I have had an interesting experience this year on Australia Day. Mostly I found the entire day to be a day of insightful reflection. I spent the day as a volunteer in the History Tent at the Survival Day concert and to be honest after talking to various people, including the event organisers, I seem to be reflecting on my own views about Australia Day/Survival Day.
My first thought and I know I have visited this idea before now, is why are we the original inhabitants not sharing the day with the rest of Australia? Why are we segregating ourselves from being Australian? I ask this question because the truth is we are assimilated, whether we like it or not. We all live in houses and share the same goods and services as everybody else. We demand equality and the freedom to choose what is right for us. We demand the right to the freedom of speech. We demand social justice and we demand the basic human rights as every other human being, shelter, food, resources. These things are the core foundations of any society however we continue to insist that we are different. In fact we focus so much on our differences that we miss the similarities between us. I for one am over it. I am tired of talking to unrealistic Aboriginal Australians who think that violence is the answer to resolving their problems. I am tired of watching Australia day move on to a day of partying instead of what the original meaning of the day is about. And yes Australia was colonised, and yes we have a long way to go in resolving discrimination, racism and removing the legacy of historical policy and legislation that has lead to our continued struggle for acknowledgement, respect and justice. However, we are not doing ourself any favours by continually segregating ourselves from the rest of the nation.
I understand the theme for Survival Day and why it has come about, however I can see the negativity that it brings as we continually separate ourselves from the nation as a whole and in the same breath demand to be included. If we are demanding inclusion then surely we should be reciprocal? This concept of 'our' and 'this one is for us' continues to elude me in terms of how this will make a difference for my people who are calling for justice, equality, acknowledgement, self-determination and inclusivity.
Inclusivity means having a positive role to play in the celebrations of Australia Day. I do not mean to sound dismissive and I have nothing but respect for my people. I understand our past and the need to right the wrongs, I just think we are going about it in a negative way. The current actions being taken to voice concerns and to change the thinking of parliamentarians is eluding us as we revert to violence as a means of bringing our issues into the public arena. Nobody listens to the angry man. People do however, listen to the quiet man. Ghandi is the perfect example of how to make changes for a nation of oppressed peoples. Ghandi expressed the use of non-violent protest in order to shift the thinking of one person to change the status quo of an entire nation. Ghandi made friends of his enemies to create the understanding that we are all people and that we all have the same goals and aspirations, however we just go about it differently. Difference as a culture, as a society and as a people, yet the outcome is the same. Civil societies. Whether those societies be indigenous or non-indigenous doesn't matter because in the world that we live in today we are sharing 'country'. And because we are sharing 'country' it may be time to determine what the meaning of being Australian is for today's people living with modernity.
May be it is time to redefine who we are as a nation, that is not steeped in the past but is a reflection of the future. A future defined by all Australians for all Australians.
Inclusivity means having a positive role to play in the celebrations of Australia Day. I do not mean to sound dismissive and I have nothing but respect for my people. I understand our past and the need to right the wrongs, I just think we are going about it in a negative way. The current actions being taken to voice concerns and to change the thinking of parliamentarians is eluding us as we revert to violence as a means of bringing our issues into the public arena. Nobody listens to the angry man. People do however, listen to the quiet man. Ghandi is the perfect example of how to make changes for a nation of oppressed peoples. Ghandi expressed the use of non-violent protest in order to shift the thinking of one person to change the status quo of an entire nation. Ghandi made friends of his enemies to create the understanding that we are all people and that we all have the same goals and aspirations, however we just go about it differently. Difference as a culture, as a society and as a people, yet the outcome is the same. Civil societies. Whether those societies be indigenous or non-indigenous doesn't matter because in the world that we live in today we are sharing 'country'. And because we are sharing 'country' it may be time to determine what the meaning of being Australian is for today's people living with modernity.
May be it is time to redefine who we are as a nation, that is not steeped in the past but is a reflection of the future. A future defined by all Australians for all Australians.
Life is good!
