A Racial Confession

I wasn't fully aware of how white Australia was until I transferred from Brisbane triple j to the Sydney studios in the year 2000. As a migrant family, we were all flung out into the western suburbs of Brisbane, along with the Chinese - who were finally allowed in after the cessation of the long-standing white Australia policy - as well as Aboriginal people who were driven from their land along the desirable coastline's, banned from metropolitan areas and driven to the state housing areas of the West with us multi-coloured mixed bag of uninvited newcomers. From Ipswich I moved to Kalgoorlie, then East Perth, back across the coast and north to Kuranda (where black was still then the majority) and eventually down to Sydney, to work with Charlie Pickering as co-host of triple j Drive. To me Australia was a black country, I am embarrassed to say that I didn't really start to realise otherwise until I landed in Sydney and was struck by two confronting questions - where were all the Aboriginal people and where the hell was all the earth? Blocks and blocks I'd walk to work on nothing but bitumen, not see a single blade of grass, nor an Aboriginal person. The shock went much deeper when I realised that many people I would meet over the years had never had a single interaction with a First Nations person. As I began to witness the power of Redfern rising, I also wondered how widespread this absense of interaction was - how many people were there living in this country who had never even spoken to an Aboriginal person? - and how did the absence of that familiarity keep alive the false stories of Aboriginality that had been documented since the invasion. Many things flood my mind when I see stories like this containing the continuation of horrendous statistics that have been the new normal since colonisation - mostly it is the enormity of the wall of apathy, of how easy I know these stories get flicked past as just another day in Aboriginal life...and death. And of course we all know that would be very different if we swapped these stats from black to white. One way forward is connection - non-Aboriginal Australians going out of their way to break down prejudices; finding a respectful way to connect. Aboriginal Elders are extending themselves out, creating generous opportunities such as the Uluru Womens Culture Camp for those seeking education on culture, to receive it. If you are already feeling the call to this necessity for connection, Survival Day is an easy way to begin. As is NAIDOC week. Don't ignore the pull to join these event - these opportunities - near you. Go and just sit quietly, listen, see people's eyes, their pain. Acknowledge the miracle, the strength and the toll of enduring. Could I survive such pain? I'm almost 100% certain that I could not. See the privilege in living in the country that is home to the world's oldest living culture and begin asking what can I do to help protect it.