White Australia's Black Past, an introduction.

Today's book learnin' is brought to you by Mum's white guilt. Gaia was confusing refugees with Indigenous Australians, so we set to work clearing that up with a discussion about pre-history,  First Australians, European imperialism, colonialism, & reconciliation. 

One of the passages we read mentioned a shift in European thinking in the 1700s from enlightenment/all men are created equal philosophies to the hierarchical racist thinking which continues today, that European society is civilised & other cultures are inferior. The author suggested this shift occurred as Europeans came in to more frequent contact with First Nations peoples around the world. It was satisfying to see how utterly insane these concepts were to an 8 year old. She couldn't fathom anyone thinking one group of people are better than another. She believes difference is natural and important, that it makes the world a better place. Racism is learnt. 

We have just scratched the surface of White Australia's Black History, a subject we will never stop learning in this lifetime.

We pulled out Mum's fine arts books cataloging some of the work of Indigenous artists (art is Gaia's favoured language). We learnt that the legend of the rainbow serpent is the longest surviving belief in human history! She already knew a little about ancient indigenous art and "dot paintings", but we also took a look at some more contemporary works. It's important for all Australians to understand that our black history is not in the past, and to begin this with Gaia, we've started appreciating a wider range of art by 20th and 21st century First Australian artists.

Once she grasped the fundamental difference between Indigenous Australians and refugess (the former being The First Australians, here for tens of thousands of years and the later coming to Australia for the first time, in search of safety) we explored some of the links between Indigenous Australians and refugees. This links included: European Australian racism and hypocrisy, and draconian governmental approaches to the issues faced by both groups (though I may not have used the word "draconian").

It was a lot to take in, but she is hungry for more, and I'm relieved I didn't overwhelm her. I resent the way our black history was taught to us in school in the 80s and 90s (though I recognise I was fortunate to attend schools that mentioned it at all!). Australian history was presented in an Us Vs The fashion, which left students with the impression that Indigenous Australians were whiney and stuck in the past. It certainly was not taught in a way that promoted a thirst for more knowledge or desire for reconciliation or treaty. I was determined not to let that happen at our home school.