I recall an old Koori man being pulled up by a white ocker in the country town we lived in and he chastised him loudly (for the benefit of the enjoyment of other whites listening in) saying " you abos gotta learn how to work and live like us mate.

The old man walked away and said nothing. Clearly he had encountered this many times in his life. The strength of character that it took for him to simply walk away is for me awe inspiring.

He had worked hard from the age of 10 (perhaps even younger)hardly ever took sick days and reared 8 children along with his wife of many years.

His early work history was mostly for rations or half the wages he was entitled to. He had experienced racism all his life but he did not let it define who he thought he was.

I'm offering the above for one simply reason and that is to prove that no matter how wrong racists are with their assertions and beliefs about the apparent 'inferiority' of non white others, or indeed the how wrong they are about the history and politics of race relations that support their assertions they will defiantly hold on to their myths, half truths, paranoia, prejudices etcetera.

Why? Because for them the thought of giving up what it means to be white and superior is just too scary.

One of the best ways to be proactive is to simply review and modify the prejudices and racisms you already harbour. You can do this by reading broadly.

Remember, lots of racists are friendly, law abiding, affable people who like to think they are beyond racism. They are not.

Correction:

Why? Because for them the thought of giving up what *they believe* it means *for them* to be white and superior is just too scary.

Desmond,
You have still missed the point of what racism is and how it undermines anything that is done.

The obvious contempt or unwarranted superiority you and dare I say a large minority of Alice Springs whites put out IS A GOOD PART of the problem.

Wizard of id: Sir Rodney says "Sire the peasants are revolting"
The king replies disinterestedly "They sure are".
The point is treat a group of people with patronsing contempt often and long enough don't be surprised when they become demoralised then resentful and aggressive.(and revolt)

I've been to the Alice a few times ranging over 26 years there are one constant the white bigotry . In the last trip 8 months or so ago I noticed that the resentment by the indiginees was bubbling away.
When it goes pear shaped the ones who'll scream the loudest surprise will be those same well known, white protagonists (I think you know who I mean.). The sad thing is that they and their tacit supporters will be the root cause.

We can't impose solutions on them any more than I can on you. Both the whites and the black need to work out an acceptable solution.

It is gross arrogance to assume that all the fault is theirs and the whites are merely bystanders.....watching them sink lower while leaving it up to others to clean up.

The people need to have identities, dignity not become, just the drunken, useless mob at the creek.

Who told you our our culture is SO much better. The two cultures can co-exist. But definitely not if the effort is one sided. While I was there I saw NO attempt by the whites in general to do anything except to create an apartheid system out of site and out of mind.

Neither am I saying that there isn't problems similar problems exist in certain opportunity deprived suburbs only the racial mix may be a little different.

"The old man walked away and said nothing. Clearly he had encountered this many times in his life. The strength of character that it took for him to simply walk away is for me awe inspiring."

A true story:
I emigrated from England with my parents when I was ten, and soon found myself at Richlands High School, in Inala (Brisbane). In grade nine I remember waiting outside class, leaning against the port-rack, keeping to myself (there's an illusion of safety in isolation, but actually it's more dangerous), when the biggest abo I'd ever seen, probably half-cast, who had recently come into my class, loped up and stood next to me. After a few moments he punched me on the arm and I said, "f-ck off!", and he punched me again, harder. I told him to F off again and he repeated the dose. After that, the second or third time, I shut up and he stopped. And I never had a run-in with him again.
Several years later, when I was secure in my job (machine operator) a new bloke was started, and it was him! The factory was in the grip of "positive discrimination", I think, and Peter H was hired as a cleaner. I don't think he remembered me. Yet I remember him still!
He didn't last long and I don't know what became of him, but I remember being shocked at his appearance. We were in our early twenties, but he looked like sh!t.

I don't know about forward movement, Desmond. The one thing I always had on my side, was I believed in myself. Maybe that's the answer; Australians ("aboriginal" is a demeaning collective noun) have to break with their culture, which is dysfunctional (whatever that means), and become individuals--this is how westerners escaped their own tyranny ... only to have it tyrannise them in turn. There's a knack to individuality, called modesty, that's almost as hard to master as culture is to overcome.
Abo's have to renounce their culture ... and Westerners denounce their cult of the self.
The two authors I've found most inspirational in this regard are Montaigne and Emerson; but they can't be read in a hurry--neither has any time for small talk.
I want to say, "you don't need books" .... but it saves a lot of time.

So, I was humbled by an abo for a minute, while he asserted himself.

One way to address reverse racism is for the Government to say sorry to the many missionaries who went to aboriginal communities at great cost to themselves and family in order to bring about a civilised lifestyle. Compare them with highly paid secular workers on the gravy train and you will get the picture. Fortunately many aboriginal elders in the lands still hold these men and women in high regard understanding that they did more good than the millions and possibly billions of squandered money spent since their demise. Gough Whitlam and his hopelessly flawed philosophies that led to the pits of alcohol, drug abuse, child abuse and despair. The only elders we normally hear from are the politically handpicked ABC revised historians who have no knowledge or desire for truth. Thankfully Noel Pearson who has benefited from his father's upbringing offers some ray of hope for our indigenous people. The lying historians have done nothing but create a myth in the eyes of many white people who might have visited a community or two to five minutes. A recent UN representative was a good example of this. His/her conclusions were absolutely pathetic and offensive to all decent Australians.