Actions, not words
Meaningless apologies solve nothing.
JESSICA STEWIN, VOLUNtEER STAFF
On Feb. 13, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gave a notable apology to the nation’s aboriginal people. Rudd apologized for injustices committed over two centuries by white settlement, when aboriginal citizens were taken from their families by welfare officers in compliance with the White Australia policy. According to this policy, half-caste children were to be taken from their homes and brought to children’s homes or fostered out to white families. This also included indigenous children whose living conditions were deemed unsafe or unsatisfactory by a welfare officer. Of the million indigenous people who are believed to have lived throughout the country before white settlement began in 1788, there are only around 470,000 Aborigines now left. But don’t worry, they just said they were sorry — it’s all OK now.
Under former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, it seemed that an apology like this would be impossible. Howard continued to disregard the recommendations of several significant national reports and members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities over his near 10 years in Parliament. Perhaps Howard recognized the worthless value his words would have to a people so horribly mistreated.
Much as it has been in the Canadian media, in Australia aboriginals have been brought to the forefront of concern only to fade away before the public eye. Statistically, these ethnic groups have a shorter life expectancy, lower rates of literacy, and higher rates of substance abuse and sexual abuse than the average
citizen. National and international media coverage of the prevalence of major social issues in indigenous communities has been extensive and in many ways counter-productive. Failure to offer solutions paints the picture of a sinking ship, and one not worth saving.
Speculations have been made that the apology is a step in the right direction towards healing and justice. However, it is only one step in a much larger path towards a solution. Words can be extremely powerful, but bullshit can’t build bridges. Don’t get me wrong; I think the speech was beautifully constructed — with wonderful cliché images of turning a new page, reflecting on a “blemished chapter,” and finally “shaping the next chapter in the history” of Australia. But the government, both in Australia and Canada alike, need to stop patronizing the masses. Without action these are simply warm, fuzzy and hollow words with the sole purpose of keeping officials cozy as they sleep through the night. Words do not solve the Third World conditions that Aboriginal people continue to live in.
So should Canada follow Australia’s lead and apologize to our Aboriginal Peoples? Well, that all depends; saying “Sorry” is only a start, but if nothing is ever going to change there really is no point. An apology cannot change our government’s general state of apathy.
Australia has seen attempts at reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians in the past: the Walk for Reconciliation in 2000, which saw thousands of people march in support of a settlement between the two groups, as well as in 1994, when the Australian government investigated the “case of Aboriginal human rights problems.” The committee visiting remote aboriginal settlements in the Northern Territory reported on the “third world conditions” there and the “problems in relation to health, water, sewage, housing and education.”
At that time, the Australian public thought the report would catalyze change and force the government to be more radical in seeking change. However, little occurred in the way of actual meaningful change, and I would not say a public apology of clichés counts for much. Who knows? It may still be that the public apology in Australia will have long-term effects on the well-being of indigenous people, and this may just mark the beginning of action on the part of Kevin Rudd to correct the problems governments of old. I’m sorry, but that interpretation is a little too idealistic for my taste.
Jessica Stewin is a University 1 student.
