The Forum > Article Comments > An open letter to my aboriginal compatriots > Comments
An open letter to my aboriginal compatriots : Comments
By Rodney Crisp, published 21/9/2016It is clear that our two governments and the Crown are jointly and severally responsible for all this and owe them compensation.
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Posted by diver dan, Wednesday, 21 September 2016 12:27:12 PM
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The real first living species, living in the biosphere now called Australia by many, was factually a variety of plant life and surrounding environments, like oceans, forests and deserts for example. Animals lived within these spaces including Koalas, Kangaroos, Dolphins, Whales and a variety of bird life.
So Aboriginal people were not Australia's first settlers, yet I am told constantly the answer is yes. I do have Aboriginal relatives (Nephews and other relations), so please do accuse me of racism. Humans, did not create Australia at all, but think they own this country regardless, feel they have the right to do whatever they want to Australia, its biosphere and to the animal species that live within it. The program from last night on the ABC with Andrew Bolt and Linda Burney MP was excellent to watch, with many viewpoints put forward, but as usual the natural environment was left out of the program. If I was to tear down your home (for financial reasons, like logging) or stab you with a spear (like say a turtle, and let you die in pain (for cultural reasons) does that make it right? A lot of humans simply say, yes. That itself is very sad. Let's say it was a family home (to be destroyed) or a family member (to be killed) a lot of humans would say no. That really is a double standard. Posted by NathanJ, Wednesday, 21 September 2016 1:36:29 PM
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G'day there ALAN B...
Of course our indigenous folk are as intelligent as anyone else on this earth of ours, it's just many of them have never had the chance to receive a good education like many of their European counterparts. Many of them are as smart as a whip, but because of a variety of reasons, they can't or don't wish to articulate their case all that well when interacting with any officialdom ? I was a relieving police sergeant in the NSW bush, and I harboured many preconceived ideas about our blacks, but after mixing with many of them, I soon realised in many matters, they were the teachers, and I, a very poor student. Their greatest weakness in my view, is drugs and alcohol, neither of these two substances are particularly well tolerated by most of them, I've found ? Posted by o sung wu, Wednesday, 21 September 2016 1:44:25 PM
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To Alan B.
If you reject the premise that white Australians generally have higher intelligence than aboriginal Australians, then are you saying that in general, white Australians and black Australians have equal intelligence? By what evidence do you come to that conclusion? I know that you have written something about aborigines helping early settlers, but that does not equate to equal intelligence, only to the superior local knowledge by aboriginal people of the skills needed for survival within their particular environment. If a town exclusively populated by white people was known for it's widespread inter generational welfare dependency, the towns residents went on a drunken rampage every time the social security checks arrived, the government was considering a financial method to prevent the towns parents from spending all of their money on grog, ciggies, and drugs instead of feeding their kids, the towns males were noted for their extreme violence towards the town's females, the kids would not go to school, the parents did not care if their kids to school either, the town's kids had a 90% failure rate in NAPLAN testing, and even the town's 6 year old children had to be regularly screened for sexually transmitted diseases, what would you say about the inhabitants of that town? I think that most people would say that they are all dumb white trash. But you can't say that about aborigines, can you? It is even illegal to say it. Even though what I wrote pretty well sums up every remote aboriginal settlement where their land has not been heinously "stolen" by white people. So we have to do two things. Firstly, we must judge whites and blacks differently (which is racism). And secondly, we have to pretend that aboriginal people have equal intelligence with whites. But once that conclusion is made, then we have to think up another excuse for aboriginal dysfunction. The only possible explanation must be, that it is all the white man's fault. Which just happens to be another racist premise. I feel "offended, insulted, intimidated and humiliated" by that. Posted by LEGO, Wednesday, 21 September 2016 2:06:11 PM
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I always laugh at those that claim that aboriginal civilization is 40 000 years old and the oldest in the world, when there are no records prior to colonization, and even then there was no sign of formal communication, government, buildings, or societal organization beyond a tribal hierarchy. The first step in civilization is generally the development of agriculture and the abandonment of the hunter gatherer lifestyle.
Posted by Shadow Minister, Wednesday, 21 September 2016 3:25:50 PM
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Rodney Crisp that was a well written article, thanks. Though I did lose track when you shifted from your initial frame to another and never returned to the first to blend them together at the end.
@Shadow Minister, you have an unusually rare myopic view of what 'civilisation' and 'government' is for the human race. This may be a result of not ever reading anything worthwhile regarding Australian anthropology, archaeology, and history. Aboriginal tribal nations of Australia had borders, national treaties, free trade, government, laws, courts, heads of state, foreign ministers, pre-colonization records, formal communication, and high levels of societal organization. When the British arrived they also had a higher stand of living in health, nutrition, wealth, freedom and quality leisure time above all but royalty in Europe. Reading more and speaking less could be the answer. @LEGOx2, spoken a dinky die racial bigot. You get a C for consistency. Do you perhaps dance around in the dark wearing a white pointy hat with a full face veil too? :-) I'm curious Lego, how many blog sites, newspapers, social media sites and forums were banned from before you found a home where you belong here on OLO? 100? 200? @o sung wu, you may be interested in this new law enforcement program http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/09/19/4539321.htm I believe if you looked past the obvious re "greatest weakness in my view, is drugs and alcohol" and learn that that is a symptom and not the dis-ease nor the cause of the systemic 'challenges' that face any people subject to severe trauma, PTSD, coupled with institutionalized discrimination and generational poverty and powerlessness, and then observe the long term family based abuse, neglect, violence, alcoholism upon children across decades the reasons for the 'weakness' would be overt and obvious. What's need is sustained breaking of those family cycles. Q&As episode touches on that especially Jimmy Barnes who may as well been black instead of Scottish. Childhood caused PTSD isn't racist, but it still lasts a lifetime and is so easily passed on to the next generation. - Posted by Thomas O'Reilly, Wednesday, 21 September 2016 4:54:30 PM
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Sung in monotone to suit the lyric....