In the wake of an apology
Since Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generation -- or should I say the bi-partisan apology on behalf of the Australian nation? -- I've been asking different people how they felt about an act of such national significance. Here is a sample of the responses, plus a brief description of the respondent*:
A refugee from Sudan, c. 20 years old (male): What's with the sorry? Where was the compensation? (To which, someone at the same table stated that calculating the compensation would be impossible. By this, it became clear that he meant that no dollar figure could be put on the loss and pain suffered by many of the effected aboriginals.)
A 91-year-old lady: I don't think we should apologise. Many of the people who took these aboriginals were good people, with good intentions. Some of those who were taken got a better education than my husband. Others did wonderfully. By "others doing wonderfully" I think she had in mind people such as Polly Farmer (footballer) and Sally Morgan (author).
A 17-year-old refugee from Eritrea (female): I don't get it. What's the problem with aborigines? Why don't they do something to better themselves?
A 30-something 'professional' (female): It's not before time. Actually, she raised the topic with me in the week of the apology. She also suggested that Brendan Nelson's more qualified and stifled apology was probably due to the deals he had to cut to get his party's support. I'm not sure if this is true, but it seems plausible. (The Australian's Michael Costello called Nelson's apology "half-hearted, grudging, [and] far from the mood of the occasion". From what I heard of it, I tend to agree. For Costello's full article, see In thrall to the Libs' darker angels.)
I've talked with others about the issue, but can't remember what they said. I'm particularly interested in the views of those who've exprienced significant hardship -- refugees and the like. I'll try to post about any other interesting responses I come across.
* I don't necessarily support or endorse any of these views; I merely thought they were an interesting, perhaps representative, sample.
A refugee from Sudan, c. 20 years old (male): What's with the sorry? Where was the compensation? (To which, someone at the same table stated that calculating the compensation would be impossible. By this, it became clear that he meant that no dollar figure could be put on the loss and pain suffered by many of the effected aboriginals.)
A 91-year-old lady: I don't think we should apologise. Many of the people who took these aboriginals were good people, with good intentions. Some of those who were taken got a better education than my husband. Others did wonderfully. By "others doing wonderfully" I think she had in mind people such as Polly Farmer (footballer) and Sally Morgan (author).
A 17-year-old refugee from Eritrea (female): I don't get it. What's the problem with aborigines? Why don't they do something to better themselves?
A 30-something 'professional' (female): It's not before time. Actually, she raised the topic with me in the week of the apology. She also suggested that Brendan Nelson's more qualified and stifled apology was probably due to the deals he had to cut to get his party's support. I'm not sure if this is true, but it seems plausible. (The Australian's Michael Costello called Nelson's apology "half-hearted, grudging, [and] far from the mood of the occasion". From what I heard of it, I tend to agree. For Costello's full article, see In thrall to the Libs' darker angels.)
I've talked with others about the issue, but can't remember what they said. I'm particularly interested in the views of those who've exprienced significant hardship -- refugees and the like. I'll try to post about any other interesting responses I come across.
* I don't necessarily support or endorse any of these views; I merely thought they were an interesting, perhaps representative, sample.
Labels: current affairs
posted by Sauntering Walker at 8:56 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home