Today is "Sorry Day" in Australia. It's when they say sorry to the aborigines for all the bad things the white man has done to them, especially the bit where, for many years, white Australia operated a policy of forcibly taking aboriginal children away from their parents because they thought they'd be better off with white families. It's shocking, but when you consider that the white Australians formally voted to give the aborigines full voting rights only as late as 1967 (until then they were essentially considered part of the flora and fauna rather than, well, humans), you begin to understand the context of the time, even if you're horrifed by it.
Anyway, I've not seen much about "Sorry day" in the press or on the television, so I'm not sure how sorry they really are. Certainly there's an undercurrent of racism that you don't feel so much in the UK, particularly towards the aborigines. Barry Humphries gets away with it through his alter-ego, Les Patterson. The audience laugh heartily but I can't work out what percentage of them is laughing at Les and what percentage is laughing with him. Is it post-ironic or not? I don't know.
Darren worked a nightshift and came home needing some sleep so Ella and I took off on foot with a map, football and her bucket and spade. We ended up at Bronte by way of Bieler reserve (bottom) and Queen's park (top). There's a great view of the city from Queen's park and the sight of all those blokes training for some sport or other explains why they keep beating us at just about everything.
I took the smaller digital camera because we were on foot. The pictures look so grainy in comparison. I won't leave home without the other one in future.
No comments:
Post a Comment