Mark Leibler, The Age (via monkeytypist)

Hey Mark Leibler, shut up. 

What do you mean Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people are not a race (or two races, ya know)? Fuck. Seriously 

“These laws should be based on need and the national interest.” Yes, Mark it is in the national interest to impose “White” Australian values upon a vast group of people who have already suffered so much since the theft of their land in 1788. 

Fuck I hate it when people attempt to disguise racism against Indigenous Australians by suggesting that the government/business/whoever is just trying to help. All that happens when you do that is you end up sounding like a patronising, elitist little fuckhead.

(via i-am-vampire)

I don’t 100% agree with Liebler, mainly about calling cultures belonging to specific ATSI groups “our” common heritage.

But it isn’t about preventing ATSI people from using or citing race as a chosen group or personal identifier at all.

He’s making the same argument you do about race being a relatively recent construct imposed for white supremist control: ” Racism is ridiculous. ‘Races’ have only existed for the last 40 thousand-ish years, less in some cases. Modern humans have existed for 150 thousand years.”

Although races, racial classifications, were invented and widely imposed or escaped by force throughout the last 200-400 years e.g. the era of invasion and building Australia on this continent. Before invasion ppl. didn’t identify by the colinizing concept of race, but regional indigenous clan and language group names. 

As to laws: did you read the linked article?

It’s about the campaign for Constitutional change to remove the same paternalistic, race powers designed to control ATSI, Chinese and Kanaka* people in 1901 and utilized as recently as 2007 for some of the most politically  manipulative land control aspects of NT Intervention [revoked in 2010].

Even though these changes would be partly symbolic, disputes about wording and urgency are also motivated by the reality of a public regression in racist attitudes e.g. it’s dangerous to leave powers behind the historic dehumanizing of ATSI people available to a new crop of politically opportunistic white conservatives. 

It’s also pushing to complete some unfinished business from the 1967 referendum campaigners who aimed to not just remove the punitive racist powers against ATSI people from the Oz legal environment, but formally recognize their rights in a more pro-active way than the current invisibility or tokenizing.

It’s an important goal, because of it’s flow on potential for any future legislation affecting ATSI rights at the national and state levels, even if the means are more beauracratic and mainstream oriented than many commentors on racism prefer.

But it’s getting very little attention. Even with Australia Day approaching - and white leftists competing to be the most righteous about Invasion Day before ignoring racism for the rest of the year on again - the debate remains between the usual ATSI speakers, defending themselves from Tony Abbot’s usual attitude.

It deserves better consideration and debate than this.

I’d urge anyone in Australia who’s read this far [thanks!] to skip the usual blog snark thing, to skip making obvious cheap shots at every ATSI rights campaign unless it’s perfect [then sitting back and blaming others for the imperfections, without any commitment yourself] and just go read about the campaigns instead.

Then at least circulate anything you can support, or make some original constructive input and commitments about alternatives.

p.s. dunno if the OP girl is ATSI or not, but don’t look at her, look at the campaign!

*refers to the incorrect application of this term to a wide range of Pacific Islander forced labourers in the Australian primary industries at the time.