Uncle Tom

Noel Pearon argues that parents whose children 'consistently fail' to send their children to school should have their family allowances cut. Note the glib reference to 'parents' when Pearson is obviously referring to Aboriginals. The Australian report continues the lie by referring to the truancy problem in 'remote communities'. They must surely mean remote Aboriginal communities. And, no doubt, the readership can read between the lines. Welcome to racism in a liberal, Western democracy, circa 2005.

This is not about obfuscating from Aboriginals taking responsibility for their own lives. No one can doubt that parents have a responsibility to take care of their kids. Yes, that does include Aboriginal parents. But Pearson's rendition of the situation, and the media's happy reflection of it, paints a false picture. It implies that governments have been the victim of lazy, taxpayer fund guzzling black fellas. Aboriginals alone are to blame, and they ought to be punished. To their credit, both the Australian and Northern Territory Governments rejected Pearson’s call, saying it was an unfair burden on parents.

What about targeting Aboriginal social dysfunction more broadly? To be sure, regional Australia is heavily under funded in several key areas (health services springs to mind). Yet, even then, Aboriginal communities in regional areas get close to nothing.

It is impossible to divorce centuries of social, cultural and physical dispossession from Aboriginal Australia’s present condition. Yet Pearson, and the media, neglect to mention any of these issues, or, for that matter, the Howard Government's consistent refusal to acknowledge the grievances of the past. Or, his Government’s refusal to seriously consider implementing the recommendations of government-sponsored inquiries. One such inquiry determined that a systematic program of removing Aboriginal children from their parents was instituted by governments between 1910 and 1970.* In many instances, the aim of these programs was to breed out the ‘full blood’ Aboriginal population. It is difficult to fathom the consequences this had for our Aboriginal peoples.

I haven’t even mentioned the stolen wages situation in any length.

Governments have continually refused to invest in Aboriginal communities, opting instead for a 'welfare' approach which promotes disempowerment and dependency.

Sadly, yet again, Pearson, perhaps the most energetic of Aboriginal leaders, appears to be playing a dangerous political game to curry favour with Howard. And they call me House Negro?!?

* This was a period of Western history when eugenics was considered a scientifically plausible social measure.