AUSTRALIA WAS BUILT ON RACISM !!

HERE IS A THREAD EXPLAINING AND TALKING ABOUT THE PROMINENT RACISM THAT IS STILL EXPERIENCED TOWARDS ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS TODAY!

- This thread will mention murder, racism, dehumanisation, social exclusion, trauma and just general shit stuff! -

THE STOLEN GENERATION

"The Stolen Generation" was a child generation of Aboriginal Australians who were forcibly removed from their homes. Settlers believed that Aboriginals should “die out” through a process of natural elimination, or, be assimilated into the white community

Children taken from their parents were told to ignore their Indigenous heritage, and forced to adopt white culture. Their names were changed, and were forbidden to speak their traditional languages. Many were adopted, or placed in institutions where abuse and neglect were common.

Many members of the Stolen Generations never experienced living in a healthy family situation, and never learned parenting skills. In some instances, this has resulted in generations of children raised in state care.

(The Stolen Generation happened from 1910-1970)

TERRA NULLIUS - Original Name of Australia

When the white settlers first came to Australia, the land wasn't named. British colonisations would name new land as "Terra Nullius", a term meaning the land belonged to no one. This denied the existence of Aboriginals as human beings.

"Terra Nullius" essentially asserted that Indigenous people were non-human. This formed the basis of the relationship between Indigenous people and the nation, which helped normalise the mistreatment and abuse of Aboriginal Australians.

MASSACRES AND WARS

Thousands of Indigenous people fought settlers for their homelands, families and way of life. These battles have been left out of Australia’s history. This left most Australians without knowledge of their own history.

It represents Indigenous people as passive - implying Indigenous people didn’t fight for their country and reinforcing derogatory stereotyping of Indigenous people as lazy and incompetent.

This affects both Indigenous Australians’ perception of themselves and the distorted perception Aussies have of our history as a "peaceful settlement to be celebrated."

It was NEVER peaceful.

MASSACRES

Indigenous people were dehumanised by the colonisers in order to justify the horrific acts against them. One of the most famous massacres of Aboriginal history is the "Myall Creek massacre". 28 people were killed.

These events resulted in loss of cultural knowledge as entire generations or family groups were murdered. This then led to a crisis of identity and belonging for many Indigenous people which continues to impact people in the present.

EXEMPTION CERTIFICATES

The state governments issued thousands of exemption certificates. They gave Indigenous recipients citizenship rights that they didn’t possess, yet which were enjoyed by the non-Indigenous majority of Australian society and taken for granted.

It included ‘privileges’ such as being allowed to vote, attend school, enter hotels and be exempted from the restrictions of state Aboriginal protection laws.

Applicants then had to agree to abandon their Indigenous community, give up their culture including connections with Country and end contact with their Indigenous kinship. Indigenous people had to essentially sacrifice their Indigenous identity to obtain a basic level of freedom.

Aboriginal Australians also needed to show certificates to police officers in order to be permitted to exist in public spaces was also a of humiliation and shame! (also ACAB lol)

Exemption certificates contributed to the sense of being a second-rate member of society, as well as the loss of cultural knowledge.

Please keep in mind that in present time, so much cultural knowledge has been lost due to all of these events.

EXPLOITED LABOUR

Indigenous people were exploited for labour on reserves, cattle stations and as domestic helpers (e.g maids) in white households. Many of these people were have probably never been paid wages earned over decades of hard labour

SOCIAL EXCLUSION

Being denied in the mainstream social system meant being denied rights and privileges. Up until the 1960’s, Indigenous people were denied access to public spaces. People were also denied access to healthcare, education and employment on the basis of their race.

Using statistics, Indigenous Australians remain amongst the most socially excluded people in Australia. Evidence of Indigenous social exclusion includes current high rates of poverty, incarceration, unemployment, homelessness, poor health and lack of education outcomes.

Source for Social Exclusion : https://www.mentalhealthacademy.net/journal_archive/aifs0910.pdf

(Possibly out of date, but it was the most accurate and legit source I could find)

INSTITUTIONALISED DISCRIMINATION

Our education, legal and political systems are based on non-Indigenous ways of knowing and operating (individualism, capitalism, private property, the nuclear family etc.) which often fail to acknowledge Indigenous value systems.

For instance, until recently, land law in Australia was founded on the legal fiction of terra nullius (that Australia was land belonging to no-one at the time of British arrival).

In 2017, the Constitution, our nation’s founding document, contains race powers (power to discriminate based on race) and fails to acknowledge the prior occupation and dispossession of Indigenous people.

INTERGRATIONAL TRAUMA

Indigenous people who haven’t directly experienced the events of our history are still impacted by the legacy left behind. Trauma caused by colonisation, including violence and loss of culture and land- (continued next tweet)

-as well as policies such as the forced removal of children, is passed from generation to generation in families and communities, with devastating effects.

There are people alive today who were:

- Removed from their parents under government policy
- separated from their children
- Banned in towns after 6:00pm
- Not allowed in public areas without permission
- Working in white households with pay being held by the gov

And more.

Just the FACT that people who have experienced some of this are still alive is sad. IMAGINE not being allowed in public spaces w/o permission.

Whats worse is the fact that the Australian Government REFUSES to talk about all of these ugly truths.

If we truly want to move forward together and be part of a better country, it’s essential that we openly acknowledge our history and validate the pain it’s caused. This means recognising that- (continued next tweet)

- The land we live on and prosper from was previously inhabited by Indigenous people, and their displacement wasn’t founded on mutual agreement
- The social and economic impacts of invasion, dispossession and control of Indigenous people have accumulated across generations

- Policies and practices have systematically disadvantaged Indigenous people. This has resulted in poverty, poor health and other forms of disadvantage from generation to generation.

It's sad that Australia has this image of "A Perfect Country" when in reality, we have a disgusting and horrible history that's barely talked about.

Please also note that this thread is all from my knowledge !! This knowledge is just from my own research :)