I didn’t have any intention of touching upon this issue, but a little while ago an incident happened (or perhaps it didn’t happen) on the train that was enough to get the ball rolling.
The Aboriginal “issue” is not very
different from the “Native American” issue (3) in the United States. And they
call it “issue”, “problem” or “matter”, because it is still happening. In
Spain, we don’t talk of the Mayan, Incan or Aztec “issue”. We just call it a
massacre. But here it is the time factor.
It was not that long ago that the first Australians killed Aboriginals
(that began in 1788), and the “Stolen Generation” (4) was a recent occurrence
(between 1869 and 1968).
And I think nothing that could be said
about it, would be more eloquent than showing the first five “significant dates
for Aboriginals” (1) of the nine that make up the list that is stuck to the
wall beside the photocopier at my workplace -a workplace without Aboriginal
employees.
- 26th January: Survival Day (for the rest of the country it is Australia day. Captain Cook arrived in Sydney).
- 13th February: National Apology Day (anniversary of the official apology in 2008 by the government for “what happened”, particularly the Stolen Generation).
- 21st March: Harmony Day (a celebration of the “cohesion and inclusiveness” of cultures).
- 24th March: National Close the Gap Day (a reminder that the life expectancy of the Aboriginal population is at least 10 years less than the non- Aboriginal population).
- 26th May: National Sorry Day ( held since 1998 and it is different from the National Apology Day).
Getting back to the train incident, in the
front part of the carriage of my train, there was an Aboriginal family. The
kids were making a lot of noise and at one stage, their father yelled at them
to be quiet. And the guy that was seated beside me, then started to yell at the
same time at the father. I didn’t understand all of it but he told them to go
to another carriage which the father did with his family. When they went, the
guy that had kicked them out made it very clear that what had annoyed him was
not the noise but “ what they were”. This guy was upset but even still, it
caught my attention that nobody on the carriage said anything (2).
- Their full title is “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander”.
- I didn’t say anything either and I understand that there are reasons not to say anything (all of them related to self-preservation)
- Both the Native Americans and Aborigines have been compensated with land and subsidies by the U.S and Australian governments.
- The government took the Aboriginal children without asking their parents and adopted them out to “good” families.
