RE: Debate Forum - Week 5 - Indigenous Reconciliation
As a white male living in Australia I really do struggle with cognitive dissonance in relation to the acknowledgement, ongoing treatment , and integration of the indigenous people (I even had to go back and change my words from our indigenous people).
The British where so lazy and disinterested by the time they colonised Australia that they simply called the local aboriginal people aborigine and I have personal met a man from our Northern Territory with no birth certificate but rather a Government issued classification of Flora and Forna.
If I where Prime Minister I would say that at least the first baby steps had been taken we have had out Eddy Marbo succeed in gaining native land rites, we have had a largely insignificant gesture of a national sorry day in apology for the stolen generation.
As I said baby steps, hell the British didn't return Yagans head to the Noogar people until 1997 for those of you that don't know Yagan was a resistance leader killed in 1833.
My first action would be changing our day of national celebration Australia Day the 26th of Jan which celebrates the date of the landing of the First Fleet or as the Aborigines call it Invasion Day
I know it sounds like another token action but for many of the locals its a serious issue how do we ask these people to view themselves as part of this country yet every year ask them to participate in the celebration of the day they mark as the loss of their lands, the deaths of their family, and the disintegration of their culture.
So what day to choose how about they day after colonised Australia voted its self into being a country the 2nd of January.
Thats step one there are 10 others but I don't want to spam you page with one ridiculously long post
It's a debate. I encourage ridiculously long posts! lol I think many people struggle with cognitive dissonance as you so bravely admitted. How do you propose that we help people deal with this emotional barrier so that we can all at least recognize the genocide that took place? After all, until we recognize the violence, we will not be able to then change behaviours so that we can reconcile. So what I hear from you is the suggestion that we deal with these emotional and mental traumas and bias discrimination so that we can come to terms with the harms throughout history, change our ways, end the violence so that we can then approach them in peace for meaningful reconciliation efforts.
If this is what you are saying, how do you propose that this process take place with a population of millions?