Rudd promises formal apology

[stui magpie]

[bwphantom]

From my isolated view of sensationalism...and my apparent miniscule perception of reality is that racism is maybe too strong a word to use concerning Howard or any politician alike.

Thing is I agree that Howard should have done something, and yes he made mistakes concerning his treatment of the Indigenous race. Still does not make him racist. Just misguided belief in his perception of doing right. And just because Rudd is contemplating an apology does make him the Savior of Australian Indigenous Society. In this regard Howard mis represented the people and just like any Politician he spun BS to justify his actions.

Before any Apology is made you can bet that Federal Lawyers will go over the statement with a fine tooth comb to ensure that no indemnity can be actioned upon by the Indigenous Australian community. And as i have said before it will be just words unless it is followed up action. I love the Aboriginal people I have dealt with them in many situations from my apparent isolated world. And an apology is just words, I want to see some action. However an apology is a good start.

And to Nomad I apologise as well. I made statements in the heat of it all that were unjustified.

And you are right I do not have hard evidence about Beasley. Funny thing is I actually respected the man because of his stated view concerning the plight of the Aboriginal people. He came up to the Pilbara putting on his caring face. Then he said words a bit loud and just blew all that respect I had for him away. Maybe i expected him to be too much like his old man. As I stated I retract calling him racist...just misguided.

Cheers.

[nomadjack]

[HAL]

Oops. Too much data.

[David]

[Northern Pie]

I work with the Elders and people in the Indigenous Community of Cherbourg, I will be happy to print this thread and get an opinion on it as I know most of them will just laugh their asses off at most of the stuff written here....

Cheers

[Joel]

NP, interesting, care to explain.

[noddy,]

[sherrife]

[Mike]

Thank you Sherrife for not only saying what needed to be said, but saying it in the way in which it needed to be said. I started a couple of times to explain what I believe to be the truth of the issue and why, but made myself so angry in the process that I couldn't do it in a civil manner and gave up.

I remember now why the discussion of politics and religion was once banned on this board. It often spoils friendships that are otherwise based on a common interest. Finding out more than we need to know about each other is always a risky business... after all it is just a footy forum.

Still...

[Northern Pie]

Sherrife.....Well said.....could have been put as to not attack the person, but well said all the same.

As I said I work with the indigenous Community of Cherbourg very, very closely. I am actually known as Brother now which some of you might know is a very high title to be bestowed. I am not saying that in anyway to prove that I am anymore right than anyone else, in fact I say so because that is what our indigenous Brothers and Sisters do not want, a situation where people have to continually prove they are right.

I am looking forward to hearing an apology or if it does actually come...a "Sorry" a lot of you are right, YOU did not do anything and YOU will not suffer for the sins of your fathers in the Aboriginal eye. You see saying sorry has 2 sides; When one says sorry, one is asking for forgiveness and forgiveness is what the Indigenous population of this country is willing to give, but yuo have to understand where there is no Sorry there will never be forgiveness, there will never be rest for their ancestors and there will never be rest for those affected by the Stolen Generation. Dave I see where you are coming from mate, but if you were to wrong me and never say sorry, why wold i stand side by side with you and have a beer or a bbq or practise whatever "aussie" tradition you would have me practise?

The indigenous culture is no where near dead, it is alive, thriving and being passed down to generations as it has been for thousands of years, it is a rich culture a prideful culture.

I get a feeling that the people I work with do not trust Rudd, they did not trust Howard, fact is they trust no one! WHY? well look at it this way if you could translate the time the indigenous people have been on this land (oh and the ones I work with recognise the land is not owned by the aboriginal, it is cared for by them) The Aboriginal has been here for thousands of years, lets say we represent that on a clock as being 1 hour, in comparison white man has been here for just over two hundred years...in comparison on that clock it means we have been here say one minute.......You have to understand then that the aboriginal has not forgotten the last minute of their time here and it is going to take a lot longer than another minute for the Aboriginal to forgive the white man and trust them completely.

When i first went out to Cherbourg, the second week I was there I was on my own and was confronted by 8 Indigenous young men, looking for a fight. One of them spoke to me and said "what are you going to do for me white man, you here to take our children, you here to make me turn into a white fella, you gonna say sorry for what you done whitey!"

My reply;

"yes I am sorry for what happened in the past, I can't change that now, but what I can do is give you the respect and dignity that you deserve as a human being, do my best to help you, help yourself and try my hardest to give you a hand if you need it, because that is what one human does for another"

He turned to his mates and said

"aye this whitey is ok aye fellas"

I must admit i sighed a big sigh of relief.......

In the upshot don't be afraid to say sorry......as I said, saying sorry gives the person you are apologising too the opportunity to forgive and if we can achieve that then we have a platform for true change....

Cheers

[nomadjack]

[nomadjack]

Nice Post NP. Enjoyed yours too Sherriffe. What's your sense of what's needed on the ground to start cutting into some of the key problems NP?

[HAL]

That's great. Tell me what you liked about it.

[Northern Pie]

I get the feeling that just throwing money at the community is not going to help anything.....I think the intervention that has taken place in the NT has been welcomed by the Indigenous population more than people care to recognise, the problem though was that consultation had not taken place before just rushing in. I honestly believe that Sorry is the first step, as one of the Aunty's I deal with has said......why don't you bastards just say sorry then I can hug you and you can cry on my shoulder and I can cry on your's while I say "I forgive you!" a lot of what you said is the answer nomad but it is a lot easier to say than to institute. I realise that anything I do now will not change anything now, So I try to look to the future and implement things that will help the next generation and the next after that. A lot of emphasis is being placed on youth and children initiatives and I think that is where is needs to start, with the next generations.....I do not have the answers....but from what I see the current generation and some of the older generation are now recognising that they need to change and that they many need to suffer the pain of having restricted welfare payments to ensure kids go to school and some of the other interventions so that the youth will benefit.

Long, long way to go, I say maybe, hopefully we can have a lot better 2nd minute, than our first!

Cheers