If you’ve ever spent time in Australia you’ll realize it’s a stunning country with some amazing expressions, and you’ll find places completely on your own that you will fall in love with. And it really does have a lot of scary animals.!
You might also feel a bit of tension. We recommend reading The Colonial Fantasy: Why White Australia Can’t Solve Black Problems by Sarah Maddison. It’s quite dry but it’s illuminating, particularly if you’re learning or deepening your knowledge of the policies and why everything constantly ‘fails’ no matter the approach. Sarah clearly argues that Australia has resisted the one thing that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people want, and the one thing that has made a difference elsewhere: the ability to control and manage their own lives.
It was always going to be heartbreaking; settler-colonist nations have enormous difficulties with cultural inclusion and can end up creating so many stereotypes and rejections. Colonized Australia, with the oldest known living civilization in the world, had a white-only policy until the 70s. It’s a twisted position given it should not be for white people to ‘decide’ to be inclusive in an invaded land.
But this quote goes so far beyond Australia and seems really relevant to our time in the world whilst we’re shutting down borders and pointing fingers.
Inclusivity isn’t a threat even when it feels like it. That goes for sexism, racism, gender and anything in between. It’s what gives us the love, empathy, creativity, joy, conversations, innovation, brainpower, community and friends we all need. It’s nearly always what is just.
Hearts are shattering across the globe and from a distance we now have a chance at creating the community so many of us have been craving. Let’s (in spirit for the moment) embrace each other and relax our egos and conditioned reactions. Let’s be brave together. Let’s listen to each other better. Let’s always be asking whose door we should be knocking on. Let choose not to be scared.
“When we realize that diversity and cultural inclusion isn’t a threat to the Australia we know and love but an integral part of it, the tension will dissipate.”
