sarahmeehan3 said:
I think most replies I have read is in fact an indication of what many white Australians think about us Aboriginals.
Before any of you make any more comments may I suggest that you visit an Aboriginal centre or township and see for yourselves what the living standards are.
Sarah
I've been to several aboriginals towns around Australia.....the town of Elliott in the Northern Territory and the town of Worrabinda in Queensland are two that come to mind.
In Elliott most of the houses (all of which are provided FREE by the government) had holes kicked in the walls, doors ripped off hinges, windows broken.
Same story in Woorabinda, and in most other aboriginal towns I've been in.
Wooribinda is an hour or so inland from Rockhampton, on the Tropic of Capricorn. It's hot up there in the tropics, and the Wooribinda community lobbeyed the government to provide a public swimming pool so they could cool off in summer, and so that young people would have some enjoyable activity, hence less time to get bored and turn to petty crime.
Worrabinda was featured in a TV program earlier this year.
Their olympic size swimming pool, provided free at their request, is now a pool of stagnant green water with algae growing on the surface, the tiles have been ripped off the pool, the water has been deliberatedly fouled by having foreign substances thrown into it, the windows in the change rooms have been smashed, holes kicked in the walls, plants have been ripped out of the gardens.
I'm sure you get the picture.....the community has destroyed the pool they were given - it's now shut down and is never used.
They've treated the pool with the same contempt with which they treat just about everything else they're given, including their houses.
The houses provided are quite adequate, I've lived in worse myself, and nobody gave it to me free, I've always had to buy my own houses.
The standards in aboriginal communities are largely the result of the communities themselves not appreciating what they're given, not making the most of their opportunities, wrecking perfectly good houses and amenities.
You rarely see a nice garden around an aboriginal home. Why not?....they have water laid on, they have plenty of time on their hands, they're as physically capable as anyone else of digging up the ground and planting a few flowers or trees or lawn.
I get a little tired of hearing about the low living standards of aboriginals. They are given every opportunity and encouragement to get an education, get careers, and make something of their lives.
They have money pushed their way constantly....free housing being just one example.
If aboriginals want a better standard of living then they need to realise that those in the community with decent living standards are in that position largely because of the actions they took. They didn't demand that the government provide them with their every need. They made the most of their educational opportunities, they got jobs and careers and worked hard to get ahead. They borrowed to buy a house and they worked hard to pay it off. They planted gardens around their homes to give themselves a pleasant living environment.
If they used alcohol they did so responsibly in most cases....they didn't abuse it.
I suggest you point out these things to the locals next time you visit an aboriginal community. Tell them about their opportunities, explain to them that they need to make the most of those opportunities if they want to rise above their present situation. Try and get them to change their mentality that the rest of Australia owes them a living.
I have nothing against people for the colour of their skin. I went to boarding school with black kids and I became great mates with some of them. They were top blokes and top sportsmen, and they made the most of their opportunities and made something of their lives. I still keep in touch with them, I bear hug them whenever I run into them at school reunions etc.
People should be judged on character, integrity, decency, not skin colour.
Aboriginal people are just as capable of showing character, decency and integrity as anyone else.
I have the utmost respect and admiration for any aboriginal person who has grasped his/her opportunities and made a success of his or her life.
Unfortunately, these people constitute only a very small percentage of the aboriginal population.
White Australia is not to blame. The opportunities are there in abundance for any aboriginal person who want to take them.
THIS is the message you need to put out in the aboriginal communities you visit.
One more thing. I suggest you do everything possible in your role as an aboriginal community worker, to get alcohol banned in aboriginal communities. I don't need to tell you the problems it causes.
Some aboriginal communities have passed laws banning alcohol, and the beneficial effect has been immediate.
Bunyip