Truth, apologies and framings

Feb 29, 2008 16:32

I have a very big problem with the “Sorry” because of the way it frames the issues about the treatment of indigenous Australians ( Read more... )

indigenous, friction, sorry, policy

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anthraxia February 29 2008, 07:17:15 UTC
Except that you miss a vital point - the appology made isn't the end, it's the beginning. It is, and is intended to be, the first step to reconciliation. It's not intended to 'fix' the problem, to make it 'ok now we've appologised', nor is it a quick fix solution to all problematic history relating to Australia's indigenous population ( ... )

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Saying "Sorry" anthraxia March 1 2008, 08:48:49 UTC
Whilst I agree that there is a lot that non-Aboriginal Australians should be sorry for, I believe that a Federal Government apology for the "Stolen Generations" is misguided. Why apologise for something which doesn't appear to have happened (a racist policy to "steal" children solely because of their race) when there were actually legitimate wrongs we could have apologised for?

Friend, above you say, "Except that you miss a vital point - the apology made isn't the end, it's the beginning. It is, and is intended to be, the first step to reconciliation." I don't know whether you've read Coroner Alastair Hope's recent report into deaths in the Kimberley, but the situation on the ground here in Western Australia is truly horrific.

And it's been more than 10 years now since our State Parliament made an official apology to our Indigenous people "on behalf of all Western Australians ( ... )

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It's just the latest first step erudito March 8 2008, 06:02:46 UTC
I believe the 1965-6 Stockman Case was such a "new beginning". The 1967 Aboriginal Referendum was such a "new beginning". The "self-determination" policy was a "first step". The 1976 Land Rights Act was a "first step". The creation of ATSIC was a "first step". Mabo and Wik were "first steps".

We have had lots of "beginnings" and "first steps". Which turned out not to be as advertised.

The abuse being apologised for n the Sorry was mostly quite a while ago. There is huge amounts of abuse going on in indigenous communities now as a result of the social collapse that has flowed from some of those aforementioned "new beginnings". It is precisely the use of the "Sorry" as a form of moral insulation, indeed evasion, which is the problem.

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