Hey!
I'm a German student in 12th grade and I'm suppossed to write a skilled paper. I have chosen Englisch and my topic is
"The stolen generation of Australian Aborigines – Description and Evaluation of the Reconciliation process" I have chosen this topic because I have never heard anything about the stolen generation before and to me it is a very interesting topic. So but now why am I writing? I would like you to tell me what you think about the reconiciliation process, so that I have got more different opinions as I think many information and statements from the web are just one sided. So what do you think about it? Anything to tell me? I would be very happy, if you would answer me, whatever you have to say because I am very interested in getting to know othe rpoint of views than just the European point of view. Please feel free to answer me.

Greetings from Germany
Jule
P.S. I am sorry for my bad English, but I hope you can understand me.

Why don't you write about ALL the stolen generations of the world. Or even better, start with the stolen generations as of today ? Unless of course you're a budding US movie producer who wants to keep flogging a single issue & turn it into entertainment frivolity. You're onto a very, very serious subject which has been brought up many,many times & will just as many, many times be either denied or pontificated. In my opinion it is far more pressing to avoid these situations from happening again rather than simply using them for a thesis. It is my belief that future generations must be able to see the wounds but not keep tearing them open. Is the reconciliation process a success ? Well, maybe but meanwhile here in Queensland we got Council Amalgamation which is throwing Indigenous communities into a new chaos.

Jule,
Welcome, your English appears fine.

Are you aware of all the facts. Who did what and why? (*Considering the moral views at the time*).
Side note, some of the outback missions were German Lutheran .

Other relevant factors were;

The European attitude that the aboriginals were uncivilised, primitive rather than just different.).
They got the right to vote in the late 1960's *after* the stolen generation period.
During that period ,Aust had both a white Australia policy and an Assimilation policy, until the late 1970's...i.e. everyone were encouraged to adopt the White Anglo- Saxon culture. e.g. You as a German would have experienced discrimination and expected to adopt Australian Culture, at the expense of yours.

The government thought they knew what was best for the the indigenous and part indigenous children i.e. Be brought up as whites.

In many cases the prejudice meant, that they were seen as inferior to whites, only fit for menial work...housekeeping etc.

Eventually moderate Australians and the aboriginals launched the successful “Sorry program”.
John Howard, a conservative Prime Minister, (Liberal party), vehemently opposed it, calling it a "black armband view of history".
His successor Kevin Rudd , the new Labor government issued the apology.

In that context terms like 'failure' or 'success' belong to the excesses of both the media and the extremes of society. It is a positive step (part) of as yet incomplete process.
full acknowledgement/ recognition of the aboriginals as members of society and therefore
entitled to the *Nation's parliament's* apology, if not the current generation i.e. closure for those involved.

Also note: around WW2 time many poorer England children were sent here by some Churches. They too treated similarly to the “Stolen Generation” they were lied to about their parentage (i.e. existence of families in England).
They were often poorly treated, poorly educated, abused and exploited as free labour.

For me these are clear example of how unchecked religious and racial arrogance can lead to appalling cultural attitudes, truly shameful consequences.
It's a warning to be more vigilant against the slow corrosive effects of extremes

Julie

If you want good marks write about how evil all white people are and how the aboriginals were living in a paradise before the Europeans arrived. If you want to write the truth and risk failing do proper research and see how most kids taken from parents were half castes and often rejected by the full bloods. Look at how many young girls were given to uncles as gifts at a young age. Today predominantly the only aboriginals who work in good jobs were those who were 'stolen'. A more accurate description was aboriginals who were rescued. Much of history today has been revised to suite the political agenda of socialists and academics. I speak as one who has had a long association and friendship with aboriginal people.

Jule,

Like many stories, also that of the “stolen generation” of Australian Aborigines has two sides, two interpretations. Today it is mostly the “official” (called also “politically correct”) and the alternative: in the responses to your post you had examinator present you with the PC version, runner with the alternative, albeit in a nutshell. I think neither version is 100% right and the other 100% wrong.

The very title you chose for your paper, "The stolen generation of Australian Aborigines – Description and Evaluation of the Reconciliation process", seems to show that you a priori commit yourself to the PC version. I think you should look at both sides, both interpretations and evaluations, of the problem, and eventually change the title to indicate an a priori more balanced view.

You are probably too young to remember the German “Historikenstreit” in the 1980-s, however you perhaps learned about it at school. This can be seen as something similar. Actually, Wikipedia has a page called “History wars” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_wars) dedicated to the “ongoing public debate over the interpretation of the history of the British colonisation of Australia”. Here, I think, you can read about both sides of the story. As to the “politically incorrect” version perhaps Keith Windshuttle is the most outspoken historian among them, whereas Geoffrey Blaney is the most respectable professor of Australian history among those whose interpretations are not always accepted as “politically correct”. However, let me add, I am an old man who has been living in Germany (Köln) for the last 10 years, so my information is perhaps not that up to date.

When reading derogatory comments from one side or the other, keep always in mind Faust’s “wir sind gewöhnt dass die Menschen verhöhnen was is nicht verstehen”.

Sorry, Geoffrey Blainey
not
Geoffrey Blaney