Assimilation & Oppression

Media reporting and policies almost always focus on what is “wrong” with Indigenous Australians. They look at the problems Indigenous people face compared to non-Indigenous Australians.
 
Current government policy is titled the “Indigenous Advancement Strategy”. But its very name suggests that Aboriginal people are in some way “behind” or “lacking”, needing to be advanced

An exert taken from a Recognition Debate between the Government funded Recognise Campaign and the opposing voice of Alice Haines at Macquarie University in Sydney May 2016. - Recognise is a British Law and in the Black Laws dictionary Recognise means to enter into recognizance. Now back in the day when they had the African Americans, the Africans taken over to America. They were given to their slave masters and when they tried to escape, they would actually incarcerate them and get a hot iron and brand them with 'R' on their backs and sometimes even on their foreheads ... [node:read-more:link]

We all know there are huge problems with alcohol and drugs within some communities, those issues are Australia wide and in all races not just First Nation peoples. Governments cuts is already putting the squeeze on services, especially everyone trapped in the welfare system ... So let's look at the effect on someone on 'Abstudy' Payments. For a student living at home under the age of 18 claiming base rate 'Abstudy', their cash payment portion would only be $47.40, then 18-21 cash would be $57.22 and over, would be $104.60 per fortnight in cash payments. The rest must be stuck on the card .... [node:read-more:link]

Celeste Liddle: Back in 2002, Australia Day was barely a blip on the national calendar. Certainly, the only thing I associated it with were protests in the Aboriginal community.

"If you have come to help me you are wasting your time. If you have come because your Liberation is bound together with mine, let us walk together".
Lilla Watson, visual artist, activist and academic is often credited with this quote - More info in article

Pay The Rent, You Are On Aboriginal Land - Artist: Marie McMahon Screen Print - More info and history of the screenprints and the the Aboriginal woman featured in the artwork in article [node:read-more:link]

Ghillar Michael Anderson exposes the consequences of the insidious nature of colonial social engineering which used the 'dog tag' to divide against First Nations. People issued the 'dog tag' or 'exemption certificate' were 'exempted' from being Aboriginal and partially accepted into the colonial society on its terms, namely they were not allowed to associate with their own kind, known as the 'grassroots communities'. [node:read-more:link]

Ballarat indigenous artist Aunty Marlene's depiction of the 1842 hanging. Photo: City of Melbourne

Clare Rawlinson ABC 27 November 2015

A swing set reminiscent of the gallows where two Indigenous men were hanged in 1842 will be erected as a memorial to colonial conflict in Melbourne. [node:read-more:link]