Sorry – a word for all Australians
11 Weeks into our new government and Kevin Rudd, the leader of Australia has had the courage to do what 41 previous Prime Ministers did not – to say the most important word in the healing of Australia’s racial division – the word ‘sorry’. And he said this heartfelt word as part of the healing of indigenous Australians but also as part of the healing of all Australians.
When I look in the mirror I see an Australian who is a non-indigenous decendant of those who had little choice in coming here. But I also see someone who is part of a European world which was responsible for great damage to the Indigenous people of this country, their communities, their languages, their culture.
I have always struggled with my identity as an Australian and my husband, Chris, had the honour of becoming an Australian this year, knowing this historic day or reconciliation was on the horizon.
Today, I feel humbled and honoured to be an Australian and have hope to no longer be someone who is ashamed of 200 years of white-washed history, past, and present. Aboriginal history is Australian history and is, hence, part of the rich history and heritage of this country and all who call themselves Australians.
Donna Williams
author, artist, composer, screenwriter
http://www.donnawilliams.net
I saw the speech in Parliament and felt quite proud to be an Australian too (something of a rarity). It was a remarkable speech – might even surpass Chifley’s ‘the light on the hill’.
I feel similarly as an American when it comes to compensating the hideous crimes that white people committed against our indigenous people, as well as the many other races and ethtnicities, religions and political affiliations.
Of course, Bush will never do such a thing, and we are VERY far from doing all we need to do to apologize for our crimes. No, I never did anything to harm any of these people, but if any of this is to be prevented from happening again, we all need to be aware of these issues and accept them as our own.
It is not the Indian thing, or the Jewish problem. It is everyone’s thing; it is everyone’s problem.
Hi,
I feel the same way as both of you do in that it is wrong to exploit indiginous populations. Unfortunately, this has occurred over and over again throughout the world and throughout history. My ancesters, the Jews were exploited and forced into slavery. Some other population such as Native American Indians were forced to live in only selected lands with oppression with high rates of poverty and disease.
I now have some photos of my artworks and other things on http://www.flickr.com and search dithorsos.
Here is a link to one of my videos on http://www.youtube.com:
Face Blindness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo2nwD4ldNQ
Infantile Autism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tnfn8vbQwg
Breakthrough in Learning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN4WyV4TW30
Debbie
Adrianna: As a fellow American, I feel that there is finally hope for America to come back to her senses. You’re right, we do have a very long way to go….but finally after what feels like forever, there could be, COULD be, depending on what happens in November………a light at the end of our very long, dark tunnel.
The Integral
Greetings!
My name is Sarah Edwards, and I am an Aspie (a.k.a. I have Asperger’s Syndrome) and I am a medical student.
I am working with another medical student, Sara Dungavell, on an ethics project about the meaning of words. We are working under the supervision of an ethicist named Dr. Jeff Nisker. Sara and I noticed that the common meanings of the words, “humanâ€, “fully-functional†and “normalâ€, as well as how the words related to each other, get used to keep people on the Spectrum separate from mainstream society. We think in part it is because the definitions come from people outside the community.
We want to know how people within or associated with the Spectrum define these words for themselves, so we are asking some bloggers who are part of the Spectrum community if they would like to give us their own definitions. We found your blog, and that’s why we are e-mailing you and several other bloggers.
Once we’ve gathered these new definitions, we plan on analyzing them for common themes about what “normalâ€, “humanâ€, and “fully-functional†mean and how they are related to each other. We plan on presenting these definitions and analyses to other medical students and the academic community to try and get them thinking about people on the Spectrum differently.
Attached to this email is a letter of information that explains what the project is about again, and then at the end it asks for your definitions of “normalâ€, “human†and “fully-functionalâ€.
Okay so obviously this is not the actual email but should you wish to participate please email me and I will send the actual email on.
Please read the letter, and then if you want to help us by being part of the research, email us back your definitions and any comments you might have about them. There are no right answers, please just tell us what your definitions are of these words and what they mean to you. Also if you know anyone else who might want to contribute please feel free to email this letter to them too. Feel free to answer beyond the scope of the definitions if you wish or to answer only one or two of the definitions. If you have any questions, or if you’d like to know more about what we are researching, please email me and ask them.
Thank you,
Sarah Edwards
M.D. Class of 2010
Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry
The University of Western Ontario
sedwards2010@meds.uwo.ca