From 1788 till very recent times the "official" history of Australia has been written by Europeans, it was only in the last 50 years that, that official history has been called into question. The text book version of Australian history as I read it, without realising it at the time, very much trumpeted the success of the European, it reflected society's protestant values of achievement through hard work etc. There was no place in that history for what were seen as under achievers, the Aboriginal people, they had failed in 40,000 years to "develop" Australia, something that had been achieved by the European in less than 200 years. We very much sung our own praises, and we certainly weren't going to let some unimportant facts about the indigenous "failures" interfere with our success.

Is Mise, you say "the Myall Creek massacre in NSW is there for all to see in recorded Australian history" and I don't say it never was, what I do say is, such events weren't rightly given any real importance when compared to say, the exploits Burke and Wills. In that way history was slanted to favor of the European. There never was any equality given to history as it pertained to the Aboriginal people.

Foxy, please don't be put off by some on here's personal comments about you, you said "The important things is that we acknwledge them and learn from them." I totally agree. Unfortunately some are far to content with that "official" history and see any attempt now by some to rectify the bias of the past and present a more balanced view, as an attack on them and their white race, and you can see that from some of the posts on this thread, it is no such thing.

Dear Jay,

I know that you're interested in texbooks - that's
precisely why I recommended the State Library of
Victoria's Australiana Collection - they would have
access to that material (I know I worked there as
a librarian) and all you have to do is tell the
librarians what you're after - and they have the
resources to give you the help you need.

Dear Paul,

Thanks for your advice (and concern). This as I said has been
a learning experience for me. I've learned that when the
older generations went to school, studying history involved
memorizing names of famous people and dates of famous events.
Kings and Queens, Scientists and Statesmen, Wars,
Revolutions, Explorations. But this is only part of the story.
If we really want to know about the past we need to know -
How people lived, What they thought about themselves and their
world, How they solved their problems, and much, much, more.
To do this it's necessary to study not only the "Superstars"
of the age, but the ordinary people, the men and women and
children, old people, and of course - minority groups.
In other words - social history, the study of society in the
past. This involves learning about and hunderstanding
how people lived and so it is not necessary to learn a lot of
names and dates, however we must be able to aske relevant
questions and listen, not only for the answers, but for the
silences. When we ask a question about the past and can't get
an answer, that too tells us something - it could mean that
what we have asked was not considered worth writing about
or that aspect of the past is considered no longer relevant
to us. In any case - watching Rosalie Kunoth Monks on
"Q and A," certainly opened a Pandora's box for me - and stirred
me out of my complacency. Which is not a bad thing - in my
opinion.

Jay
Absolutely right about that 'clan memory' stuff, and note, I nearly wrote 'clam memory'.
It's all bog Irish on my mum's side, and I never shudder at the sight of a potato, with a genetic memory kindling of the great tater famine. It all fades in the wash. Moreover, even though these ancestors of mine trod the peat of the old world with a pipe and a leprechaun under each arm, I'd feel like a total fraud rolling up on St Pat's day with a silly green hat and a shamrock pinned to my nose. In fact, Irish are very strange to me. We are Australian, not Poms or Paddies. I wish that message had got through about a hundred years ago.

This has been an interesting discussion,
robust at times, but well worth it.
I would like to Thank Everyone who's found
the time to contribute and give meaningful
dialogue and reasoned argument. I had no idea that
watching "Q and A," last Monday evening
would produce these great results. Thank You.

I'd like, in leaving this site to close with the
words of the famous poet, writer, and Indigenous
Elder, - Kath Walker:

"Though baptized and blessed and bibled,
We are still tabood and libelled.
You devout salvation sellers,
Make us equal not fringe dwellers."

See you on another discussion.

"...the purpose of the exercise is to see if there's something to this notion that older people who grew up in "White Australia" have a different understanding or interpretation of race to that of younger people who've only known multiculturalism." - Jay Of Melbourne

Jay, if there were biology classes for kindergarteners, we would learn that race is a population within a species that is distinct in some way. That would be our understanding, ergo there would be no need for interpretation. Now, with all the clamoring over a definitive definition of race, we could hopefully start with this basic little nugget of information.

The problem is, Jay, is that there aren't biology classes for kindergarteners. Here in 2014, with all the splendour of multiculturalism, we get to hear such wonderfully erroneous phrases such as 'the human race' sprouted out in such confidence that we tend to believe it; and there's that tacit admission that we won't dare question it.

What happened between "White Australia" to the present day? Race is a solid fact, should we not instead determine WHO changed the dialogue, and why? After all, you'll find that's what determines the public discourse (or lack of). After all, it seems to me the existance of the R1b haplogroup (as merely one example) will forever shut off the egalitarian doctrine.

"Though baptized and blessed and bibled,
We are still tabood and libelled.
You devout salvation sellers,
Make us equal not fringe dwellers."
Foxy,
You can't say not enough effort, good will & resources have gone towards countless attempts to solving that situation..