Our kids are missing out on history
Imagine if Australians stopped avoiding the word invasion, writes Bill Handbury
I’M an old codger and like most people of my years who are lucky enough to still be standing, reflecting on life’s experiences absorbs much time.
In 1968 on my way to London the ship I was on called in at Cape Town, given the Suez Canal was closed.
Before disembarking, passengers were advised not to communicate with “blacks” or visit “black ghettos”.
Uncomfortable with the P&O advice I ventured outside of the “whites-only” domain.
At first I stood and looked with incredulity at an impoverished “black” slum.
It reminded me of the Aboriginal plight on the banks of the Murray River outside of the demarcation zone at Corowa, but on a much larger scale.
As I walked towards the slum, children started to come out of the humpies. They were shy, terribly shy, but I wanted to engage with them. I approached with some coins in the palm of my hand. After an initial apprehension the floodgates opened when suspicion and fear gave way to the awareness of a gift. It suddenly triggered a euphoric happiness that only children can exude. Parents then slowly appeared and what shocked me was the deep sadness, distrust and hopelessness in their eyes. That indelible heart wrenching image remains equally vivid today.
Some years later I read Nelson Mandela’s biography.
Men of my vintage were indoctrinated with the dictum that crying is an unacceptable weakness. Mandela’s life story with the inhumanity and physical hardship he suffered brought tears to my eyes. I recall these experiences as the basis of the wonder and shame I hold as my country continues its racism towards Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders. Make no mistake, the rejection of the Uluru Statement of the Heart was and remains hard-core racism.
Until Australia embraces it with open arms, with a meaningful inclusion in the Constitution and a voice more than tokenism, we will never be one country: one people.
Racism in Australia exists mainly through ignorance and misinformation. A major cause of this cringeworthy fault is because the truth of
Australia’s history is not compulsory in our schools.
I recently scanned the brochure of one of our most privileged schools which boasted the opportunity of more than 20 subjects students could choose from.
Australian history was not one of them!
Our government is in the process of compelling all Australian communities to celebrate Australia Day on January 26. Launceston wanted to change the date. All hell broke loose with an indignation that such patriotism could be trashed.
The challenge for the Morrison Government which is steadfast in demanding that January 26 cannot be changed is to overtly deny that the Australia was invaded in 1788.
This bullet should no longer be dodged.
Was Australia invaded or was it not? A simple enough question for the PM and his government, is it not?
You would think as Australians we would all know the answer. But do we?
Governments for ever and day have rationalised invasion as something or anything other than an invasion: settlement, occupation, anything, but never invasion.
Why do governments never own their mistakes?
Isn’t this failure the foremost reason why punters hold them in such low regard?
The consequence of the continuing misinformation is that for nearly two and a half centuries first peoples have been treated as second-class citizens in their own country.
Today they remain beggars at the political table.
What would Australia be like with Nelson Mandela at the helm?
Do we ever contemplate that we may feel better about ourselves should the stain be removed?