My husband and I have a black/white relationship which is built on respect for each other. Jack is Dutch and I am Aboriginal. Except for my husband, all our family identify as Aboriginal. Jack and I work together to solve our problems, and try to help our family if they need our advice. We talk to our children and older grandchildren and listen to their concerns or worries, but we do not make their decisions for them. They are adult people and make their own decisions which is their right and responsibility, but they can see both Aboriginal and white perspectives of a situation.
If many white Australians cast aside their aspersions and racist attitudes towards Aboriginal people, they would respect us as human beings, not some misbegotten entity from outer space. We are people and as such, we are capable of making up our own minds. We are not children to be told what to do and when to do it; it is everyone’s right to make decisions for themselves. We can ask for advice, but ultimately, it is what we decide that will affect the results of those judgements we make. Discussing issues that concern us and being honest in the discourse is the basis on which relationships are made; and this aspect of everyday interactions is an attribute of being human and making our own decisions.
With that said, why are the Australian governments and the public treating Aboriginal people like fools with no sense of right or wrong or with no pride in themselves? Must we have the “Big White Brother” thinking, speaking and making decisions for us’ Do they believe we cannot make decisions, cannot think or speak for ourselves without needing government or white people’s assistance? Over the years, I’ve taken umbrage at white people ignoring me as an Aboriginal woman and talking to me through my husband.
White people have a stereotype of Aboriginal people. To them, we are invisible and they talk over us, not to us as adult people. They think we need guidance and translation for what they say which is why the federal and state governments use Aboriginal ‘yes-men or women’ as interpreters to speak for the majority of Aboriginal people. Governments believe these people hold the key to ‘proper’ consultation instead of speaking with the grass-roots people, who know first-hand what their needs are and what would benefit them.
The thoughtlessness and uncaring attitudes of governments over Aboriginal issues in state and federal politics are of real concern to the Aboriginal people. Two classic examples are the deals with the state government in Western Australia and the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council; and the federal government’s Northern Territory Intervention. Both are disgraceful examples of governments not consulting with the traditional owners of their lands. These discourses with the ‘yes-men or women’ or the government lackeys, degrade and traumatises the grass-roots people. If Aboriginal people have sovereignty over their lands that were never sold or ceded to any governments since white colonisation, what right does the government have of interfering with Aboriginal lives? Aboriginal Australia is an occupied sovereign country and has been so for millennium, long before white people came to these shores.
Government bodies and their lackeys should show more respect for Aboriginal people by talking to them and listening to their concerns. However, if the federal and state governments did let the people speak out and make their own decisions, and if they spoke directly to the people about their concerns, it would be legitimising both respective governments acknowledgement of Aboriginal sovereignty. They would be saying “Yes, this land does belong to the Aboriginal nations. They were occupying this land long before our British ancestors came here and colonised this country. They are sovereign peoples and if we let them speak, we will lose whatever power and control we have over them”. So the federal and state governments discards Aboriginal Human Rights and the Racial Discrimination Act of 1975, and play one off against the other – the Aboriginal ‘yes-men and women’ against the grass-roots people. These Aboriginal ‘spokespeople’ think nothing of denigrating other Aboriginal people for their own ends. Shame on them!
Finally, it looks like the governments are reverting to the old days when Aboriginal people had no choice but to live under the Aborigines Protection Act and the Native Welfare Policies; and had no say in their lives. Those were the days when the governments and the white people did the thinking and speaking for Aboriginal people. In this 21st century, they need to listen and let Aboriginal people be heard, and decide for themselves what action should be taken. Only then can black/white relationships become equal.
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Professor van den Berg has voiced her commentary for Noosa Community Radio. The audio is attached.
