Bogosity

I was just listening to Awaye! on Radio National (podcast) and it was all about Aboriginal identity. I like to think that I’m fairly non-racist and all that but found myself feeling quite ignorant about the topics raised by the speaker. The things that struck me were:

• Black Fullahs* can be white. I had a scottish great grandfather in my family and sometimes in our family dialog we think of ourselves as being part scottish through him and maybe even have some pride in that or ownership of the family coat of arms (wouldn’t have a clue myself though). Many people identify as part aboriginal the same way – even if they didn’t inherit the black skin. Yet white Australians may see it the other way around – that Aboriginals are part Australian but really they are something different to us. We also have a hard time accepting the credibility of a white skinned person claiming to be Aboriginal but don’t seem to find as much as a problem with people getting in touch with their anglo saxon roots.
• Black Fullahs often get their identity pushed on them by white Australia. I know from experience that having a lack of confidence is not something you can just decide to leave behind. You grow up believing certain things about yourself and those things stick forever. All you can do is find new things to add which might help you get over it all but in effect we are programmed by our childhood beliefs. For aboriginal kids, these beliefs often involve inferiority to white people and a sense of victimisation. Even in an Aboriginal friendly community, there are expectations of how to be an acceptable black person which are different to white people. We may not intend it but it is there anyway.

*Black Fullah seems to be used by Aboriginals to refer to themselves so I’m not sure if I’m being insulting by using it too. I mean it here as an informal term that carries less political baggage and a little more humanity than ‘Aboriginal’. Let me know.