Jan 26 Is For Mourning Not Partying
In Australia we “celebrate” a day that is marked significant changes in the nation. From the deaths of the Indigenous, claiming that there were no people, Terra nullius (land uninhabited), the deaths of native animals to extinction and to a complete change in geological landscape. A day that was only recognized as a national public holiday since 1994. Yes, there were different dates throughout the 1900’s but it was formally recognized in 1994. Aboriginal people have had marked the 26th of January as a day of mourning since the 1960’s but due to the ongoing disregard of the Indigenous population, the white leaders did not see it as a day for them to mourn. This day should be held in the same manner as ANZAC Day with the same regard. It should be a day when we all remember in somber those who lost their lives throughout the building of this country. How can we be proud of our country when we refuse to fully acknowledge our own history?
When we look at other countries regarding their own genocidal atrocities, one stark difference is that they have acknowledged their part and have put rules in place so that what has occurred will never happen again. Germany is a prime example. They have taken less time to acknowledge and make changes for the events that happened in WW2. Too often we are told that it was “too long ago” and “stop dwelling in the past” however the beliefs that caused the atrocities to happen has not stopped. This country was built upon the very fabric of racial divide. We can neither move on nor fix the divide if the refusal to acknowledge the divide is still there.
Then those who oppose changing the date, then go on about “well almost half of Aboriginals are on Centrelink, only a quarter of Australians are on Centrelink” completely taking away the context of the population numbers. According to statistics, only 220,800 (220 thousand, 8 hundred) Indigenous Australians are on Centrelink as opposed a total of 5,500,000 (5.5 million). What those figures do not show is that those who receive Centrelink as their main source of income, not necessarily their only source of income. With that there is only one percentage difference who rely on full employment (45% on Centrelink, 44% employed). But those who talk loudly about the non-working Indigenous people only focus on the percentages not on the population. So, of the 5.5 million of Australians on Centrelink, Indigenous people only make up 5.3%. A small drop. Many people do not bat an eyelid at a white non-working person going about their day to day, but as soon as they see darker skin, they automatically assume that the person is non-working. They could be self-employed, having a rostered day off, coming from work in plain clothes or going to work in the same manner.
Australia has racism inbuilt in the very way we look, think, or talk to the people whose ancestors were on this land before Europe was a blip in the world stage of development. Who are we to decide that our way was better?
I was raised in Darwin and have moved around a lot over my lifetime, and despite growing up around and having friends who are Aboriginal, I have had to face my own biases about Aboriginal people. Little games, small digs, etc. Despite my own uneasiness towards the Australian flag and thinking that I was accepting of all. So instead of talking over Aboriginal people, I sit and listen to them. Instead of thinking I know what is best, I do not say anything negative to them. They know what is offensive to them. They know what has happened to them. So, I talk to white people who may not know and hope that they understand by informing them of what I have learnt by Indigenous people. We need to accept our past and present and learn from them. If we do not, we are doomed to make the same mistakes repeatedly.
Australia Day is Invasion Day. A day that many have protest since the length of Australia Day has been in. Both have gone hand in hand. It is becoming clearer that many who oppose changing the date either want the day so they can get drunk, or they just do not care.
Ironically, those who want to drink to get drunk complain about the drunken Aboriginal issues that some places have but cannot see the issues that happen when white people get drunk. They are also the same who stay deathly quiet on topics like the over 400 remote or regional communities who have a lack of decent quality drinking water.
Until we change the way that the laws are written and include Aboriginal people in the conversations, actively help restore inter-generational traumas with the correct cultural approach, help work on ways to make sure all communities have adequate drinking water, rid ourselves of “black means bad” mentality, and above all form a treaty that will protect the oldest culture on the planet, Australia day will be always known as Invasion/Survival Day. When it should be a day of mourning just like ANZAC Day.
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