A Reconciliation Day in ACT?

I think we should consider a Reconciliation Day if only because the comments on this article alone demonstrate the need for society to better appreciate and understand Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures, and heritage. I’m troubled that so many seem so uncomfortable with the idea.

Those who believe that Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people are somehow “ahead” of non-indigenous people in Australia are blithely ignoring the statistics on incarceration, education, employment, life expectancy, and basically every other measure of “success” in contemporary society.

Those who think that invasion, settlement, and colonisation are somehow “ancient history” fail to appreciate the long-term implications of these actions. The systematic oppression of Indigenous peoples was built upon such foundations, and it continues today. The moves to elevate Indigenous peoples in public life are undertaken BECAUSE we acknowledge that they have been historically disadvantaged in a way that makes “normal” participation almost impossible without assistance.

I would refer those of you saying “They have enough already! All they do is take more than their share and complain! We give them so much!” to the statistics, again. How many Indigenous Australians live in this country? What is their net “share”? Of the taxes you pay, what percentage is dedicated or isolated solely for the use of Indigenous Australians, and might I add, to the detriment of non-indigenous? You don’t even know. Go and read the ANU report on Indigenous employment in the APS and the responses from Indigenous employees – it was reported in the Canberra Times in June of this year. Come back and tell me “They have enough”. Or perhaps you’ll come back and tell me “They’re not trying hard enough”?

I challenge anyone to show me a part of society where Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples are well- or over-represented in a positive way, outside of the institutions and bodies created specifically for their interests. Do you really think this puts them waaaaaaay ahead of non-indigenous society?

I’d prefer to hear from Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples as to whether they would like a Reconciliation Day or other day of commemoration, and what, and why. We cannot and should not stop acknowledging Indigenous Australians until we truly have equality. Those of you who believe it is already present are burying their heads in the sand.

Why? There is already so much pomp and ceremony acknowledging Indigenous, a lot of it which I personally find rather cringe-worthy, e.g. every time there is a function, then there is NAIDOC, Sorry day, lots of special benefits and grants – I mean seriously, we are all Australians. Can we just get on with actual egalitarianism for everyone?

No matter when the public holiday is, most Canberrans will “celebrate” by spending the long weekend down the coast, in Sydney or make a trip to the snow

Further to my comment [sorry for the double post], when is a person classified as being part of a particular ethnic group? A lot of supposed Aboriginal people are several generations removed from having any genuine aboriginal blood in their veins. “My great-great grandmother’s cousin was part of the Ngunnawal tribe” does not make you a fair dinkum indigenous Australian. With that mentality, I could call myself Swedish, Finnish, Russian and possibly any of several other nationalities if I dug deeper into the family tree. Were I to go back to any of those countries and make territorial or indigenous claims I’d be laughed out of court. Yet we seem to be totally accepting of blatantly white-skinned caucasians being of Aboriginal descent via long lost blood lines and allow them to claim benefits to suit. Then they cry foul and blame racism against them for their plight of living poorly in public housing, being stuck on welfare and unable to work. I know of many genuine indigenous Australians who have made the most of their lives and become success stories instead of playing the “poor me” games. I cannot see what the end game is for those constantly pursuing for more recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders, except for financial compensation, rights of land ownership and more free stuff. They got their public apologies and we are in the 21st century, how about we get over it and move on already.

We’ve said “Sorry”, we make recognition of the Aboriginal community before every single public speech, what more can we do? They also get first dibs on job offers with the government, have an entire week devoted to their culture and a round of footy in their honor. When will it all end, when all non-indigenous Australians are serving them like slaves?
Are we sure that all these efforts to bridge the gap between black and white is not doing the opposite and driving a feeling of irritation into the community? Seeing the ongoing and relentless pleas for more and more, makes the aboriginal people look more like a welfare group that pushes for entitlements using the reasoning that they are a poor minority group.
There are thousands of minorities in Australia, but do they all jump up and down saying “Look at me, poor, poor me!”, in order to get something for nothing? We are now over 200 years beyond the first landing. Everyone in Australia is born with the same rights as everyone else. If people cannot make something out of their life because they feel victimized due to their skin colour, just have a look at the variety of wealthy folks in our country and the diversity of their backgrounds. There is no longer a hate mentality against Aboriginals, it is only a hate of people who won’t do anything to help themselves but insist on the bleeding heart sob story of their poor upbringing as an excuse to get handouts.

Masquara said :

What would “Reconciliation Day” be celebrating, precisely?

Surely, by its nature, if reconciliation has occurred, then reconciliation can be forgotten. It isn’t something that can be permanently put in the calendar.

I strongly suspect that many (if not most) who use this word, “reconciliation”, do not have any kind of reconciliation in mind but are instead playing a very different tune on a dog whistle.

Reminds me of a letter to the editor in The Australian in the 1980s which asked why we have National Aborigines Day “because we don’t have National White Person’s Day”. A few days later someone replied and said “Yes we do, 365 days a year”.

How about a Gratitude Day instead, where we ALL reflect on how lucky we are to live in Australia where we are largely protected from terrorism, have socialised medicine, a generous welfare net, sunshine and good coffee.

KentFitch said :

I would rather Family and Community Day was renamed and/or moved than a holiday that is shared with other States. Lots of people move here from interstate and a common holiday is a good opportunity to travel to see family.

I like that Family and Community Day is a Canberra thing, like Canberra Day. There’s nothing to stop you travelling interstate on that day (especially given that it is usually in ACT school holidays), or if that is inconvenient, Labour Day comes a couple of weeks later.

My point is that it’s good to have the opportunity to visit interstate family/friends when they are having a holiday too. That gives a particular value to holidays that are common to multiple states (e.g. Queen’s Birthday, Labour Day), which would be lost by the ACT moving one to a different date. Feedback on the issue has been requested, and that will be my feed back.

hahahahahahahaha

KentFitch said :

I would rather Family and Community Day was renamed and/or moved than a holiday that is shared with other States. Lots of people move here from interstate and a common holiday is a good opportunity to travel to see family.

I like that Family and Community Day is a Canberra thing, like Canberra Day. There’s nothing to stop you travelling interstate on that day (especially given that it is usually in ACT school holidays), or if that is inconvenient, Labour Day comes a couple of weeks later.

It’s about the Canberra community. At least, it is now that it’s no longer associated with Melbourne Cup.