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Fwd: Jason's post re social media, and a question about invisibility
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From: Judith Ridge <judith.ridge_at_gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 14:23:38 +1100
Thanks, Charles--I think that's probably a pretty accurate summary, from my understanding. However, I would suggest that there are far more urban Aboriginal people and communities than perhaps you (or indeed, many Australians) are aware of. As Christine has noted elsewhere in the discussion, with reference to people of colour resisting being identified in census takings and so on; this is very true of many Aboriginal Australians, who have absolutely no reason to trust what use will be made of that information, and so do not identify as Aboriginal on census forms and other government documents. (If you come from several generations of family from which the children have been removed simply because they are Aboriginal, and often because they are pale-skinned Aboriginal who can
'pass' as white, why would you be advertising that fact to the very institutions responsible for those Stolen Generations?)
This is changing somewhat, and urban Aboriginal communities are vastly more visible now than when I was growing up in the 70s. (And just on your reference to Neville Bonner, the first Aboriginal member of Parliament; Aboriginal people were not considered citizens of their own nation until a referendum in 1967; prior to this they were, to our eternal shame, classified with flora and fauna. In one way, we could be pleased that it took only 4 years from the date of the referendum for the first Aboriginal person to enter Parliament; alas, the track record since then denies us that right.) But back to urban Aboriginal communities; where I live and work, in western Sydney, we have some of the largest urban Aboriginal populations in the country. Indeed, Blacktown, a working class suburb in the heart of the western suburbs of Sydney (where my project is based), is named for the Black's Town that was created by forcing dispossessed Aboriginal people from many nations into this pocket of land back in the early 19th century. Blacktown has the largest urban Aboriginal population in Australia, and western Sydney generally is home to many thriving, politicised and proud Aboriginal communities and nations.
As you note, Aboriginal Australians are best represented in the sports and arts arenas, including (latterly) writing, and increasingly in academia, but you are also correct in saying they are poorly, if at all, to be found in positions of political or economic influence. There is much work still to be done.
Judith
[image: Inline images 1]
On 22 February 2014 03:58, Charles Bayless <charles.bayless_at_gmail.com>wrote:
>
> It is a good question and the answer depends significantly on what
> perspective you take. I have lived in both Australia and the US and my
> first instinct was to answer that Aborigines are much more visible. But
> the human mind arrives at an answer before it knows why it answered that
> way. So on what basis did I answer?
>
>
>
Received on Tue 25 Feb 2014 09:24:37 PM CST
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 14:23:38 +1100
Thanks, Charles--I think that's probably a pretty accurate summary, from my understanding. However, I would suggest that there are far more urban Aboriginal people and communities than perhaps you (or indeed, many Australians) are aware of. As Christine has noted elsewhere in the discussion, with reference to people of colour resisting being identified in census takings and so on; this is very true of many Aboriginal Australians, who have absolutely no reason to trust what use will be made of that information, and so do not identify as Aboriginal on census forms and other government documents. (If you come from several generations of family from which the children have been removed simply because they are Aboriginal, and often because they are pale-skinned Aboriginal who can
'pass' as white, why would you be advertising that fact to the very institutions responsible for those Stolen Generations?)
This is changing somewhat, and urban Aboriginal communities are vastly more visible now than when I was growing up in the 70s. (And just on your reference to Neville Bonner, the first Aboriginal member of Parliament; Aboriginal people were not considered citizens of their own nation until a referendum in 1967; prior to this they were, to our eternal shame, classified with flora and fauna. In one way, we could be pleased that it took only 4 years from the date of the referendum for the first Aboriginal person to enter Parliament; alas, the track record since then denies us that right.) But back to urban Aboriginal communities; where I live and work, in western Sydney, we have some of the largest urban Aboriginal populations in the country. Indeed, Blacktown, a working class suburb in the heart of the western suburbs of Sydney (where my project is based), is named for the Black's Town that was created by forcing dispossessed Aboriginal people from many nations into this pocket of land back in the early 19th century. Blacktown has the largest urban Aboriginal population in Australia, and western Sydney generally is home to many thriving, politicised and proud Aboriginal communities and nations.
As you note, Aboriginal Australians are best represented in the sports and arts arenas, including (latterly) writing, and increasingly in academia, but you are also correct in saying they are poorly, if at all, to be found in positions of political or economic influence. There is much work still to be done.
Judith
[image: Inline images 1]
On 22 February 2014 03:58, Charles Bayless <charles.bayless_at_gmail.com>wrote:
>
> It is a good question and the answer depends significantly on what
> perspective you take. I have lived in both Australia and the US and my
> first instinct was to answer that Aborigines are much more visible. But
> the human mind arrives at an answer before it knows why it answered that
> way. So on what basis did I answer?
>
>
>
---
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