Australia Day was a couple of days ago, and with it came the usual controversy and butting heads between those who want to celebrate Australia and all her glory, and those who feel ashamed that in celebrating Australia Day, we are celebrating the white invasion of our country, and with it, all that our ancestors may have done to the natural inhabitants of the land (forced their culture on them, killed them off, took their children away to be raised the ‘British way’, introduced crime and other vices to their culture, etc).
I feel really confused by it all, to be honest. I am proud to be an Australian. I love this country. I love so much about it, the freedom, the multiculturalism, the nature, the progression... But I don't think Australia Day, the anniversary of that invasion, should be the day we celebrate this. I think we need a new day, free of past associations, a day of Aussie pride.
But let's not get caught up in that either. Let's remember how much more we have to do. Yes, we are a great nation, a relatively accepting nation, but we are also still a very racist nation. We are a very intolerant nation when it comes to religion, sexuality, race, politics... We band together when it counts, but why wait until then? Why wait for tragedy to help out the less fortunate? Why wait until then to let go of racist or religious beliefs that prevent us from helping someone that really needs it?
I read stories about families from migrant families, who were born here, who have children born here, but because of their ancestry, are told to fuck off chong. Fuck off wog. Fuck off dog-eater. This from people at Australia Day celebrations. "This is Australia Day not Chink day!" hardy har har. Abhorrent behaviour. Shameful behaviour. How can I feel pride to be an Australian, when this is how some of you carry on? :(
We are better than this. We can be better than this. We can move forward with our famous Aussie battle pride and we can show the world just how accepting and tolerant we really are. Who's with me?
1 comment:
Australia Day has lost its meaning and is sadly becoming a day for the racist dickheads to spout their hatred and intolerance.
It makes me incredibly sad when I think about how many Aborigines died and how the govt tried to assimilate the Koori kids into white society. I was rather ignorant about the whole thing until I saw the movie Rabbit Proof Fence and I feel pretty ashamed of the fact that I was so uneducated about the Stolen Generation. Obviously the govt wanted it to be swept under the rug and forgotten about, hence it wasn't taught at school, but it should be. The new generations of kids need to understand what our country was built on and how they can be the agents for social change, acceptance and tolerance.
I was told the other day that the Southern Cross has become a symbol of White Pride for many. Is that true??
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