First Contact

[bluecat*dancing]

Did anyone watch "First Contact" on SBS last night and/or the reaction on NITV? It's a three part series in which a group of people who have had no contact with Indigenous people spend time in various Aboriginal communities over a period of 28 days. I was shaking my head at the rudeness and ignorance of some of the participants.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-19/sbs-program-first-contact-sparks-social-media-frenzy/5901890

[gleee58]

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@rabbitearbandicoot wrote:

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@gleee58 wrote:

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@rabbitearbandicoot wrote:

and, before you go off at me ... yes, I know they missed out on their heritage and all that .... but, all in all, much better off - better educated, better opportunities etc.

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But it didn't turn out that way, did it.  There are generations of people who are still suffering because they were stolen or their children were stolen or both.  It's not soemthing most people get over easily or overnight, which is what we seem to expect of them as your comment confirms.  

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They were taken away from families who couldn't look after them - why? because they were drunks, abusers or worse. If I had been a drunk and abused my children they would have been taken away too.

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No they were not in most cases. They were taken away so the black could be bred out and they could grow up to be good white Australians.

[gleee58]

Unbelievable! Instead of an open mind to the series we have a bunch of people, again, who insist on turning their racism and blame back onto the aboriginal people. 

People are so busy defending their own racist thoughts they refuse to even view the series.  How very sad for those people.  

[rabbitearbandicoot]

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@gleee58 wrote:

Unbelievable! Instead of an open mind to the series we have a bunch of people, again, who insist on turning their racism and blame back onto the aboriginal people. 

People are so busy defending their own racist thoughts they refuse to even view the series.  How very sad for those people.  

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You cannot be referring to me, because I am viewing the series. 

[rabbitearbandicoot]

"They were taken away so the black could be bred out and they could grow up to be good white Australians."

do you have any idea how funny that sounds? How can you breed the black out of a child and have them grow up white??

I remember a movie I watched once where the mother said something like that to her son.

"come here or I'll knock the black off you".

[gleee58]

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@rabbitearbandicoot wrote:

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@gleee58 wrote:

Unbelievable! Instead of an open mind to the series we have a bunch of people, again, who insist on turning their racism and blame back onto the aboriginal people. 

People are so busy defending their own racist thoughts they refuse to even view the series.  How very sad for those people.  

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You cannot be referring to me, because I am viewing the series. 

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No, just some people in general.  I'm not even talking specific to here, only conversations I've heard or read.

[gleee58]

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@rabbitearbandicoot wrote:

"They were taken away so the black could be bred out and they could grow up to be good white Australians."

do you have any idea how funny that sounds? How can you breed the black out of a child and have them grow up white??

I remember a movie I watched once where the mother said something like that to her son.

"come here or I'll knock the black off you".

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That is what happened regardless of how funny it seems to you or us now in this century.

[lind9650]

Who brought alcohol to the aboriginal people?

Who gave them a chance to learn how to keep a house clean before putting them into housing?

Who took the time to learn what the aboriginal life, laws and believes are all about?

What would have happened if the Australian natives had guns, cannons and military training and a well equiped fleet of ships, when Captain Cook and his fleet arrived, claiming that land to belong to the British? Murdering the native people when they seemed to complain about the invasion and tried to get rid of the English with spears and boomerangs.

I have lived in the centre when there were only a handful of white people there. I learned a lot from the aboriginals by asking questions and listening. I have a half - aboriginal daughter-in-law. She is a registered nurse, keeps her house cleaner than what I keep mine and has the greatest compassion, patience and care for my asthmatic son. Their three children are the most caring and respectful towards me, than any of my other family.

I am grateful to be living in this country away from troubled war mongerings, and I am proud to belong to the extended Koorie families.

First Contact? My foot! One has to live with people for a long time to learn all about them, and one will only learn if one is genuinly interested to assimilate. Without cameras and TV hosts that try to produce a show.

Erica

[gleee58]

The funny thing is that in spite of the stereotype most aboriginal people's houses are spotlessly clean because for many years they had people checking on their housekeeping with a white glove testing for dust. In the later years they lived under the threat of having their children removed if their house and children weren't spotless, even if the fabric was faded and frayed.

[rabbitearbandicoot]

"Who brought alcohol to the aboriginal people? Who made them drink it? And who continues to make them drink it?

Who gave them a chance to learn how to keep a house clean before putting them into housing? You mean, the whites actually gave them houses? No-one ever gave me a house.

Who took the time to learn what the aboriginal life, laws and believes are all about? 

What would have happened if the Australian natives had guns, cannons and military training and a well equiped fleet of ships, when Captain Cook and his fleet arrived, claiming that land to belong to the British? Murdering the native people when they seemed to complain about the invasion and tried to get rid of the English with spears and boomerangs. Well, I guess not many of us would be here, would we. Or looking at it the other way, there might be NO Aboriginals left.

I have lived in the centre when there were only a handful of white people there. I learned a lot from the aboriginals by asking questions and listening. I have a half - aboriginal daughter-in-law. She is a registered nurse, keeps her house cleaner than what I keep mine and has the greatest compassion, patience and care for my asthmatic son. Their three children are the most caring and respectful towards me, than any of my other family. That's probably the white half - only joking.

I am grateful to be living in this country away from troubled war mongerings, and I am proud to belong to the extended Koorie families.

First Contact? My foot! One has to live with people for a long time to learn all about them, and one will only learn if one is genuinly interested to assimilate. Without cameras and TV hosts that try to produce a show.

Erica"

My son used to go out with an Aboriginal girl - lovely girl. I told him at the time: "hang on to her, and you'll own a house in 5 years" but he knew best - she went walkabout for 6 weeks, and when she came back she told him what she had been up to - he dropped her. I never did ask him why.

[lind9650]

I have lived in the centre when there were only a handful of white people there. I learned a lot from the aboriginals by asking questions and listening. I have a half - aboriginal daughter-in-law. She is a registered nurse, keeps her house cleaner than what I keep mine and has the greatest compassion, patience and care for my asthmatic son. Their three children are the most caring and respectful towards me, than any of my other family. That's probably the white half - only joking.

 Rabbit - If I wasn't in a good mood, I would tell you what I think about your ignorant comment.

My DIL was raised by her mother in an aboriginal community in Queensland. Her white father skiddadled before she was born.

Next time ask questions before making inane comments.

Erica