Week 11 reflection- Negative Portrayals of Traditional Owners

Traditional Owners do get mentioned in the media negatively, or from within a paternalistic white privilge rhetoric. The media tends to negatively report only on issues of alcaholism, domestic and sexual violence or poverty. The issues being faced by the Indigenous Australian community is important to be voiced, however the paternalistic way in which these reports are made and discussed echoes  feelings of 'white mummy and daddy talking about their black children', so to speak.

Although it is important to report on and address the issues and possible strategies for Indigenous Australians, it should not be wholly done within the white frameworks, without Indigenous prescence. The media tends to take the attitude of reporting on the issues faced by the 'mischevious black children' and the prices that 'white mummy and daddy' will have to pay for the acts. The fallacy in this discourse is that the issues Traditional Owners face are all a direct result of colonisation, genocide, ethnocentricsm and racism caused by our caucasian ancestors.

The cultural memory of white supremacy and Indigenous Australians and other non-caucasians as threatening or below us still continues. These historical prejudices or cultural memories are now more passively implemented though, through media portrayal, governmental attitudes and filter down through the ranks to the civilian. It is no coincidence that some of the less desirable members of our society use offensive slang terms to refer to the Traditional Owners. Below I have posted a video from Australia Day 2012 Aboriginal tent Embassy, where some Traditional Owners were peacefully protesting and the police officer exhibits quite egregious aggression.

Photo
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1000979

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcM_eYfWPhE