The Silent Apartheid
'Whiteness' is an essential part of the Australian identity. The 'Australian' has traditionally been positioned as blond, with a smattering of freckles, a swimsuit tan line and beach hair. This is the image that has been marketed to the world (think of Lara 'Where the Bloody Hell are You?' Bingle). Of course we are talking stereotypes here. Most Australians are not any of the above mentioned things.
However someone somewhere has decided that ideally we would be. And historically this is the type of Australian that the Australian Government has sought to protect. In what is sometimes called The Silent Apartheid, Australian legislation has promoted and protected Australian 'whiteness'. The legal approach was two pronged: first 'breed out' the colour of the Aboriginals though the program now referred to as 'The Stolen Generation', and second, keeping out anyone that was not fair skinned though The White Australia Policy.
Over the next few lessons we will be looking at the past legal and social structures that have been in place to ensure that the 'Australian' is white, and stays white. But first let us consider what the term 'The Silent Apartheid' really means.
Task 08
It was officially coined to name the decades of racial segregation and domination in South Africa, but has since been applied to other instances of ethnic cleansing, such as the Nazi persecution of the Jews prior to and during World War II, the treatment of Palanistinians by Juresulum in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and systematic 'extermination' of the Karan's and Chin's in Burma by the government, which is continues today.
To further your understanding of the term apartheid, complete the following tasks:
However someone somewhere has decided that ideally we would be. And historically this is the type of Australian that the Australian Government has sought to protect. In what is sometimes called The Silent Apartheid, Australian legislation has promoted and protected Australian 'whiteness'. The legal approach was two pronged: first 'breed out' the colour of the Aboriginals though the program now referred to as 'The Stolen Generation', and second, keeping out anyone that was not fair skinned though The White Australia Policy.
Over the next few lessons we will be looking at the past legal and social structures that have been in place to ensure that the 'Australian' is white, and stays white. But first let us consider what the term 'The Silent Apartheid' really means.
Task 08
It was officially coined to name the decades of racial segregation and domination in South Africa, but has since been applied to other instances of ethnic cleansing, such as the Nazi persecution of the Jews prior to and during World War II, the treatment of Palanistinians by Juresulum in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and systematic 'extermination' of the Karan's and Chin's in Burma by the government, which is continues today.
To further your understanding of the term apartheid, complete the following tasks:
- Use the internet to research the Holocaust and describe it in your own words.
- Use the internet to research the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians and describe it in your own words.
- Use the internet to research the treatment of ethnic minorities by the government in Burma (sometimes known as Myanmar) and describe it in your own words.
- With the above in mind, what do you think apartheid really means? Describe it in your own words.
Newspaper Clipping 01: Showing Aboriginal children who were offered to White families for adoption. The written note at the bottom refers to the girl in the middle marked with an X and reads: "I like the girl in the centre of the group, but if taken by anyone else, any of the others would do, as long as they are strong".
Let's Breed it Out!
One of the darkest chapters of Australian history was the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families. Children as young as babies were stolen from their families to be placed in girls and boys homes, foster families or missions. At the age of 18 they were 'released' into white society, often scarred for life by their experiences. Today these Aboriginal people are collectively known as the Stolen Generations because several generations were affected.
The language, tradition, knowledge, dances and spirituality of the Aboriginal people was passed on verbally from generation to generation. The white australian government believed that by removing the youngest generation they would break the passing on of traditions and in turn hoped to 'end' Aboriginal culture within a short time and get rid of 'the Aboriginal problem'.
White Australians also believed that within three generations, Aboriginal genes could be 'bred out' if Aboriginal people had children with white people.
Towards the end of the 19th century when authorities initially started to take children away there was no legal framework for doing so. To legitimise this process, a framework was established in 1909 when the victorian Aborigines Protection Act was gazetted.
Authorities targeted mainly Aboriginal children of mixed descent (who they derogatorly called 'half-caste') for removal. They thought that these Aboriginal children could be assimilated more easily into white society because of the lighter colour of their skin.
The stolen children were raised on missions or by foster parents. They were totally cut off from their Aboriginality. They were severely punished when caught talking their Aboriginal language. Some children never learned anything traditional and received little or no education. Instead the girls were trained to be domestic servants, the boys to be stockmen.
Many of the stolen girls and boys were physically and sexually abused. Many babies born to girls raped by white men were in turn taken away from them, sometimes as soon as they were born.
The process of removal continues right up until the 1970's, with some homes remaining open into the 1980's. Many children removed from their homes were never told that they were Aboriginal and often discovered this much later in their lives, if at all.
Timeline
Check out this Stolen Generations Timeline put together by the good people at Creative Spirits, an Indigenous Australian Historical Society.
Task 09: The Girl in the Centre of the Group
Look at Newspaper Clipping 01. What do think think happened to "The Girl in the Centre"?
Use the information available to you in the timeline above to develop a narrative for the "The Girl in the Centre". Write a 200-300 word biography describing the life story of "The Girl in the Centre". You must include pictures in your biography. Your biography must also include references.
Task 10: Three Accounts
These three images are extracts from three different accounts of life as a member of the stolen generation:
The language, tradition, knowledge, dances and spirituality of the Aboriginal people was passed on verbally from generation to generation. The white australian government believed that by removing the youngest generation they would break the passing on of traditions and in turn hoped to 'end' Aboriginal culture within a short time and get rid of 'the Aboriginal problem'.
White Australians also believed that within three generations, Aboriginal genes could be 'bred out' if Aboriginal people had children with white people.
Towards the end of the 19th century when authorities initially started to take children away there was no legal framework for doing so. To legitimise this process, a framework was established in 1909 when the victorian Aborigines Protection Act was gazetted.
Authorities targeted mainly Aboriginal children of mixed descent (who they derogatorly called 'half-caste') for removal. They thought that these Aboriginal children could be assimilated more easily into white society because of the lighter colour of their skin.
The stolen children were raised on missions or by foster parents. They were totally cut off from their Aboriginality. They were severely punished when caught talking their Aboriginal language. Some children never learned anything traditional and received little or no education. Instead the girls were trained to be domestic servants, the boys to be stockmen.
Many of the stolen girls and boys were physically and sexually abused. Many babies born to girls raped by white men were in turn taken away from them, sometimes as soon as they were born.
The process of removal continues right up until the 1970's, with some homes remaining open into the 1980's. Many children removed from their homes were never told that they were Aboriginal and often discovered this much later in their lives, if at all.
Timeline
Check out this Stolen Generations Timeline put together by the good people at Creative Spirits, an Indigenous Australian Historical Society.
Task 09: The Girl in the Centre of the Group
Look at Newspaper Clipping 01. What do think think happened to "The Girl in the Centre"?
Use the information available to you in the timeline above to develop a narrative for the "The Girl in the Centre". Write a 200-300 word biography describing the life story of "The Girl in the Centre". You must include pictures in your biography. Your biography must also include references.
Task 10: Three Accounts
These three images are extracts from three different accounts of life as a member of the stolen generation:
Read the three accounts above and complete the following tasks:
- What are the common threads that run through these three tales. List them and use quotes from the accounts to support your ideas.
- Write a reply to one of the accounts, in letter form addressed to one of the authors.