Vol. 80/No. 6      February 15, 2016

 

Australia: Thousands march
for rights of Aboriginal people

 
SYDNEY — Some 5,000 Aborigines and supporters of the rights of indigenous peoples marched here Jan. 26 to counter “Australia Day,” a holiday established by the country’s rulers to celebrate the date in 1788 when the first British convict colony was established. This started a long frontier war against the indigenous peoples. Similar actions took place across the country, making these the largest protests for the rights of Aboriginal people in years.

Many marchers waved red, yellow and black Aboriginal flags. Others held signs saying, “White Australia has a Black history,” “Stop Black deaths in custody,” “No pride in genocide” and “Black lives matter!”

“People celebrate [Australia Day] when it’s the beginning of the killing of our people, the loss of our language, of devastation and disease,” said Ken Canning, of the Indigenous Social Justice Association, who chaired the rally.

Speakers told the history of the forced removal of Aboriginal children, known as the Stolen Generations. Between 1910 and 1970, the government forcibly removed thousands of indigenous youth from their families. The children were either adopted by Caucasian families or institutionalized. Under Australia’s racist assimilation policy, their names were changed, they were pressed to reject their culture and forbidden to speak their languages.

Speakers also protested “systemic” cop brutality against Aboriginal youth. “Too many police, never any justice!” chanted young people leading the march. Despite being only 4.2 percent of youth in Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people make up over half the juvenile prison population.

The march culminated at Australian Hall, commemorating the Jan. 26, 1938, proclamation there by Aboriginal leaders of a Day of Mourning over the brutal colonial dispossession that had decimated the original population.  
 
 
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