Wednesday, 18 January 2017

Bandaids

(DISCLAIMER: The following is an explanation of my opinions and I did not undertake extensive research to write it. In no way am spreading hate, or assigning blame, simply analysing, so please do not take offence. The show was based in Wilcannia.)

Today I was caught off guard whilst watching "Reggie Yates: A Hidden Australia" whilst my mother told me about the way the Aboriginal people were treated by the white man (not to be taken offensively) when they came to colonise. I suppose I had previously given little thought to the whole history of the indigenous Australians and presumed that it had been done in the way that they colonised other countries. Except, I did not know much about Aboriginals as I did Africans, Indians and various other colonised peoples who had somehow managed to retain a strong sense of cultural identity; they know who they are, where they came from and this helped them plan where they are going. 

The Problem

Conversely, I was horrified to hear that Aboriginals were given drugs, alcohol, petrol (used for sniffing as one stated on the programme) as mechanisms for the white man to oppress and take over without opposition. Dr. Gideon Polya wrote that the population of Aboriginal dropped from 1 million to 0.1 million, 123 years after the arrival of the British and that by 1911, 90% of the population had been wiped out. This is due to the repulsive fact that they were murdered but the British. Whole Islands were wiped out and equivalents of concentration camps were made to racially cleanse. The Aboriginal adults that were left, were placed on reserves whilst children known as the 'Stolen Generation' were separated from their families and placed in schools and forced to adopt the British culture, and Christianity. As a result, they lost their heritage and traditions whilst their parents were being doped by the white man. 

Firstly, take note of the use of religion to dominate and justify abhorrent behaviour. It is not a surprising concept as the white man had used the tactic during the slave trade, quoting scripture such as Peter 2:18: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.” To the slaves who had grown up in Africa and had strong belief in their religion and gods, it'd be easy to ignore the twisted truths that 'Massa' would be preaching each Sunday. But think about the following generations, the first African Americans, whose African identity was being watered down further and further down the line. They grew up believing in the God that their masters introduced them to. Although a warped version of him, this God was amazing, helped them through their struggles and kept their spirit strong. Yet, their masters suggested that this God believed that some were less equal than others and that a good slave was a good christian. It would be more difficult for them to block out such messages, as it came from the same Bible that said God is love. Note also, Hitler. Part of his logic for the Holocaust is that the Jews killed Jesus, therefore, should be exterminated. Hence, using religion to justify. 

Secondly, I would argue that although the Transatlantic slave trade and the Holocaust were indisputably horrid events, the impact on what was done to the Aboriginal people may be worse than comparatively, due to the long term impact. 
After the Holocaust, arrests were made, treaties and reparations given, as much as nothing could be done to replace 6 million lives, there as an acknowledgement that what was done was utterly wrong. Moreover, Jews are not as stigmatised and live in freedom. 

Following the Transatlantic slave trade, it is known to everyone that racial tension followed and still follows today. Not to mention the 'missing father' stereotype that stems from a damaged culture of African Americans and Caribbeans. Could it be that when fathers were sold off to different plantations and ripped away from their families, that they started new ones, and they cycle would continue? From this, it could have created generations where the man did not need to stick around, although initially he could not because he was sold off, eventually, he chose not to, because, well...his father had walked out on him and so forth. However, this is just a stereotype, but stereotypes do not come from nowhere. It would only explain why there are broken families in those cultures, but not every family dynamic is broken.

I believe the lasting impact on colonisation of Aboriginals has affected many of their lives. In the programme, statistics stated that less than 50% are in employment and most of indigenous people started drinking from 7am till the early hours of the next day. They threw constant parties and were continually wasted. It may sound like fun for some, but this lifestyle, 24/7, 365 days a year breeds lack of focus, which leads to lack of purpose. Therefore, the suicide rate is high, according to the programme. Moreover, although they only make up 2% of the population, they make up 1 in 3 persons in jail. I stumbled across an article that said some MP's support the incarceration of young Aboriginal because it keeps them out of trouble. It stops them drinking, they get fed three square meals a day and they are much healthier. Controversially, the also said that they get to be with their family members which already implies that there may be a bias in the Australian judicial system. On one hand, what they say does make sense, that the quality of life in jail, may be better than in the outside world. Yet the law student in me, argues that this test is completely subjective. It will be the judge or jury who decide whether they would be better off in jail or not. But what about the offender themselves? What's more is that taking this viewpoint encourages the judicial system to incarcerate the offender, meaning they may not receive a fair trial like their white counterparts. This, at least in England (I have no idea about the nuts and bolts of Australian Law), is a violation of Article 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 which is 'The Right to a Fair Trial'. As shown, there may be discrimination in the courts regarding Aboriginals but from the show, both indigenous and white Australians accepted that there was a divide between them, which was created during Colonialism. One lady stated that Aboriginals were not part of the census in Australia until after the 1967 Australian referendum  She laid out that they were not treated as people and not respected for a long time, hence, white Australians and indigenous people find it challenging to relate to each other. To an extent, they are looked down upon, as suggested in "I'm Aboriginal but I'm not..." by Buzzfeed and the comic "Coz I'm Aboriginal (One Direction, What Makes You Beautiful Parody)". Though the latter is humorous, it was clearly made to mock a stereotype that white Australians think Aboriginals will steal. Furthermore, 20 hours ago, Ken Wyatt became Australias first Aboriginal minister. In 2017! It is Ludicrous in my opinion and I do not know the logistics behind why it has taken so long for this to happen, but if does have links to discrimination, then this is just one example of the long term impact of their mistreatment 200 years ago. Not even England or America is this backward, there are many people of colour in power. 
However, one thing that the Aboriginals did seem to have was strong family units, regardless of the fact that families were separated from each other during colonisation.

Identity

I titled this essay 'Bandaids' because of a pivotal statement that an Aboriginal lady made, regarding the town of Wilcannia. It opened my eyes so much, to even the struggles of humanity and the way that we try to soothe our deep rooted issues, that I had to write about it. In summary, she that the constant partying and drinking is a way to cover up the pain caused by their identity crisis. Once the drugs and drink were deliberately introduced to them by white colonists, they became a weaker nation. The strong sense of self as a people, disappeared and life became less meaningful. Either, to add salt to the wound or seasoning to the chicken, my mother said that it is hard enough to struggle with your identity at a personal level, but when your whole racial group struggles to identify who they are, it can make life very bleak. The lady said that in Wilcannia, they party hard to symbolise freedom; that no longer can anyone come on their land and take possession of it, or them, or their children. Yet, this does not make up for their lost traditions and customs. Though many interested in maintaining or gaining back culture, it does not take away from the fact that they suffered a treacherous injustice, which could have been avoided.

In conclusion, though the programme may not reflect the situation of all indigenous people, all over Australia, it does give an insight as to problems they face. Some may advocate that their solution is...substandard, but the injustice done to them has led to high suicide rates, discrimination as well as loss of purpose. These are all issues which are painful to have on a personal level, but even worse in a whole community. You may wonder what the big deal is about loss of identity, I hope to tackle that in my next reflection. Despite the fact that a 'National Sorry Day' was made in 1998 to commemorate the mistreatment of the country's indigenous population, a simple sorry cannot heal the wounds carved by the ancestors. What else is Australia doing to bridge the gap?

Take a look for yourself:

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