26th January – A Day of Shame
Today, the 26th January is ‘Australia Day’.
Wikipedia:
“Australia Day is the official National Day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, it marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales, and the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at Sydney Cove by Governor Arthur Phillip.”
It is a public holiday. People celebrate.
What is there to celebrate about an invasion?
An invasion of the land of the Aboriginal people who have been here for somewhere between 40 – 60,000 years, if not longer.
There is nothing to celebrate.
Some call it Invasion Day.
Some call it Survival Day.
I am full of shame for this country in which I live.
This racist country in which I live.
I was so pleased to see the doodle on Google today.
No happy happy go Aussie go bullshit.
Below is a video of Stan Grant, an Aboriginal journalist, telling the truth.
Please do watch it.
It is incredibly sad.
And it is shocking.
Syncopated Eyeball 
All countries have their contradictory aspects, but Australia seems to have more than most. A niece has today become an Aussie citizen, a measure of her love for Melbourne, but our son — on a gap year in Perth — absolutely hated it, the casual racism, the flies, the cultural desert of the place. If it’s any consolation (though possibly none) all sensitive souls have a sense of alienation with aspects of their culture, of being a fish out of water, where the oxygen of injustice and prejudice prove inimical and ultimately fatal to a water-dweller.
I didn’t know you were in Australia Ashley! 😀
So goddamned true. It pisses me off every year, complete with the fireworks that send my dog crazy. Such BS
just watched that video btw. So true, I knew of most of the atrocities he spoke of but not all of them. It is disgusting, and the casual racist attitude is very much alive, especially among males my age (late 20’s/early 30’s). So many of my friends are like this and I have to cringe and say nothing when they say something racist, for fear of killing a friendship. As he says, we are better than that. Hopefully the young generation of today can be better than my generation, and things will get better.
Very similar to what happened to the First Nations people of North America.
Shocking! I had no idea. Well, Ash, we have our share of racism alive and well in America, shockingly so, despite having a black president. Did you happen to hear about the predominantly African-American town of Flint, Michigan that is being poisoned by the white politicians who pumped lead-laden water into peoples’ homes. Yes, in this day and age. And the horror of all horrors, racist Donald Trump running in the presidential primaries as a Republican. It’s not just Australia!