When I am confronted with racism my first reaction is to flee. I want to leave the area. I am plunged into a depression. Growing up in the North East I was aware that everyone was racist. I can say that now with certainty. At least everyone I knew was racist so I was depressed a lot. Because of this I always felt outside society. Who was not racist? Maybe my Uncle Tom? I never heard him express racist epithets. But even he could have been racist. He certainly did not protest when he heard racial epithets being expressed. And while certain things have changed a basic racism still exists and when confronted with it I am shocked. I am sure Aboriginals feel the same. This has hapenned twice in the last week. In the first instance at a public meeting a comment was made about the shortage of Doctors in country towns. This was taken up by a woman who said Moree had lost its Doctor and that her sister had to go to the next town to see a Doctor. There was a replacement Doctor but only Aboriginals could go to this Doctor. White people could not go to this Doctor. He wouldnt see anyone but Aboriginals. Her sister had told her this. I made the comment that I found this hard to believe. Surely this was incorrect. Oh No. Her sister had told her. This was true. White people now have to go to the next town. I said - lets look this up on google. (She was already angry at me for questioning her sister and my comment suggesting we look on google made her even more angry) She stood up to leave. I looked up on google to find there were 4 Doctors in Moree. There was no mention of a Doctor who only treated Aboriginals. Surely if this occurance had occured the tabloids would have jumpted on it. There was a website for an Aboriginal Health Centre but it did not specifiy any Doctor being present. I related out loud the fact that there were 4 Doctors surgeries in Moree but by this time she was more or less at the door. I wanted to say that Moree was one of the towns in the 70's who practised a form of aparthied in that they did not allow aboriginal children to swim in the Council swimming pool with white children and had separate pool times for the two groups. Charles Perkins had organised the Freedom Bus to go to Moree to point out this and other racist anomolies that existed in the town. The Mayor publicly resisted any change and made a very crude statement in defence of his policy and how the Council owned the pool but after 2 days he had to back down and allow aboriginal children to swim with whites. At least when the freedom bus was in town. And when the TV cameras were there. I believe there is no apartheid there now. Probably no one swims in the Council Pool. But I didnt say this. I felt it was innapropriate to say anything like this to the group of people I was with. I felt would have disaproved of me saying anything else - I had said enough. I didnt feel like saying anything anyway because I already felt depressed. The second occurrance was equally depressing. Benalla Council declares an acknowledgement of Aboriginal land at the start of its public ceromonies but the acknowledge is not a simple acknowledgement. It is long and rambling. It has a statement tacked on at the end mentioning other pioneers and their contributuion. It in effect acknowledges Aboriginals but it also pointedly acknowledges whites. By chance I was introduced to a man who I had never met before and in the introduction it was mentioned that he was a former Mayor of Benalla. I took the opportunity to ask why Benalla did not have a simple and straightforward acknowledgement of Aboriginal land. Why did they have to make the statement that related to whites? I told him I didnt think it made sense. He shocked me by stating that he was the man who in effect organised and wrote the acknowledgement. I attempted to question him about it further but he literally back pedalled at this point and said the council had agreed on what was to be said. I then said that I thought what was said was insulting to Aboriginals. He then pointedly looked at me and said forcefully - what is said is what I wanted. We will have to dissagree. He then more or less stormed off. I was struck dumb at his attitude and had no response. I concluded we will have to get the new council to change the acknlowledgement. Because I am convinced the present acknowledgement is both innapropriate and and depressing. What are the chances of my sucess I wonder? Are these occurances racist? Should I be concerned? Should I let it affect me? Am I depressed too easily?
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