Stolen Generations???
"The Australian Govt. will render an official apology to the natives".. or something to that effect was said by the new Aussie PM, Kevin Rudd. And when I came to know that his predecessor Howard had steadfastly refused to do so for quite a while, my ears perked up.
More reading yielded the phrase "Stolen Generations" , " raging debate", " myth" and the like. What started off with a regular visit to the sports columns of smh.com.au ( or The Sydney Morning Herald in short) became a topic worth blogging!! and that too after months!!!!
In short, this is the gist. From the last cpl of decades of the 19th century till 1970, the Australian Federal Govt. had actually implemented a "policy" of removal of "half-caste" children from Aboriginal families to "more congenial" locations such as a missionary or a white family. Ostensibly with such good motives, the policy however could deny itself from becoming racist and all hell broke loose thereafter.
The govt.l felt that half-caste children were being shunned as outcastes by their native Aboriginal communities, so they decided to take things into their own hands and provide shelter. Not uncommon, but unfortunately white kids in such scenarios happened to have better lives, like seeing their relatives very often, visiting them during weekends or even just staying with a dependable relative rather than in a govt. shelter. The half-castes of course had the luxury of never again seeing their relatives or community members. Oh actually they did see them. When they grew up, just to ensure that they did not grow up completely oblivious of their nativity, their white foster homes would take them to Aboriginal workshops to teach them ab
out a smatter of their culture.
From all of my reading, I could not deny the blatant racist overtones of this policy - ensure half-blood mixes ONLY with pure-blood, thus ensuring pure-blood triumphs over the mudblood. But on the other hand, it was also obvious that those communities had shunned quite a few half-caste children and their moms. So the govt. definitely had to do something.
Yeah, as always in this man's world, the poor moms turned out to be natives who were either raped/ married/ loved by white men only to be deserted by them soon enough. So the good old white Oz govt. decides to punish the only 2 groups blameless in this mess - the children and their moms. Simplistically looking at just this one issue, you had those Aboriginal communities and you had the cowardly white men, the 2 groups which needed some form of counselling/ help/ censure. But then that would be way too much for any govt. that had to be both politically correct to some believable extent and still be true to their vote banks.
Anyway, bottomline is this.. after all the backlash about the Stolen Generations (half-castes), the various Aussie state govts. apologised for their roles( a certain Mr. Howard refused to do that even then). Just when you think the story's got a good ending, here comes the clincher. Now, the authorities refuse to interfere in any of the abuse-related cases from those communities, lest somebody shouts "wolf".
So .. you get the picture.. talk about a good act getting sour.....
P.S - Watch the Rabbit-Proof Fence..movie on 3 girls who escaped from a missionary/camp...true story... and must watch the making.... enlightening...
More reading yielded the phrase "Stolen Generations" , " raging debate", " myth" and the like. What started off with a regular visit to the sports columns of smh.com.au ( or The Sydney Morning Herald in short) became a topic worth blogging!! and that too after months!!!!
In short, this is the gist. From the last cpl of decades of the 19th century till 1970, the Australian Federal Govt. had actually implemented a "policy" of removal of "half-caste" children from Aboriginal families to "more congenial" locations such as a missionary or a white family. Ostensibly with such good motives, the policy however could deny itself from becoming racist and all hell broke loose thereafter.
The govt.l felt that half-caste children were being shunned as outcastes by their native Aboriginal communities, so they decided to take things into their own hands and provide shelter. Not uncommon, but unfortunately white kids in such scenarios happened to have better lives, like seeing their relatives very often, visiting them during weekends or even just staying with a dependable relative rather than in a govt. shelter. The half-castes of course had the luxury of never again seeing their relatives or community members. Oh actually they did see them. When they grew up, just to ensure that they did not grow up completely oblivious of their nativity, their white foster homes would take them to Aboriginal workshops to teach them ab
out a smatter of their culture.
From all of my reading, I could not deny the blatant racist overtones of this policy - ensure half-blood mixes ONLY with pure-blood, thus ensuring pure-blood triumphs over the mudblood. But on the other hand, it was also obvious that those communities had shunned quite a few half-caste children and their moms. So the govt. definitely had to do something.
Yeah, as always in this man's world, the poor moms turned out to be natives who were either raped/ married/ loved by white men only to be deserted by them soon enough. So the good old white Oz govt. decides to punish the only 2 groups blameless in this mess - the children and their moms. Simplistically looking at just this one issue, you had those Aboriginal communities and you had the cowardly white men, the 2 groups which needed some form of counselling/ help/ censure. But then that would be way too much for any govt. that had to be both politically correct to some believable extent and still be true to their vote banks.
Anyway, bottomline is this.. after all the backlash about the Stolen Generations (half-castes), the various Aussie state govts. apologised for their roles( a certain Mr. Howard refused to do that even then). Just when you think the story's got a good ending, here comes the clincher. Now, the authorities refuse to interfere in any of the abuse-related cases from those communities, lest somebody shouts "wolf".
So .. you get the picture.. talk about a good act getting sour.....
P.S - Watch the Rabbit-Proof Fence..movie on 3 girls who escaped from a missionary/camp...true story... and must watch the making.... enlightening...
Labels: Aboriginals, Australia, Oz, Rabbit-Proof Fence
posted by ranga | 7:50 PM
5 Comments:
Karthik,
Nice topic you brought here, never heard of this particlar process of extermination of indegenous people before. Well, now we know one more :). However, doing some initial research on this topic, it seems to me that the issue is not so simple as you have put it. The half-caste policy was adopted by the her "white" majesty's govt with a specific motive to eventually solve the "color" problem in australia. The consensus in those days was that the aboriginal population was anyhow going to be extinct in the next 100 years, but the mixed/half-caste generation was becoming a "menace". To address this menace, the half-caste policy was adopted to "forcibly" separate the half-caste children from their mothers and aboriginal families. My little research shows that there is ample evidence, investigations, and personal accounts which prove that the children were stolen from the aboriginal families without consent and that it was done through force. As the aboriginal people did not have any voice till recently, their stories were not told and pro-white versions of justifying the policy, similar to what you have written, have taken their place. However, in recent years, many enquiries and investigations have revealed that, except for some invidual cases of neglect, by-and-large the policy forcefully separated the half-caste children from their families. These children were then used as cheap labor on farms and further exploited, subjecting them to discrimination, rapes, and physical abuse. Here are some links that give more insight:
http://www.eniar.org/news/manne.html
http://www.janesoceania.com/australia_aborigines_children/index1.htm
http://australian-indigenous-peoples.suite101.com/article.cfm/stolen_generation_story
Interesting post, i need to dig more into this myself...
indu just for blogging-a? illa inda 7.30 to 8.30 lights switch off anda maari yedaavada?
dont get me wrong... u wont i know. buti wud like to ask u a thing here. inda... US la poi drama pottu candle yethi awareness laam create pannariye...nee and similar people like you... 'dreams' laam vittutu... avlo muukiyama patuchuna... kalambi India vandu, inga irukara kashta nashtangala theerkalaame? padichavan help idukelaam nariya venum. padichadu sambaadikka mattum illa!
sorry if i sounded strong bitter and harsh or like a psych... but nee badil laamum solla vendaam. jus kottitten avlodaan...
Ashish,
I very much agree that my post was a "dumbing down" the complete issue. I realized quickly that I would not be able to do justice to documenting the issue in its actuality. And my initial impulse was to write a post specific to the Stolen Generations. But on subsequent reading, I did realize that thanks to this dirty legacy, the current Aussie establishment does not want to have anything to do with the natives. There have no many instances of them being totally indifferent to dealing with these current issues lest it gets interpreted "wrongly".
I see this similar in a way to the problems of reservation and affirmative action both in India and US where reversing a dirty past hasn;t been as straightforward as it ought to have been...
anyway enough of my crap...
HH, I think I know who you are, but will play ball ;)
this post was just what it is.. an article on a topic absolutely unheard of before and something quite significant.. and from the little feedback I got, it was a topic which quite a few ppl did not know of.. so it helps to spread the word..
Regarding the other question, I cannot talk for the others involved with AID in the U.S. Personally, I do have a timeline set for coming back and you do very well know the reasons. As much as I would like to change the world, I will admit that I am selfish enough to want to uplift my family just a wee bit more before packing my bags altogether..so the money counts.. but whatever I do here will be pertinent groundwork if I end up doing more in India...
and yes.. padichadu sambadhikka mattum illa.. that's why there's other work in progress too :)
ranga, welcome back.
i agree with ashish, as you do. the Aussie govt was on a civilizing mission, as so many others in history. reparations are a sensitive and complex issue, and don't always come with the best intentions, political will and ethical considerations....
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