of lime light IMHO

**Conquiztador** · 18th May 2008, 13:51

Decisions made in the past were done based on the information available at that time. Think about the surgery done in the 1800's. The surgery was perfectly done but the patients kept on dying. And they had no idea why. Now we know that it was as a result of poor hygiene and that the instruments were not sterilised between the operations. Pretty obvious to us, would'nt you say? But in those days they had no idea.

Similarily here (IMHumbleO). The white man came to Oz and found a bunch of savages. No clothes, living in huts, spears to hunt with, open fires. The white man had so much to offer them!! Civilisation, learning, how to build houses. And alcohol...

Today with hindsight we can see how wrong those arguments were. But in those days...

Also remember that then there was no phones, no fax, no internet. So information took ages to travel. If an azzhole of a white man decided to do horrible things to aboriginies, the chance of him getting caught was very slim. This clearly gave the opportunity for the less scrupilous (sp?) to do what they felt like. And keep in mind that many of the white who came to Oz were "undesirables" sent there from Europe. (Even something like that would never happen today, one would hope...)

Apology or no apology. Today we know better. We know that what was done was wrong. But there is nothing that can be done about the past. You can only affect the future.

So what would I do?

- I would make sure that the truth was told in schools re the past so nobody would grow up not knowing.
- I would make sure that what had been done to correct the wrong up until now was clearly researched and documented.
- I would involve the senior Aboriginies in trying to find a solution. Who better to solve their problem then them self?
- I would make sure the Aboriginies would be in the driving seat when laying out the future for their people.
- I would make sure that no financial restrictions were in the way of their ideas.
- I would NOT give handouts, funds etc. to individuals as a "sorry for what we did" as it would not solve anything for the future. In a few years all would be back to the same and the non-aborigine population of Oz would be even more alienated then today from them.
- I would encourage the Aboriginies to celebrate their culture, I would make sure all Australians would be proud of having the Aboriginie culture as part of Oz.
- I would make sure that the Aborignies who so want could study and learn so that they could take advantage of all and anything that is on offer today, helping them to become equal with the rest of Australia.

But most of all I would make sure that being an Aboriginie in Australia would be something to be proud of and that having the Aborigine culture as part of Australia would be something that all Australians would be proud of.

**Big Dave** · 18th May 2008, 13:57

Originally Posted by Boob Johnson

Many things are dumbed down over there, quite brash & seemingly uneducated, I can only put it down to stemming from their convict roots.

I reckon that is a load of bullshit.

It's 2008 - Socially/intellectually I find very little difference either side of the ditch.
They watch the same television, same radio, same newspaper publishers, same restaurants, same malls, same standards of education, same multicultural mix.

I can take you to a few west auckland abodes where the racism is thicker than any I've encountered before, too.
There's just 5 more of every type of person in Aus - good and bad.

**gijoe1313** · 18th May 2008, 14:28

I've taught this as a film study unit at Yr12 level. If you need a film resource to contribute to your questions "Rabbit Proof Fence" is a compelling visual text.

Is a portrayal of a true story, which saw the children torn away from their tribes and parents and put into institutions. Sounds like quite an interesting assignment you have been given!