Analysis Of The Australian Dream By Bruce Dawe

Celebrating the launch of the "International of the World's Indigenous People" in 1992, Keating addresses the "White-Australians" failure in recognising the injustices embedded within Australia's colonial past. Keating highlights the plight of Indigenous Australians through the use of highly evocative alliteration "devastation and demoralisation" to expose White-Australian's "failure". This reflects his condemnation of the "Great Australia Silence" proposed by Professor Stanner 1968, underpinning the prevailing social inequity that has been subdued and unrecognised by many Australians, compelling his intended and the future audience to revalue their preconceived understanding of Australia's colonial past. Furthermore, He skilfully employs logos to reinforce his argument in "the Report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody showed… past lives on inequality, racism and injustice", emphasising the social disadvantage faced by the ATSI community. Through the use of cumulative listing, "inequality, racism and injustice", Keating accentuates the importance of learning and recognising our past injustice to catalyse social progression towards reconciliation, constructing a sense of pathos that emotionally prompts the audience to sympathise with Aboriginal

Respect for Aboriginal culture and traditions which is part of the Aboriginal reconciliation and integration movement in Australia is highlighted many times throughout Crow Country and illustrates the best and worst of Australians. The way different characters show respect towards aboriginal culture and feelings contrasts two different attitudes. Today, opinions about aboriginal life and culture are shared through politics, social media and protests. Kate Constable’s book portrays extreme behaviour with racism and provides the reader with a perspective on just how cruel people can be. We have a very superficial understanding about aboriginal culture and this novel encourages readers to explore aboriginal culture and beliefs.

Stan Grant’s speech ‘Racism and the Australian Dream’ (2015) effectively reminds the Australian population of the racism and harsh inequalities indigenous Australians have faced in the past and still face today. In reminding us of this reality, Grant engages us to discover issues of civic participation in Aboriginal people and in doing so perpetuates a need for social change. More?

Present day Australia is met with the issue of outlining a sense of a nationwide community, after the breakdown of the British race patriot idea in the mid-1960s with the introduction of multiculturalism. The Euro-centric perception of Australia was annulled and it was incapable in playing a significant part in Australian policies and priorities. It triggered a calamity of national identity and meaning. The credence that Australian’s were apart of Britain, united by history, tradition and blood needed to be revised. A people who had recognized themselves so strongly with the British race now had to accede their race awareness and apprehend the notion of being a now multicultural society. The dawn of multiculturalism also provoked a quandary for balancing a respect of the British heritage with the abating relevance of the British connection and to construct a new language of community from the residues of the old British ways.

There are many diverse interpretations of the words “Australian Identity”. The national anthem, as evidenced in Stand Up, is a primarily white interpretation of Australia and the Australian identity, with many of the lines ignoring the Indigenous people of Australia (Perkins et al, 2012). Another form of the “Australian Identity” was one presented by Prime Minister Paul Keating in his Redfern Address in 1992. He proclaimed that “Australia is a first-rate social democracy…truly the land of the fair go and the better chance”. This idea presented represents an egalitarian society, where every single human has an equal opportunity at life. Yet another, shown in the songs Paul Kelly sang, but especially in “this land is mine” is the difference between the identity of Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians (Kelly et al, 2001). Each of these texts addressed a major issue. Stand Up compared the relative value of tradition and the right to freedom of expression. Keating’s speech expressed the need for justice and recognition of both the stolen generation and the injustices done to the Indigenous people as a whole. Kelly’s songs represent the importance of the land to Indigenous people and why the “returning of the land” is so important. Although they each mentioned a major issue, the texts all gave solutions to these issues, from reiterating the importance of the basic human right of freedom of speech in Stand Up, to explaining the role and qualities of the Aboriginal

Homecoming by Bruce Dawe describes the homecoming of dead Australian Soldiers from the Vietnamese War, (lines 2-3). The poem has its poet expressing his opinions on man’s response to wars and how vital human life is, the soldier need to be brought home and the brutality and futility of wars between the human’s race. In contrast, Suburban, by David Malouf, expresses to the reader the facade of modern suburbia, lukewarm residency clouded by public idealism and picket fences. “Suburban” suggests similar themes of masked anxieties by apparent political or social orders, which is clearly expressed through the way Malouf describes modern suburbia; as dull and emotionless. Homecoming directly contrasts this and describes a chaotic and destructive, this is demonstrated through the entirety of the poem, poetic

The author of ‘Homecoming’, Bruce Dawe, illustrates and describes the catastrophes of the Vietnam War in a calm but negative tone. Dawe uses this poem to represent the soldiers and the experiences they went through during WW1. The poetic techniques that he used in this poem “homecoming” were Imagery, Onomatopoeia and Repetition throughout the whole poem. Bruce Dawe helps the readers to understand the theme of how war is bad and a tragic waste of human life. This poem takes the readers to a place in time where our ancestral blood lines fought and lost their lives during WW1, in the hopes that future generations would have a better future in life.

This Assessment will be my personal reflection and analysis of contemporary issues raised for post-colonial Indigenous Australians through two programs on the National Indigenous Television station (NITV), Living Black and NITV News. I will reflect on how these issues have impacted on the relationships between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians, and how Indigenous culture impacts 21st century Australia. Through this I will also consider my own feelings and opinions on how these issues are raised and considered.

David Kamp's 2009 Vanity Fair article "Rethinking the American Dream" focuses on the general perception of the ‘American Dream’ and how it has evolved throughout our nation’s history. It clearly states that as the average American household's lifestyle has become more and more consumer-oriented, the original spirit that invigorated and united its people from the age of western expansion to the Great Depression has begun to fade. The dream has been dampened as the vision of "success" has become more focused on gaining material/getting rich quick, rather than working hard all throughout one’s life to attain what they want and desire.

This article gives the reader an inequitable view of Indigenous Australians, defending Tony Abbot’s point of view and the audience is encouraged to agree with mainstream media in regards to whether or not Tony Abbott is racist. Article B from the Koori Mail condemns Tony Abbott’s viewpoint as not only racist but he is insulting the very culture that he is representing. Article B states that Tony Abbott does not understand Indigenous culture and how important land is to them “Connection to country is everything to Aboriginal people – defines Aboriginal people and sustains us in a cultural and spiritual sense and can play a vital role in building economic independence, self-determination and healing” (Greg Cromelin, Article B). With Article B the audience is encouraged to get angry at Tony Abbott’s comments and make him out to be racist.

‘Australia’ also showed how the government controlled how children of Aboriginal descent were brought up with language used such as “The mixed raced children must be dislocated from their primitive full blooded Aborigine, how else are we to breed the black out of them”. This presented again the reason as to why the Aboriginal children were taken away from their own cultures to be raised in something completely different.

Noel Pearson’s speech ‘an Australian history for us all’ discusses his approach to trying to solve some of the most systemic problems facing Australian Aboriginals today. The speakers are successful in understanding the ideas and values of the speech. Through the uses of various language techniques and context, Pearson’s speech details the struggles of the relationship between the first European settlers and Aboriginal Australians.

Since British arrival, Aboriginal people have experienced marginalisation and extreme disadvantage within Australian society. Urban-based Aboriginal people, even more than those living in remote communities, have been subject to the impact of racism and discrimination on self-identity. Nonetheless, many urban-based Aboriginal people proudly identify with their Aboriginality, asserting their identity. In this case study, I will examine the identity of Aboriginal Australian’s, comparing this construction from the time period of colonisation in Australia to the current time period in Australia. Perhaps the most salient features of this construction are the impact of Australian colonisation, along with the effects of the Stolen Generation.

Australia has always been centered around diversity and change, specifically with the vast multiculturalism and migrant culture throughout the nation. The specifics of Identity hold an important role in shaping our identity as students and as a nation. Australians pride themselves on being a land of the free and full of diverse culture. This is specifically referred to in our national Anthem; “For those who've come across the seas, We've boundless plains to share; With courage let us all combine,”(McCormick, 1984). Displaying Australia’s open attitude towards immigrants and contributes to the diversity present within our society today. Even before this, much of Australia’s Identity was associated with caucasian culture (Originating from British Settlers). Which is the dominant perception of Australia through the media with australian representation being present through the stereotypes of Bogans, which was made popular through shows like Kath and Kim (ABC, 2007). Also, represented through the popular depiction of Australian people - the bushman made popular by movies like Crocodile Dundee (Faiman, 1986) and through famous real life bushman; Steve Irwin. An important aspect of Australian identity which is consistently neglected is the culture and representation of the initial owners of the land; the aboriginal people. Throughout history the constant mistreatment and neglect of the indigenous, has lead to a massive gap in privilege between the aboriginal people and our

Australia is a country which was built upon foundations of racism and, unfortunately, still seeps through into our modernity. The original owners and custodians of the land we now call Australia were persecuted by the British not long after the arrival of the first fleet. We can date Australia’s denial of racism from its commencement. A pattern not only in Australia, but in many multicultural societies, is that the general populous always find a different ethnicity to condemn. The problem of racism in Australia mainly stems from our denial of it. Having a laid-back and care-free attitude are quintessential attributes to an Australian, and unfortunately we incorporate those traits into topics, such as racism, which should be attended to with much more vigour and concern. Australia does, indeed, have a problem with racism because as a country we fail to address the issue, despite the sheer seriousness of the problem.