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People should not cherry pick ‘evidence’ to support their cherished beliefs by Dr Anthony Dillon 7 April 2014
T
here are many poisonous messages out there that have potential to do much harm to Aboriginal people – if they take such messages seriously. While many can recognise a con job when they see one, there are some messages that are so appealing and seductive, that many will be taken in by them. Here are two examples. Sol Bellear recently said in The Sydney Morning Herald, “The denial of our history, and our collective refusal to accept the truths of our past are the biggest hurdles to Aboriginal advancement”. Firstly, what people like Sol consider to be ‘denial’ is not denial; often it’s just that many people don’t obsess about injustices of the past the same way that members of the victim brigade do. To not obsess about an injustice is considered by some to be an act of denial. I and many others don’t deny injustices from the past, we just don’t need others to acknowledge those injustices. The belief that a failure to acknowledge injustices from the past is in any way a hurdle to Aboriginal advancement is a lie, and an insult to the many fine Aboriginal people who have not only advanced (such as Sol) but have led the way. To
Boomerang Justice Facebook page posters depicting government abuse of Aborigines, past and present
the gullible who believe Sol they will think “So now I know why I am not advancing, it is because the history of this nation has been denied”. While injustices did occur in the past, it is neither the injustices nor the ‘denial’ of them that is the cause of problems we see today affecting some Aborigines. This lack of acknowledgment has not stopped Aboriginal people from succeeding by the thousands. I am hoping that opinion piece elicits a response from Sol. With such poisonous ideas, he needs to be held accountable. The second contentious message was written by the administration on an Indigenous facebook page. They said “Australia is an Apartheid country and Aboriginals are the most disadvantaged people in the country due to racism”. That page seems to thrive on promoting the myth that
all Aboriginal people are suffering and are owed rent and that racism is everywhere. Could there be a more disempowering message for Aboriginal Australians? Certainly the disadvantage experienced by some Aboriginal people is real and there is certainly racism in Australia, as there is in any country, but to say that racism is the cause of the problems facing Aborigines is the wrong message. Again, let’s not forget the many tens of thousands of Aboriginal people who have succeeded and flourished
despite this racism that is assumed by some to be holding Aboriginal people back. Imagine if I said that being Leo causes people to be grumpy. Certainly there may be some people who are both grumpy and Leo. But there are countless other people who are not Leo and are grumpy, and just as many who are Leo and not grumpy. Clearly, based on available undeniable evidence, being Leo does not cause one to be grumpy. People should not cherry pick ‘evidence’ to support their cherished beliefs.
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