I’m sorry
Posted by cacophony in : Making News , trackback 
There it is. It’s National Sorry Day tomorrow and I am truly sorry.
John Howard says he won’t say sorry to the Aboriginal people because it leaves the Federal Government open to legal action. Me? I think the removal of people from their families and subsequent neglect leaves governments open to legal action anyway. And so it should. If the courts believe that Aboriginal people deserve compensation, us taxpayers deserve to foot the bill - just like we do for Veterans’ healthcare.
I am not at fault for the stolen generations but I am responsible, as we all are, for the continued neglect of Aboriginal people.
Therefore, I’m sorry. And unapologetically so.
So sue me.
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I’m not sorry, I didn’t do anything wrong. The past is the past. By trying and forcing people to say Sorry, it’s the same as the white australians who forced their opions and laws on Australia’s true first settlers many years ago.
I have friends of many different cultures including those who are of Aboriginal descent. I don’t see them as a colour or race, I see them as people. The aboriginal people and supporters of Reconciliation/sorry day promote that they want to be the same as everyone else in this country, for everyone to be equal. Well how many times do we have to say we are sorry? It is the past.
I can not be held accountable for something someone else did many years ago, just because I am a White Australian.
I’m sorry too - terrible torturous acts in the world.
mmmmmmmmm, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that many of the aboriginal people are still repeating past behaviours and blaming the whitey. I’m truely sorry that they cant get their act together, I’m sorry that while many are disfunctional, we have had loads of boat people that have come here, with the most horific of stories and personal tragedies, and who have overcome adversity, to go on and make us proud by becoming doctors, lawyers etc.I’m sorry that we still waste energy, with this subject. At the time, it was done in the best interests of the young. And like many organisations there are overzealous people who go overboard with decisions etc. So yes, It wasn’t successful for a lot of girls, but I bet there are many many who are thankful for the chance. We have a lot to learn from the aboriginal people, I believe that they are the life blood behind this country………But they need to take responsibilty for themselves now.
I am sorry that this country was invaded by the English and the people of this country were forced into the future against their will. But I am Australian and I was born here and I have not oppressed anyone. So I feel sorry for the unnecessary deaths, separations, pain and sorrow caused by an invasion in the past but I recognise my peoples contribution to make this a peaceful and safe environment to bring my children up.
winni, i hope those that blindy rabbit on (pardon the subtle pun) about sorry day read your post carefuly.
It is a mater of public record that aboriginal children were removed from incompetent, non caring parents. ‘They were removed to better their lives.
The concept of the stolen generation, was anothe of many fairy tales fabricated by misguided aboroginal leaders who see the stolen generation as an easy way out,rather than actually applying themselves to meaningful employment and education.
cheeiro
shadowmaster.
PS the whales are not at Warnambool yet…
im not sorry. im AUSTRALIAN.
im sorry two but no one has said sorry two my family for being deported two this country but im not sad im a proud aussie im sad that we build homes for the aborigines for them two trash i say this is enought lets move on im sure we could do better things for them maybe lets teach them something and in return they teach us after all there medicenes are famous and on the fox channel is see they have a cooking cafe with the black prince called the out back cafe and ive started to use his cooking herbs this is a way to move on not look back and realy they are getting a fair deal but sad to say it goes to the greedy ones and not passed on two the whole community
I’m sorry that alcohol has been introduced into a culture ill equipped to deal with its ugly side. I am sorry that mostly the aboriginal australian just can’t seem to integrate into the current main stream of society. We can’t say “white” any longer because Australia is so multicultural these days. I am sorry that aboriginal australians are able to allow their lands to be used as a toxic waste dump for $12 million dollars. I am sorry they’re having to make deals with very smart people who want their land to mine uranium.
But I am not sorry about their natural gentleness, I appreciate their music, their dance and their sense of family.
We are one, we are many, but as aboriginals were the original land owners they should at least be paid the respect we give all others.
I’m sorry I opened this post.
I’m sorry that what happened in the past happened, but did I do it? No. So should I be sorry for it? No. People should never have to be sorry for something they didn’t do, otherwise we’d all have to be sorry for the actions of criminals, and the notion of being truly, personally sorry for something we did would lose its meaning. Instead of dwelling on forced apologies for decisions made by others many years before we were born, we should just learn from past mistakes and try to make the world a better place with tolerance, education, compassion and an open-mindedness.
And I am not responsible for the “continued neglect of Aboriginal people”… I am sorry that it’s happening, but I have never neglected someone or discriminated against someone because of their race. Responsibility for neglecting an entire race of people lies with those organisations who actually have the power to provide for, nurture and equip that entire race of people. All we individuals can do is treat others equally and respectfully regardless of race, learn from the great things about Aboriginal culture and avoid the mistakes of the past. Which most people are doing anyway.
lady chaos you hit the right spot well put your little post
I am glad you opened this post mecontramundum because we do need to reflect on what has happened with the aboriginals. I thought about how they’ve been an issue in society for my entire lifetime and yet nothing is resolved.
We’ve taken a culture that is thousands of years old and expect them to conform within two hundred years…like taking man to the moon. Every single aspect of their way of life has led to upheaval….and watching the aboriginal film on SBS last night just highlighted the differences between the two civilisations….
Fundamentally we have to ask ourselves whether it is possible for coexistence, giving the diversity of values between the two societies.
In many country there are the forgotten indigenous race and I was thinking about how the American Indian has been swamped by white Americans, black African Americans and the hispanics. In Vietnam they have indigenous tribes that hide in the hills above the city.
The Australian Government even when it gives the land back, still rebuys for white man’s use! It is a lost cause I feel.
Why should the Government have to say sorry for “stealing children”. It was the “missionaries” of various religious denominations who did the “stealing” (ie: taken, in theory, to be given better lives!) not the Governments of the past. Sure, we are all sorry for the state some real aborigines find themselves in, but on the whole it is their choice!
You can’t make someone say sorry and mean it. It’s a contradiction in terms.
I am stunned by these responses - the choruses of “I didn’t do it so I shouldn’t have to say sorry”. You sound like sulky schoolchildren.
Sometimes we need to think beyond ourselves and put ourselves in another person’s skin. Does an indigenous Australian blame you personally for the issues they have with policies of the past? No. Would they like support from you when our nation eventually acknowledges the mistakes of the past in an attempt to have a united future? Absolutely.
Saying sorry might be a symbolic act but sometimes an apology is necessary before forgiveness and reconciliation can occur.
As for all the Stolen Generations deniers and those arguing “it’s about time they sorted themselves out”, have a think about this: You take a proud culture and separate the adults from the children, forcibly or otherwise. When those children are adults and have children, you separate them too. And for the third generation, the same. Now think about the trauma and sense of hopelessness that follows from successive generations of dislocation. In many (but not all) indigenous families we are witnessing the effects of generations of despair, lost leadership and lost familial love. And it may take generations to heal the damage.
Saying sorry would be a great first step.
I used to be sorry but not anymore. The aboriginal people need to stop abusing the assistance they’ve been given, stop blaming every body else for who they are as a race, take a long hard look at themselves and clean up their act, it’s not white australia that is sexually abusing their children, bashing their women, committing crime, trashing homes they’ve been given, drinking prtrol, abusing alcohol, neglecting their children and wallowing in self pity. We could all be sorry till we’re blue in the face but it won’t change the past and only the aboriginal people can change their future.
P.S. they need to get rid of those hangers on who think it’s trendy or who are expoliting the system by claiming aboriginal status when the amount of true aboriginal blood in them is far outweighed by other blood.
Graeme Clarke comes to mind for apparent, alleged rapes.
Lojita O’donnel comes to mind for saying she was a member of the so- called stolen generation - when she wasn’t.
Juni Morosi, allegedly famous for having an affair with JIm Cairns the then Deputy Prime Minister, she allegedly thought it was a good idea to give extremely generious grants for aboriginal communities to her aborriginal relations who were quite well off financialy..
the list of allegedly disgraced leaders of the aboriginal community goes on and on.
And that’s the problem, the leadership just doesn’t lead.
allegedly cheerio
shadowmaster.
PS and people wonder why some people aren’t too sympathetic.
so wot about the flag issue?
wot do you mob think of that then?
me thinx that seeing it, like the TI flag, are issued as Australian flags from the Flags act of 1951 it should be flown every day at council & on other flag poles around the city on special occasions.
Did you know that there is municipals council association that has very clear guidelines about the indigenous flags. & there is a representative that advice & inform on the flag issue. He will tell you of the numerous councils that fly the flags daily Latrobe City Council for example headquarters in Morwell.
i’m sure you young mob can Google that
& while you are at it read some of the issues that indigenous people face everyday -even as we write these deep & meaningfuls.
I too am sorry. I am sorry for the children I have met in places like Northern WA, who are living in families and communities that fail to value them as beautiful, unique and talented individuals - to make them feel worthwhile and confident and ambitious. I am sorry that the state of affairs I have seen in some of these places are not the exception but the norm and that the lack of leadership, support and assistance has failed to break the terrible pattern that continues to allow these children to grown up and imitate the behaviours of their parents. I am sorry that so many of the aboriginal people I have met have been dislocated and lost without a real sense of meaning and possiblity in their lives. I am most sorry that some people believe that we have done enough and are not to blame - as a society - for the lack of progress in valuing, supporting and championing aboriginal culture and life.
I am also thankful for the success stories and quiet achievements of so many different communities and individuals - imagine if we could all hear more of these stories and have increasing hope for the future and understanding of the past and present.
Thank goodness for gadfly and cicada. Maybe it is only the members of the insect world that can express their sorrow over things that happened in the past.
Dear hewesd
I would like to join the insect chorus. I am singing from the same page of the hymn book. WW
Just two words, I’m Sorry - have created such a mixed bag of responses…..it is such a hard thing to say and even to mean it…are we so caught up in the blaming mode that we can’t express sorrow for the results of our forebears ancestors….
If we can’t be sorry about something that happened two hundred years ago, why then are we en masse required to be sorry about what happened to Jesus Christ two thousand years ago?
No it’s a rhetoric question, not requiring an answer!
Unlike what may or may not have happened two thousand years ago I can see the results of this latest “sorry issue” and I don’t feel good about that so it must mean therefore from my POV, that I’m sorry!
oh come on now !!! obviously we have all been empathetic at some stage. Who wouldn’t? But when they are asking ” us” to say sorry Is that all they want ?? Two words? No strings attached?, or by saying sorry, are they actually asking the country to put its money where its mouth is??? Some of you really are ill informed about the assistance they have received and are still receiving. Even most of the educated aborigine will tell you how frustrated they are by the lack of purpose for the everyday aboriginal. So go figure that ! I spose it would be discrimination if we said sorry no grog ??….mmmmm I’m sorry, but………
Life deals us difficult hands from time to time, some of which burn us very deeply. Although we cannot change that which affects us, we possess the power to decide how and to what extent we allow it affect us. Let us all look to this magical bird; for we all, at some point in time, must become the Phoenix, lifting ourselves from the pyre of ashes that surround us in order to see the world anew.
Historical and iconographical information about the “Phoenix”:
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/phoenix.html
winnierrose well put cut out the grog to them and the money hand outs lets see if they can stand on there own two feet yer right
Let’s solve this whole Sorry situation once and for all with a referendum to the Australian people. But instead of it being private as is the usual case with voting in Australia, tax file numbers are provided. This way that those that ARE Sorry, can contribute towards the inevitable compensation claims that will follow and they can have their warm inner glow feelings about the good that they are doing to personally rectify past injustices (either real or imagined). Those that aren’t Sorry don’t have to pay a cent. A HECS type of arrangement can even be set up for those that ARE Sorry - just in case enough compensation money isn’t raised. Finally, how come in Victoria $5.1 million was set up to create Stolen Genrations Victoria but they haven’t been able to locate any supposed stolen children yet out of the 100,000 that were stolen? Wake up Australia~!