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

Shame is defined as a missed opportunity but the word itself holds a weight that differs in each individual’s story. Kevin Gilbert’s poem ‘Shame’ seeks to explore aspects of white Australian identity while capturing a powerful perspective that forces the disturbing question concerning the discrimination of Indigenous Australians.

It is a commonly known issue in Australia that as a minority group, the people of Indigenous Australian ethnicity have always been treated, or at least perceived, differently to those of non-Indigenous disposition. This can be applied to different contexts such as social, economic, education, or in relation to this essay – legal contexts. Generally, Indigenous Australians face issues such as less opportunity for formal education, less access to sufficient income, more health issues, and higher rates of imprisonment (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service

This work examines the past and also imagines the future by using references of past racial murders and the way they coincide with the present context and explore Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous culture in the present-day. Ah Kee created this series of artworks in response to the apparent police cover up of the death of a young man in their custody, for protection of

The piece is classified as Aboriginal Australian literature. It was published in the 1960’s. The purpose of the text is to give hope in a new beginning after the events involving the racial tension between the Aboriginals and the white settlers. The poem is directed to the Aboriginal people of Australia who suffered from these events

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?

Through the use of poetic devices, the author has successfully encouraged the audience to explore their thoughts on Australian identity and to reflect on our nation’s history.

The notion of the contemporary indigenous identity and the impact of these notions are both explored in texts that have been studied. Ivan Sen’s 2002 film ‘Beneath Clouds’ focuses on the stereotypical behaviours of Indigenous Australians highlighting Lina and Vaughn’s journey. This also signifies the status and place of the Australian identity today. Through the use of visual techniques and stereotypes the ideas that the Indigenous are uneducated, involved in crime and the stereotypical portrayal of white people are all explored. Similarly the notion of urban and rural life is represented in Kennith Slessor’s ‘William Street’ and ‘Country Towns’.

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.

The representation of Indigenous Australians in fiction and nonfiction texts are influenced by a range of factors. In the contemporary world of multicultural Australia, there has been a variety of ways groups of people are represented in texts. The Indigenous population is often portrayed in ways that strengthen harmful stereotypes. However, there are also a variety of positive outlooks and portrayals expressing their strength and achievements. In texts studied in year 8 English, the representation of Indigenous Australians in Crow country are characterized as outcasts and reflect cultural distinction. Newspaper articles regarding “Adam Goodes” demonstrates how preconceived thoughts from many Australians destroys sporting stars outlook upon

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.

Modern forms of literature have helped a considerable amount in reducing rates of racism targeted at indigenous people of Australia, Kevin Naderian explains this phenomenon. Non-indigenous people often consider land as a materialistic possession - something they own, a commodity to be bought, sold, and trade, an asset that they intend to make profit off of. Indigenous people, however, have a much deeper connection with the land. Rather than owning it, it owns them - not literally, of course.

Authentic and genuine friendships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are a powerful symbol of reconciliation for all Australians. While creating these friendships can be challenging, the benefits they provide outweigh the struggles. The largest of these challenges being racial discrimination towards Indigenous Australians. Authentic friendships seem unlikely when we look at Australia’s actions towards Indigenous peoples in the past. It has been a long journey for Indigenous and non-Indigenous friendships as only a few decades ago they were shameful and almost impossible to form. Though these friendships seem unachievable, people have looked past skin colour and created inter-racial friendships that have produced astounding rewards.

A shared sense of history is about acknowledging that Australia already had a history long before European settlement, or ‘colonisation’, in 1788. It is about acknowledging that the Australian continent was not ‘terra nullius’, an empty, uninhabited land. It is about recognition and taking ownership of the history of Indigenous Australians, and also about looking at the chain of events, since colonisation, from their perspective. Up until the late 1960’s it was celebrated that Australia’s history was uniquely peaceful. There was no mention in Australia’s history books of the frontier conflict, or even one mention of Aboriginal people. Indigenous Australians ‘have always been here’, they are the sovereign peoples of this land and historically the oldest culture in the world. A shared sense of history is about telling the silent history and untold stories of Indigenous Australians. It is about acknowledging the pain and suffering that has been inflicted, through prejudiced legislation based purely on the colour of skin. The past history still has an impact today, however acknowledgement of our ‘shared history’ can hopefully balance knowledge, awareness and facilitate the healing that has to happen in Australia. Cultural identity is fundamental to the construction of this shared history.