On this page, we would like to bring to our alumnae's attention issues of community, regional, national or international significance which would appear to require our reflection and, at times, our practical action. This is part of the process of getting to know each other better through understanding some of the confronting realities of the different cultures we live in.
We may surprise ourselves by our communality and our differences. We may gain a better idea of the subtleties and nuances by which we all live. To use one of the catchphrases of the environmental movement, we can all ‘act locally, think globally’, with the understanding that the environment is more than the physical earth, it is also the mental, emotional, affectionate and spiritual climate that prevails around us.
All contributions to this page are welcome. Issues must be expressed from a non-party political perspective, and contributions will be considered to reflect the views of the author and not necessarily those of AMASC.
ISSUE NO 1.
AUSTRALIA’S ‘NATIONAL SORRY DAY’
May 26th 1998 was designated an ‘unofficial’ National Sorry Day in Australia, and the entire week was National Reconciliation Week. ‘Sorry’ was an expression of apology and mourning for those now called ‘the Stolen Generation’ - in fact several generations of Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families and placed in institutions in order to separate them from their indigenous culture, initiate them into ‘White’ culture, and prepare them for a supposed future in mainstream society, usually as menial workers and domestic servants.
There was a huge groundswell of support for this national apology, although the day remained ‘unofficial’ on the premise that there was no absolute consensus among the Australian people about the need for an apology. Around a million Australians, including many politicians and church leaders, personally expressed their regret and sympathy for the ‘Stolen Children’ in ‘Sorry Books’. Cathedral bells pealed, the Aboriginal flag flew over public buildings including Parliament House (Australia’s seat of government) and there were solemn ceremonies around the country to mark the occasion.
But there were also voices of dissent, raised in dismay, or even in anger, about the need to make such an apology. One popular argument was that the policy of forced removal (which was actually legislated by several Australian governments) was intended for the benefit of the children , saving them from poor living conditions and dysfunctional family circumstances and indeed giving them the chance of a productive future. While it is apparent that many people involved in removing the children did have good intentions, the historical record nonetheless stands as eloquent testimony to the fact that the process was far from benign, both in conception and in practice.
Records of attitudes of the time include a speech made by A.O. Neville, who basked in the title of ‘Chief Protector of Aborigines’ in Western Australia, in which he stated: ‘We have the power under the act to take any child from its mother at any stage of its life... Are we going to have a population of one million blacks in the Commonwealth or are we going to merge them into our white community and eventually forget that there were ever any Aborigines in Australia?’
And the Report of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families entitled Bringing Them Home, is an enormous document full of first-hand accounts of grief and loss, physical and emotional abuse, dislocation, dispossession and despair. You can read some of these documents on the Internet at the Bringing Them Home Web Site.
While today’s Australia can be proud to be home to one of the world’s most harmonious multicultural societies, the issue of Reconciliation with indigenous peoples, and ensuring a just and equitable community for all citizens regardless of race or ethnicity, remain matters requiring courage of convictions and constant vigilance.
Australia is just a small corner in the patchwork of human societies, but the story of the ‘Stolen Children’ reminds us of the need to forcibly reject the colonial and post-colonial notions of the superiority of one race over another, and the narrow definitions of community and national interest which have so blighted our century. As Christian women and as members of a global organisation, we must always take action to affirm the innate equality of all human beings.
It is possible to register an electronic apology to the Stolen Children on http://apology.west.net.au. Such an apology is not an admission of "guilt" as so many have misconstrued it, especially for actions in which we have not played a personal part, but of empathy and acknowledgement of suffering, which can play such a large part in Reconciliation and the healing of past wounds.
- Josephine Barcelon, Editor