cods wrote on Oct 12
th, 2017 at 10:16am:
Raven wrote on Oct 12
th, 2017 at 1:34am:
Neferti wrote on Oct 10
th, 2017 at 4:47pm:
What really annoys me is that some people claim to have Aboriginal ancestry and get "speshul" dispensations for University, entry into the Public Service, and so forth. There is no DNA test to prove this and that is UNFAIR on the rest of Australians, regardless of what their ancestry is.
They do need Proof of Aboriginality in order to get that "speshul" dispensation. That means a recognised Aboriginal organisation has to say, in writing, that those applying for 50d positions both identify as an Aboriginal and are recognised by the wider aboriginal community in which they live as being an Aboriginal.
To be fair though Raven can understand your frustration. Should Raven choose to he could apply for 50d positions because, even though he has no Aboriginal blood, he is considered an Aboriginal in the community in which he lives. Although he won't because those positions are designed to help literally our most impoverished citizens.
It's the pendulum effect. Since settlement the pendulum was at one end of the spectrum., Aboriginal people were denied rights the rest of the country enjoyed, had curfews placed on them and their movements monitored. Among other, more distasteful things.
Now the pendulum has swung to the other spectrum, things like 50d. People, like yourself ask why they get this "speshul treatment."
For the same reason you don't get a blue shell when you are already in first place in Mario Kart (ask your kids)
The pendulum will continue to swing back and forwards until it reaches a middle ground. One that is acceptable to all sides.
But that day will not happen until Aboriginal people can get rid of the quagmire they are in and we truely acknowledge what our ancestors did in the past. where do we deny our past raven??...
When it comes to Aboriginals we certainly seem too. We deny massacres that happened, we downplay bad events that are recorded. And then we have the nerve to complain that Aboriginal people aren't greatful for us being here.
Our ancestors considered a black life less than an a white life. As such it was no big deal, the things we did to them.
It even continues into the present. A 14 year old boy was mowed down by a vigilante and people blamed the boy and his parents. The murderer escaped with a lesser sentence.
An 8 year old boy in Borroloola was found at the bottom of a creek with rocks in his pockets and a stone on his chest and the police called it "accidental drowning'
A 22 year old woman, locked up for unpaid fines, begged for medical attention. Taken twice to a medical centre, staff reported she had "behavioural issues" and police believing she was faking it. Footage from the cells show police dragging the unconscious woman across her cell the being carried by her arms and legs to a police van and locked inside. She was pronounced dead one hour later.
Bowraville murders, families devastated after police told them the children had simply gone "walkabout." One mother who reported her child missing was actually questioned if the fairer skinned victim was actually her child.
Det Insp Gary Jubelin, a cold-case specialist who has led the Bowraville murders investigation since 1996, told a parliamentary inquiry:
"The families told me right from the start in 1997 that people did not care because they are Aboriginal, I naively thought they were wrong, but I now 100% support what they say.”
This attitude towards aboriginal people is a remenant from our colonial past. Something we must address.
Raven is doing his bit for a better future cods. How about you?