13th January 2008, 06:53 PM
Hmm, an interesting if slightly rambling debate. Given the plethora of points made, I shall answer in kind.
-on topic, if you wish Time Team to come and do some useful (dare I say politically constructive) archaeology, why not invite them to contribute to a project focussed on Indigenous Peoples? I mean something not about the white settlers, or about abuse of the locals by white settlers, but something about how interesting and worthy of respect the locals are in themselves. This could make the important point (so obvious to archaeologists that we might sometimes forget to mention it) that there is no correlation between technological sophistication on the one hand and knowledge/education or cultural sophistication on the other. Worthy and interesting though Rottnest sounds, you may have to do a bit of groundwork before you start castigating Whitey if you are going to open the minds that need opening.
-my cousin worked as a doctor in the Northern Territories, and experienced two tiers of health provision, that in the aboriginal settlements being '20 years out of date by comparison', and his efforts to effect change met stiff resistance. This anecdotal evidence seems typical. Services, justice, opportunities and status of Indigenous Peoples are clearly worse than for the whites, but there are likely numerous and complex reasons for it, and not all of them consciously malicious. There's no sense demonising the entire white population.
-to paraphrase the great Garth Marenghi (in the Darkplace episode 'Scotch Mist'), my mate Graham moved to Perth; he says it's quite nice.
I'll have to ask Graham sometime whether it's a racist hole.
-my Grandad was in the Battle of Cable Street. I'd be happy to say he was manning the barricades but he was a police sergeant, fighting 'the communists' i.e. all of the anti-facists, who he saw as a trouble making rabble. Ten years later, everyone had a different perspective of course. (No-one fought Moseley's facists on that day, they stood on the bridge awhile and then went home). We'd have had some interesting conversations if he'd lived just a few more years. (Rat, did you have a hand in the Cable Street related Oi Polloi track 'Let the Boots Do the Talking'?)
-let's not all get our pin badge collections out and go on about how activist we are. It doesn't advance the debate one iota. If it's really necessary, we could have a 'How much have you suffered for your politics?' thread, but this isn't it. Actually that might be quite fun.
-I just saw a middle-aged bloke in Tescos with 'Combat 18' tattooed on his neck. The tatt looked old and he might have changed his views of course, but notwithstanding the fact that the Australian state and people have a problem to deal with, bigots are everywhere including here. As they used to write on the walls of Paris in 1968, 'there is a policeman in all of us; he must be killed'.
The Main Point
Anyway my main point is: big up the Indigenous Peoples and their culture (not just the art, although that was a start). Address racialism, rather than making accusations of racism (there is a difference). Considering where you're starting from you'll get nowhere if you appear to be laying the sins of the past at the feet of white Australians today.
freeburmarangers.org
-on topic, if you wish Time Team to come and do some useful (dare I say politically constructive) archaeology, why not invite them to contribute to a project focussed on Indigenous Peoples? I mean something not about the white settlers, or about abuse of the locals by white settlers, but something about how interesting and worthy of respect the locals are in themselves. This could make the important point (so obvious to archaeologists that we might sometimes forget to mention it) that there is no correlation between technological sophistication on the one hand and knowledge/education or cultural sophistication on the other. Worthy and interesting though Rottnest sounds, you may have to do a bit of groundwork before you start castigating Whitey if you are going to open the minds that need opening.
-my cousin worked as a doctor in the Northern Territories, and experienced two tiers of health provision, that in the aboriginal settlements being '20 years out of date by comparison', and his efforts to effect change met stiff resistance. This anecdotal evidence seems typical. Services, justice, opportunities and status of Indigenous Peoples are clearly worse than for the whites, but there are likely numerous and complex reasons for it, and not all of them consciously malicious. There's no sense demonising the entire white population.
-to paraphrase the great Garth Marenghi (in the Darkplace episode 'Scotch Mist'), my mate Graham moved to Perth; he says it's quite nice.
I'll have to ask Graham sometime whether it's a racist hole.
-my Grandad was in the Battle of Cable Street. I'd be happy to say he was manning the barricades but he was a police sergeant, fighting 'the communists' i.e. all of the anti-facists, who he saw as a trouble making rabble. Ten years later, everyone had a different perspective of course. (No-one fought Moseley's facists on that day, they stood on the bridge awhile and then went home). We'd have had some interesting conversations if he'd lived just a few more years. (Rat, did you have a hand in the Cable Street related Oi Polloi track 'Let the Boots Do the Talking'?)
-let's not all get our pin badge collections out and go on about how activist we are. It doesn't advance the debate one iota. If it's really necessary, we could have a 'How much have you suffered for your politics?' thread, but this isn't it. Actually that might be quite fun.
-I just saw a middle-aged bloke in Tescos with 'Combat 18' tattooed on his neck. The tatt looked old and he might have changed his views of course, but notwithstanding the fact that the Australian state and people have a problem to deal with, bigots are everywhere including here. As they used to write on the walls of Paris in 1968, 'there is a policeman in all of us; he must be killed'.
The Main Point
Anyway my main point is: big up the Indigenous Peoples and their culture (not just the art, although that was a start). Address racialism, rather than making accusations of racism (there is a difference). Considering where you're starting from you'll get nowhere if you appear to be laying the sins of the past at the feet of white Australians today.
freeburmarangers.org