With Reconciliation Week coming up on May 27th- June 3rd, I think it is an important time to not only reflect on where we are as a country, but also contemplate how far we still have to go to be reconciled with its First Nations people.
While having Reconciliation as a whole, and having a week that celebrates Reconciliation is great, it is still a political initiative that really favours the Government.
How can we really believe in, commit to, and celebrate Reconciliation, when the Government has drowned out the past for so long, and denied the general community knowledge of the true history of this Country??
The Government has denied and concealed the history of the First Nations Peoples of this country from everyone. Because of this, people are left unsure of what they in fact they need to be sorry for, and therefore this defeats the purpose of what Reconciliation stands for.
If we as a Country genuinely want to be moving forward AS ONE COUNTRY, and not maintain a divided country as it currently is, then we need to be talking more about such things like the Uluru Statement from the Heart and a genuine Treaty process.
For a lot of people who do not know, Australia is the only Commonwealth Country IN THE WORLD, that does not have a Treaty with the First Peoples of their Country. This says something about the core psyche of Australia and its ongoing treatment of First Nations Peoples.
A Treaty would help our country move forward by enabling a healing process and having a set of legally enforceable and tangible outcomes that benefit both Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Australians. It would give Aboriginal people a voice and instil hope for the future, instead of perpetuating the status quo of Governments and Politicians speaking and making decisions for us, and on our behalf.
During Reconciliation Week this year, I encourage you to all open your mind, look into the Uluru Statement from the Heart, look into a what a Treaty is, and how it could benefit the whole of Australia and Aboriginal people. Talk about it within your classrooms and with your students, as they are the next generation of leaders to make change. Talk about it within your workplace and look at what you can do to support change and challenge racism and inequity. Staying silent and sticking to safe conversations does not achieve anything. It maintains the status quo and perpetuates the inequalities that continue to exist.
Be an advocate and make your comment known.
Offend your friends & family if you have to
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