Another day in the colony…

I will never understand the argument about wheels and how they somehow justify racism but I hate to break it to those gung ho ‘Aussies’ that the wheel was not invested by white fullas either – so maybe don’t hang your hat on that if you’re trying to feel superior.

Australia is a country that prides itself on the well-propagated narrative of being the lucky country with gorgeous beaches, scenic bushland and being the land of the “fair go.” This narrative is something that is heavily protected and there is no scope for criticism in this country without brutal condemnation from the masses of people who live a life of privilege on stolen land.

As we have seen from the latest high profile racist incident in the colony where Gold Coast young LNP members made racist comments against us, we know that countless others happened that were not recorded. Invariably, armchair experts of the pigmentally challenged variety have come out in defence and used a variety of the usual excuses of the larrikin nature and the like. Whilst the expected condemnations have occurred, this racism does not occur in a vacuum and these guys did not wake up and decide to be ignorant – it is bred and fostered in the communities they frequent.

The hypocrisy of racists is very telling also, they will come out in support of these young people and defend their right to have a joke and point of view but when the shoe was on the other foot in the lead up to State of Origin when Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker made clear that they would not sing the Australian national anthem – all hell broke loose.

Peaceful protest against the ongoing racism and oppression in this country was more offensive to the masses than the oppression and racism itself.

The masses took to social media to lambast the two staunch players who stuck to their guns and took the risk personally and professionally in the maintenance of their cultural integrity.

This country has a problem with racism and the belligerent denial of this fact is very telling and those that take issue with mob speaking out are very deliberate in their language that they use to condemn the individuals taking a stance against the status quo. They use words that belittle the individuals in utter denial of the truth behind the stance the individuals are taking.

It is this abject denial of the existence of any possible reason that Indigenous players could have to criticise Australia that demonstrates the deep seated racism in this country, after all – they are being allowed to play professional football right?

Since first contact, Indigenous people have been viewed as a problem.

This viewpoint, founded in ethnocentric colonialism, is something that pervades over 230 years later in what continues to be epidemic levels of child removal, abhorrent statistics with respect to child detention, epidemic levels of child suicide and punishment of women – particularly – for the poverty that so many communities live in. We see children being removed from their families, facing a desolate future of the unknown in which the system makes them a number and participating statistic. Paternalistic policies that propagate narratives that Indigenous people cannot look after their children despite historically being domestic servants for the white population and raising white children serve only to maintain the apathy of the majority populace who fail to be outraged at the reasons giving rise to our continuing protests.

Of course, this was always going to be the case.

James Cook referred to the Natives of New Holland as “some of the most wretched people on earth” in his journal – an ethnocentric viewpoint if there was ever one.

The fact that Australia is outraged when Indigenous people call out racism proves our point. We are not part of Australia, we are convenient when we toe the line and get peddled out to be performative blacks on the world stage and sporting field but when all is said and done – we will continue to be viewed as a problem and thorn in the side of mainstream Australia who wants to protect their farcical narrative.

When mob call out racism and oppression, they take a risk. They do it to highlight the issues facing our people and in doing so, disrupt the constant stream of propaganda that comes from mainstream media that has middle Australia lulled into this false nationalistic narrative that Australia is the lucky country.

For many of us – this place is a prison of poverty and despair and yet, we continue to fight to protect country and community because it is our responsibility to maintain and preserve as our ancestors did long before us. So they can continue punishing us through their personal attacks and economic punishments, but it doesn’t change the fact that we are not the problem – we are the solution to the parasitic impact colonialism has wages on this land and we will continue taking risks to highlight the racism and oppression in this country. We will continue until it is eradicated.