Australia Day: Celebrating Colonialism and Genocide since 1788

[bokuden]

This has healed some wounds, but the flag-waving and immigrant bashing that occurs on January 26th each year tells a different story. As a musician, I performed at the Australia Day Festival in Cairns, Queensland in 2010, to about 800 people, predominantly white. I finished my set with the Damien Dempsey song 'Colony'. I asked the crowd to listen to the lyrics and remember the people who "own" this land.
After the gig I was approached by about ten people. All, apart from three people, told me that they felt my song was inappropriate. Those three people were Aboriginal and they shook my hand and kissed me and said "Thanks brother".
I'm genuinely not sure why I started this thread. I expect people to label it lazy, irrelevant and self-righteous. If that's the case, then so be it. Celebrating colonialism is just something I find bizzare, especially when thousands of indigenous are homeless, involved in petty crime and engulfed in alcoholism due to being turfed to the side of the road.
Good night!

"Colony" is a magnificent song. As long as there are people like Damien Dempsey, all is not lost for Irish culture. When looking at the massive wealth created from mining in Australia, I never thought about the native people whose land was stolen from them and now live in poverty. There was a tongue-in cheek thread recently about whether white people are genetically evil, but when you see what many of us have done (and continue to do) to others around the world, it makes you wonder.

Well done for performing that song!

[Aristodemus]

Being more primitive at one point in time justifies centuries of exploitation?

Aborigines had their children taken away until the 1970s.They were officially classified as 'flora and fauna' until 1967 and could be scalped in some states until the 1930s.

Even today aboriginal men have a life expectancy of 11.5 years less than the rest of the population. Women a gap of 9.7 years.

Your argument is the one made in the 19th century to justify European colonialism. You have an atavistic mind.

As for taking children away from their parents that is pretty wicked.....except when the parents are incapable of looking after those children. The same facility is available in every civilised country as it is often in the best interests of the child.

[bokuden]

As for taking children away from their parents that is pretty wicked.....except when the parents are incapable of looking after those children. The same facility is available in every civilised country as it is often in the best interests of the child.

Listen to this, especially the last verse for you.

Damien Dempsey "colony" - YouTube

Then buy it!

[Tombo]

Bloody nasty work those Australian since 1788. When was Australia formed again???


And lucky all those Irish out there never got involved in any of that nasty stuff and only sang great anti colonial songs to the local aborigines whe called them their mates.


Of course all our most morally upstanding priests and nuns went off to Austrlaia and started all those orphanages and such, looking caringly after the local indigenous population.




God, ain't we the best country in the world, ever and forever. Just imagine, without a country as eternally flawless and fantastic as us those Racist Aussies might be getting off celebrating their invasion day free of the glare of our morally superior eye.

[RepublicOfLuas]

Bloody nasty work those Australian since 1788. When was Australia formed again???

The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901.

And lucky all those Irish out there never got involved in any of that nasty stuff and only sang great anti colonial songs to the local aborigines whe called them their mates.

Rubbish, there were plenty of Irish involved in the British colonialist atrocities

Of course all our most morally upstanding priests and nuns went off to Austrlaia and started all those orphanages and such, looking caringly after the local indigenous population.

.

Health and education in exchange for your freedom of thought. How wonderful.

God, ain't we the best country in the world, ever and forever. Just imagine, without a country as eternally flawless and fantastic as us those Racist Aussies might be getting off celebrating their invasion day free of the glare of our morally superior eye.

Oh....I see....you've been sarcastic this whole time. No body is getting morally superior here. I'm just pointing out the disgust.

[Tombo]

The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901.




Rubbish, there were plenty of Irish involved in the British colonialist atrocities


.

Health and education in exchange for your freedom of thought. How wonderful.






Oh....I see....you've been sarcastic this whole time. No body is getting morally superior here. I'm just pointing out the disgust.

Andgoing to Australia and performing in front of them telling them that they are racist, theiving gits.



I'm suprised you managed to get out alive. Or perhaps Aussies are a little more tolerant, even of visitors to their country who like to patronisingly moralise to them.

[RepublicOfLuas]

Andgoing to Australia and performing in front of them telling them that they are racist, theiving gits.

I never told them they were racist. Don't be making things up and make me out to be something I'm not. Stick to what I said, not what you think I said.

I'm suprised you managed to get out alive. Or perhaps Aussies are a little more tolerant, even of visitors to their country who like to patronisingly moralise to them.

I'm surprised I got out alive too, but preaching to the ignorant is something that we all have a moral obligation to do.

[Tombo]

I never told them they were racist. Don't be making things up and make me out to be something I'm not. Stick to what I said, not what you think I said.





I'm surprised I got out alive too, but preaching to the ignorant is something that we all have a moral obligation to do.

Well, I took took your advice and listened to the song lyrics and if you did sing it you pretty much told 99% of the population to "************************ off you racist invaders".



I see you have great affection for those "ignorant people". So ignorant it seems they invited you to perform on their national day and you pissed all over them.




I like having countrymen like you on our informal diplomatic service abroad. We should all be grateful.

[zakalwe1]

most of the white settlers were convicts forcefully resettled...do you not know your "fields of athenry".

and if my understanding of australian culture is correct, based on mad max and crocodile dundee, the former settlers are as much "of the land" as the original inhabitants were. didn;t you see the bit where paul hogan hypnotises the buffulo or where he causes the bats to fly into the drug dealers camp??? brilliant.

[cb1979]

Anyone who would categorise the state stealing the children of Aborigine parents en mass as just the authorities removing children from incapacitated parents is either willfully ignorant or trolling. It was a state sponsored campaign to wipe out the indiginous Australian culture and prevent parents from passing on the language and traditions of their race to their children. The vast majority of these children never saw their parents again.
The treatment of the Aborigines is a deep stain upon the history of Australia and if you get a chance try and get your hands on a book called 'Why weren't we told' by Henry Reynolds. Look into the Mabo case. Aborigines were only allowed title to their own lands after a lengthy supreme court case in 1992!!!
Infant mortality and deaths in police custody for black Australians were many multiples of Apartheid South Africa at its worst. Unlike the United States, where even the most racist Americans feel some kind of shame about the treatment of Native Americans, there is very little regret in mainstream Australian society for the treatment of Aborigines.