The Sydney Morning Herald Margo Kingston's Web Diary September 10, 2001 Bob Howard in Albany, Western Australia Xavier Herbert in his novel Poor Fellow My Country describes in scathing terms how weak-kneed politicians came up with the 'Brisbane line' from their bunkers in Canberra as they feared the potential Japanese invasion of WW2. The great tragedy his novel revolves around is preceded by a multicultural Xmas meal described in sumptuous and loving detail that brings together the races and ethnic groups living around Katherine in the Northern Territory at the time. This meal is seen as a possibility for a great future that is about to be thwarted by the persecution and death of his black hero. The story is a metaphor for Herbert's view of Australia as this potentially great multicultural country that is betrayed at every turn by it's political masters acting as compradores for whichever colonial power has their ear. Not much has changed. There's a joke I once heard - Q. How do you tell when the Vietnamese (Korean/Afghans/latest group of migrants) has assimilated into Australian society? A. When a group of them see some Aboriginal people on the foot path ahead and they shout, "Get out of the way you f.....boongs!" When people talk about difference between cultures - I personally think that the two most different cultures in the world are the WASP society of our colonial past (and mainstream present) and Aboriginal culture(s). There's more difference between these two cultures than between English and China or Christian and Muslim. Our failure to recognize and to bridge this gap is at the plank in our eyes. Multiculturalism itself is usually seen to not include Aboriginal culture for which we often preserve a special vilified part in our national soul. Kim Scott, in the Deakin lectures, talked about the insecurity that perceives Aboriginal culture as some critical kind of otherness. That when Mabo was coming into being it was not simply a matter of ownership that was at stake but our very reason for existing here. We see ourselves as excluded from this strange and ancient culture that is the heart of this land. Until we manage to place Aboriginal culture at the central point of Australian culture and identity we will continue to be plagued by bouts of xenophobia due to our very insecurity. We will be nothing but driftwood washed up on these shore. But to do this great task will require a political critique that has yet to be heard in Australia. We will need to recognize the importance of generosity and kinship and the importance of Aboriginal ethics and law. As Marandoo Yanner once said (approximately) "You white folk are always changing the law - what sort of law is that?" Following the Pinjarra massacre in W.A. in 1834, a number of the survivors starved themselves to death rather than eat the totem animals of those who died. We have such a puny conception of Aboriginal ethics it's little wonder that many tribal people regard whitefellas as children. Yet we carry on - as if we know what's right and wrong and as we owned the place. Yet it's the place that owns us - and a 200 year old blanket is made of very thin thread. We need to acknowledge all the things that Aboriginal culture has given us - our so-called Australian identity is riddled with viewpoints and ideas that have been assimilated from the Senior culture. Ideas like mateship, for instance, our disdain for pomp and circumstance, our environmental ethic, our love of travelling across and around the country. I could go on. Not everything in Aboriginal culture is good or fair - as many commentators are only too quick to point out. But how many commentaries have you read that actually knowledgeably extol the virtues of this ancient culture? I can't recall one. We are haunted by the whispering in our dreams - and until we learn to listen to and acknowledge our dreaming we will be strangers here. And we will be bereft by the monotonous outbreaks of racism and xenophobia that is one of the chief historical characteristics of our 200 year old blanket. http://www.smh.com.au/news/webdiary/0109/11/A61251-2001Sep10.html -- ***************************** Join the peoples' movement: The Australian Reconciliation Party http://www.green.net.au/arp/ ***************************** --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/ until 11 March, 2001 and Recoznettwo is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznettwo%40green.net.au/ from that date. 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