History
Stolen Generation- Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
Throughout the early 1900s, the Australian public was led to believe that Aboriginal children were disadvantaged and at risk in their own communities, and that they would receive a better education, a more loving family, and a more civilised upbringing in adopted white families or in government institutions. The lack of understanding and respect for Aboriginal people also meant that many people who supported the child removals believed that they were doing the ‘right thing’. Some people believed that Aboriginal people lived poor and unrewarding lives, and that institutions would provide a positive environment in which Aboriginal people could better themselves. The dominant racist views in the society and government also means that people believed that Aboriginal people were bad parents and that Aboriginal woman did not look after their children.
The reality was that Aboriginal children were being removed in order to stop their parents, families and communities from passing on their culture, language and identity to them. The children who were targeted for removal by the authorities of the time, in almost all cases, had one parent that was 'white' and one that was Aboriginal. The aim behind the removal of these children was often racial assimilation.
The Aboriginal Protection Boards at the time believed that by separating these mixed race children from their families, community, land and culture, assimilation into white Australian society would be more effective, with the mixed descent Aboriginal population in time merging with the non Indigenous population.
The children removed and then placed in institutions or with new foster families often received a lower standard of education, and sometimes no education at all, when compared with the standard of education available to white Australian children.
In Western Australia, for example, once removed, children were often placed in dormitories, trained as
Dear Editor,
Throughout the early 1900s, the Australian public was led to believe that Aboriginal children were disadvantaged and at risk in their own communities, and that they would receive a better education, a more loving family, and a more civilised upbringing in adopted white families or in government institutions. The lack of understanding and respect for Aboriginal people also meant that many people who supported the child removals believed that they were doing the ‘right thing’. Some people believed that Aboriginal people lived poor and unrewarding lives, and that institutions would provide a positive environment in which Aboriginal people could better themselves. The dominant racist views in the society and government also means that people believed that Aboriginal people were bad parents and that Aboriginal woman did not look after their children.
The reality was that Aboriginal children were being removed in order to stop their parents, families and communities from passing on their culture, language and identity to them. The children who were targeted for removal by the authorities of the time, in almost all cases, had one parent that was 'white' and one that was Aboriginal. The aim behind the removal of these children was often racial assimilation.
The Aboriginal Protection Boards at the time believed that by separating these mixed race children from their families, community, land and culture, assimilation into white Australian society would be more effective, with the mixed descent Aboriginal population in time merging with the non Indigenous population.
The children removed and then placed in institutions or with new foster families often received a lower standard of education, and sometimes no education at all, when compared with the standard of education available to white Australian children.
In Western Australia, for example, once removed, children were often placed in dormitories, trained as