A Running Commentary

In a remarkable move yesterday the Australian government went to great lengths to formally apologize to its Indigenous peoples for centuries of severe mistreatment and discrimination. Read the Associated Press story HERE (opens in new window).

The event has been met with two immediate reactions, the first being an outpouring of emotion. Aborigines and others wept with joy at the long overdue admission, basking in the goodwill that was no doubt intended. A friend with close ties in Australia analyzed the significance of the event thus:

“Imagine a 200-year refusal by the American government to acknowledge that slavery ever happened in the United States. Imagine this attitude reaching a pinnacle with an entire generation of that minority being “stolen” from their culture, and then forced to assimilate into a new culture determined by the government. Imagine if all that was requested by those wronged was an apology and to move on but the government coldly and repeatedly refused. Then one day the new Prime Minister (who not-incidentally is a Christian, a rarity in Australia) stands up and offers a humble apology and begins a step to move forward in history.”

The second reaction has been, predictably, an almost immediate call by many for payment of reparations. Though already rebuffed by the Prime Minister and other lawmakers, it is unquestionably the elephant in the room. Unlike African Americans in the United States, for whom slavery is many generations removed, many of the approximately 100k more children stolen from their families and reassimilated by the Aussie’s throughout the 20th century are still alive.

One certainly hopes the Aussie government’s move will prove a legitimate step in healing. The debate on damages, however, appears far from a climax.