Truth hurts

In one of his final insults to the American people as head of state, on January 18th, the public holiday honouring the birth and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Donald Trump released the 1776 Report. Dr. King would surely be turning in his grave to have his name mentioned in the same breath as this dubious piece of nationalistic propaganda. The 1776 Report was the capstone work of an advisory group Trump founded in September 2020 to address what he viewed as a lack of ‘patriotic education’.  Yet of the eighteen hand-picked arbiters of America’s ‘true’ history who made up the 1776 Commission, not one was a professional historian. The report was lambasted by actual historians for its apologist view of slavery, its rejection of progressive thought and education, its repudiation of identity politics and its criticism of the Civil Rights Movement, amongst many other fatal flaws. 

To deny, deflect or distance oneself from the unsavory aspects of history is both an injustice and a disservice. The truth hurts, most certainly, but we owe it to future generations to understand and transmit an unvarnished account so that past atrocities are never repeated. In direct contrast to the 1776 Report, The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative that ‘aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.’  Through its extensive journalistic examination of one of the most horrific legacies of America, the 1619 Project unpacks a key truth of our nation’s story, chiefly that Black Americans, and their enslavement, was pivotal in the formation of America as we know it.

The plight of Indigenous Australians parallels that of Black Americans in many ways, bar one essential difference. Indigenous Australians have been the traditional owners and custodians of the land we call Australia for some 60,000 years. Black Americans have only inhabited America since the first slave ships arrived, in 1619. 60,000 years is a not insignificant period of time. The amount of knowledge that the First Peoples of Australia have collected and shared is immense and important. Yet if you ask most Australian adults how much Indigenous history or culture they learned in primary school, the answer is likely to be not much. Thankfully, the tide seems to be turning. Jackson and Annabelle’s primary school is renowned in the state for its Woi Wurrung (local Indigenous language) language program and embedded practices which highlight and affirm Indigenous knowledge and culture. Most if not all primary schools now incorporate Indigenous history and culture in their curriculum. Yet there is still much work to be done.

How do we do this work as parents and teachers?

We tell the truth.

I recall a conversation I had with Jackson, then aged 10, in 2018.  It was the Friday before Sorry Day, the national acknowledgment of the mistreatment of Indigenous Australians. Annabelle asked me if I was going to attend the school assembly. I had other committments so I couldn’t stay. As we approached the school, Jax complained loudly about ‘having to sit for an hour in a boring assembly.’ I did not mince my words:

‘I don't want to hear you complain about sitting for an hour when black and brown people here, in America and all over the world have endured hundreds of years of pain, suffering, torture, torment and death. And they continue to suffer and feel the effects of colonisation to this day. You are white—nobody would know you're a quarter black looking at you—and you're male. You are at the very top of the social hierarchy. You will never want for anything. Someone will always be there to help you out. You will always be looked after. When you are sitting in that assembly, think about everything Aboriginal people and Black people have endured and realise you are making a small sacrifice of your time, in their honour.  Children were taken from their families. Some people never found their parents. People still view black and brown people as inferior, even now.  Aboriginal people and Black people in America and elsewhere were put on display in zoos because people thought they were wild animals. You can sit for one hour. I don't want to ever hear you complain about something like that again.’

Jackson furiously skidded around the corner on his scooter. I gave him some time to cool down before I approached. Instead of a scowl, I was met with a query.  ‘How come Aunty Terri [the Indigenous language teacher] only tells us the good stuff about Indigenous culture and people and not the bad stuff?’ I said, ‘Some people think children can't handle the bad stuff. But you can count on me to tell you the bad stuff. We have to know the past so we don't ever repeat the bad stuff.’

As the original Phenemonal Woman Maya Angelou so sagely advised, ‘Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.’ We owe it to our children, and ourselves, to know and do better. 

The Aboriginal flag as painted by Annabelle. It hangs in our kitchen.

The Takeaway:

When you know better, do better.

Want to know MOrE?

January 26 has been designated Australia Day nationwide since 1994, though Australia Day celebrations of some kind occurred long before then. The contentious nature of the date and the celebration itself is not new either. In 1888, when New South Wales Premier Henry Parkes was asked about the inclusion of Aboriginal people in centenary celebrations, he retorted, ‘And remind them that we have robbed them?’ January 26 commemorates the arrival of colonial settlers in Sydney Cove. Soon thereafter the Frontier Wars between the colonisers and Indigenous Australians began, followed by the systematic attempted genocide and cultural obliteration of Indigenous Australians. The Day of Mourning on January 26 1938 was the first recorded Australia Day protest by Indigenous Australians. Many Indigenous Australians and a growing number of allies refer to January 26 as Invasion Day or Survival Day, and related protests and rallies are held on that date throughout Australia.

Calls to ‘change the date’ of Australia Day have occurred since before the day was recognised nationally. Some suggested alternative dates include Federation Day (January 1), January 19 (19/01, a hat tip to Federation Day), and Anzac Day, April 25. There has not yet been significant enough political traction and public interest to push the movement out of the sphere of debate and into action.

A date change suggestion made with tongue firmly in cheek is May 8.