- The beginning
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European convicts sent to Australia. |
In 19th century, the goverments of Britain decided to send their
convicts to a continent who today is known like Australia, as a punishment to
their crimes. Those criminals - mostly stealers - were sent in ships, like the
"First fleet", and they were travelling a lot of months to fight for
their freedom. The most of these criminals were Scotish, Irish and British, and
they had to work hard to be pardomed. This price could have given in two forms:
Absolute - that were a ticket to come back to their home - or Conditional -
that was a big piece of land of their propiety to work and stablish in New
Saouth Wales.
With the pass of months, the passingers of the ships were felt hungry
and they were showed another neededs, because the most of them were men, so then,
in the middle ot the trip, near from Africa, some men started to find black
women to satisfied their neededs and their children, whose father were white
and their mother were black, started to be called "the
Half-Caste".
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Aboriginal australians. |
When Europeans arrived to Australia, after a lot
of them died by hungry and other illness, they saw to Aboriginal people for the
first time. Some of the white people strarted to kill them, but other ones
strarted a paceful relationship, in order to have servants, but, at the same
time, Europeans convicts always felt fear of this new kind of people and they
saw them like a threat, but white people were still thinking in work hard on
the fields to reach the forgiveness of the British Goverment or to set up in
the new land.
- Social Darwinism
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Australian stolen Generation. |
However, once white settlers were established in Australia, they
realized aboriginal women were paceful and they started to have children again,
but those children were taken from their real mothers to be like their fathers
and they were raised for white families. They started to deny their aboriginal
heritage. Children started to be adopted by white and rich families who sent
them to the school and started to teach the white modals and lifestyle. But,
moreover, a lot of those children were victims of mistreatment, because of
their origins - they didn't complete their education and were left or died of
hungry and dangerous illness -. It produced the death of a big part of this
generation and that was the reason why they were called "The stolen
Generation".
In 2008,
the Australian First Minister apologized for all the crimes commited agnaist
the children of the Stolen Genaration and australian people created the
"Sorry Day" in memory of them. Here is a vídeo that shows how some
members of this generation were treated by white people, especifically the Val
Linnow's testimony: Watch vídeo.
Everything started because
white settlers believed - following the science of those times - that
aboriginal people were weak and inferior than theirs. This way of thinking was
called "Social darwinism2, because it was a misunderstanding of the Darwin's
evolutionist Theory, and that was the reason why they wanted to
"protect" aborigins through an act , but it was a lie. Also white
people started to move on the north of the continent in order to
"escape" to aborigins, but they only had problems like alcoholism and
drogadiction, so this false paradise was left.This social darwinism increased
with the discovery of gold in Australia, and white people became racist,
powerful and rich.
- The secret River
The australian
writer Kate Grenville published, in 2005, "The secret river". This
novel talks about a british family who was sent to Australia and learned how to
live there. They also met aboriginal people and the book shows how the white
settlers saw aborigins and how it chaged with the pass of months. This is
explained in the next line that is talked about a black man was called Scabby
Bill: "he was the same as the ants or the flies, a
hazard of the place that had to be dealt with" (The secret river, page 91). Also we can see the
social darwinism of those times in the next lines: "Men came
from all the streets around, cheered to watch this black insect of a man
capering before them, a prerson lower in the order of things even that they
were" (The secret river, page 92).
In adition,
Stolen Generation survivers talked about their mistreatment in official
documents that are in power of the Australian Goverment, like the one that was
written by Gilbert, K, about the aboriginal people in special camps: there was
like institution that were created by the Goverment in order to
"educate" half-caste children as their European heritages. In the
first part of the first Act - that was created to "protect"
aboriginal people - says "The thing was, it
wasn't good to see these little parts of breed running around the black camps
because you didn't know who to blame...So they came out with all these
sincerest motices, you know...to give these poor little devlis a chance in
life". (Introduction to
Australian history, page 113).
In these days,
although the mistreatment and the social darwinism aparently have gone, people
still think that some aboriginal people - not only in Australia, but in others
parts of our world, too - are weak and inferior than white European or their
descendents from the West side of the world and the duty of white people is
"protect them", but they survived a lot of centuries before that
European settlers arrived to Australia or America and they didn't need any
help. Another case like the Australian is the Mapuche in Chile, because white
people (who are mostly part of the Half-caste) look them in a bad way and, by
another hand, the chilean Goverment creates documents in favor of them, but,
there are only apparience, because mapuche people are still suffering
injustices and discrimination. I really ask why this is happening in the 21st
Century; why are we following the wrong Social Darwinism? I let you this
question to create a debate.
I hope you like this post. Thank you for reading.