As a Australian from a migrant background it is hard to truly understand the hardships and blessings that First Nations people experience. I can empathise, but I can never truly sympathise (share the feeling). My identity is not connected to the land I come from.
A ‘First Nation’ person’s identity is inseparable from the land they come from. It’s not merely Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It’s people of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations.
The ‘Stolen Generation’ was literally an attempt of kidnapping and dispossessing Indigenous people from the lands they held deep-rooted connections with.
To this modern day, we (the Australian public representated by corporation and government) continue to attempt to demolish places of cultural importance or relocate populations, as if ‘that’s the solution’. The ‘Stolen Generation’ never ended - it simply stopped being official, and stopped targeting people directly.
And we wonder why there’s a massive difference in the referendum between the heavily ‘Yes’ voting Indigenous communities and the rest of the country?
I guess you take your identity for granted. Never had to forcibly renounce your identity and who you are. Never had to fight for your community, because you can just move on. Never felt the need for a constitutionally protected ‘voice’ to make sure your community is heard, because your individualism says ‘It’s not my business’ ‘It doesn’t affect me’.
Of course you take it for granted. First Nation people disproportionally have laws and policies enacted against them, unlike all other ethnic groups in Australia. The closest thing that Australians from migrant backgrounds have experienced is ‘Operation Fortitude’ in Melbourne, 2015. (There were many others policies that never got to implementation, thanks to the thankless work of civil rights and migrant/refugee right groups.)
Who will be the next minority group that is targeted, and claimed to be ‘causing division’ when the division was already there and the majority group simply don’t want to ‘close the gap’.
With the results of this referendum, the nationalists movement in Australia, and Foreign states, have confirmed that many Australian minority groups are willing to turn a blind eye on rights issues of other minority groups. So, don’t be surprised if you’re next.
#HumanRights
#FirstTheyCame #HistoryRepeats
#VoiceToParliament #Referendum2023