As an Australian, Aboriginal man with many, many non Aboriginal friends, I feel I have this responsibility bestowed upon me to, well not to end racism and complete Australia's journey to full Reconciliation, but maybe just give a handful of tips from a Blackfullas's point of view that just might make us a tiny bit more comfortable around each other :)
Tip No 1: Blackfella/Blackfulla
I can almost immediately tell how much experience a non-Aboriginal person has had with Aboriginal people by their reaction to the term 'Blackfulla'. Almost every time I drop it, it gets either one of 2 reactions.
Nothing, the conversation goes on
OR
a kind of uncomfortable but subtle, raising of one eyebrow that I know is the physical reaction to them questioning inside their heads "Is that politically correct to be calling them that? I mean I know he's Aboriginal but maybe it's like when African Americans call each other by the 'N' word..."
Well no it's not like that.
It is actually OK.
We were in a meeting with a well known music publisher who has the rare reputation of being a nice guy in the music industry and as a result is able to do great business with and for his clients. He asked about the kind of radio play we wanted and we said that more than one producer on a certain independently run but very popular, non-commercial radio station had told us that they'd be more likely to play us if we pushed the whole "indigenous" angle to which he replied "Well that sucks, you shouldn't have to tell people you're black fullas just to have them play your music"....
It was at that exact moment that all the muscles tensing up around my hips and spine holding me in an upright position, loosened up and let me sink back into the chair and feel comfortable. Now he may not have been raised on The Block or on a mission with a tribe of black kids, but his use of that term let me know he'd dealt with Aboriginal people before in his life.
Don't be afraid to use it when referring to Aboriginal people. Even if it is the very white sounding "Black Fella" its a start!
Tip No 2: Black Jokes
As a general rule, they're never ok. You want to hear a black joke that a white dude told me that actually made me laugh?
What do you call an Aboriginal who fly's a plane?
A pilot, you racist.
Tip No 3: Abo
This does the exact opposite of the term "Black Fulla".
"You're just a stupid...." Guess what word they would finish all their insults with in the 50's and 60's when we wanted to know why we couldn't vote or be let into certain shops or even looked at someone the wrong way...
Here's the defence. "It's just how we are in Austraya. We shorten shit"
Yes it is very Australian to abbreviate, but it's not Aussie to be disrespectful.
There's this episode of 'Friends' where Chandler, worrying about his girlfriend hanging out with another guy, says "You know it'll be like "So where's your boyfriend, what's-his-name, Chester?" And she'll go "No, no, no, it's Chandler" and he'll go "Whatever"...
His name's not Chester, it's Chandler. It's the title he's been given, it's what he identifies himself with, it's who he is. Is it so hard to say the full word Aborigine?
Growing up I played a lot of soccer with a lot of different races and religions and I picked up a few things along the way. You want respect? Give it. That's why you'll never hear me say "Wog" or "Lebbo".
Tip No 4: Sorry???
I still hear people bringing up the fact that "I didn't do anything! Why should I say sorry?!" and it's usually while they're bleaching their white hoods. And if they're not doing that, they're actually super nice people who haven't fully seen the whole picture just yet.
And that picture is, you can feel sorry without claiming responsibility.
The word 'sorry' actually comes from the latin word for "Whale's Vagina"... Oh no wait that's something else... Ah yes, it comes from the word 'Sorrow'. It's the act of feeling sorrow. Your friend's dog dies, you're sorry they have to go through that. You didn't kill the dog. How about I send a bunch of people 'round to your house, have them kill and steal 3/4 of your family, then I'll come round later on and tell you I'm not sorry that happened to you? Essentially that's what you're doing every time you say "No I'm not sorry!"
The other little part of that picture is we didn't really listen when that speech was made. When our PM at the time made that apology, he didn't make it on behalf of you. He made it on behalf of a government the now knows better. When we do something that we believe is right at the time and it turns out later not to be so right, we apologise. We say sorry once we know better. In choosing to become part of our nation's parliament, you not only get a nice, fat salary, you also inherit the faults of the previous government.
Tip No 5: Recon-silly-nation
Not every Aboriginal (including me) feels this way so I'm only going to mention it quickly. Remember I'm only writing this blog to try and make us feel a little less uneasy with each others differences. So if at any point in your life you bring up the term 'Reconciliation' and an Aboriginal person doesn't grab you by the hand and dance around like we all do at The Woodford Folk Festival, this is why. There are actually some very well educated indigenous people in our country who have noticed that the word reconciliation has a definition. That is to bring back together what once was. Obviously there's a tiny fault in this because I don't remember being taught in Mr Thompson's Year 9 History class the part where the black people and white people were all sitting at Botany Bay having tea together before unfortunately being torn apart, hence the need now for "Reconciliation".... Get what I'm saying there?
Tip No 6: For The Bruthas
This is my last tip and it's for all the Blackfullas out there who always seem to end up finding themselves in strife for "doin' nothin'!!!!"
Try to speak and listen first before you act! People fear what they don't know or understand and my whole reasoning for writing today is that I feel we just don't hang out and talk enough. The whole problem with racial issues is lack of understanding. No matter what colour you are, we all just want to be understood. And misunderstandings can cause wars. My Dad used to tell me this story...
This was in the 70's... We were at a pub one night and were just leaving when I saw this white girl in an alley getting pushed around, robbed and beaten by 2 other white men. I ran back in the pub, broke off a chair leg and came back. When i got there all 3 of them stopped and looked at me. It wasn't until 2 of my white mates showed up behind me that the 2 blokes took off runnin'. I later realised that when they saw me, they all had to think for a second.... "Which one of us is this fulla gonna try to help?!!!"
Oh and they also made me pay for the chair I broke.
Sega
Nintendo before any numbers or initials were added to the name
Great Wall of 80s Albums
