Apologies in advance if I offend anyone with my language or opinions or confuse my perceptions with actual facts. I feel there are no absolutes in this sort of subject and what may be reasonable to one is deeply offensive to another.
My personal view is that very little will come directly from what will be a very legally correct "sorry." I will not be surprised to find that what ends up being said is little more than a simple acknowledgement that some of these injustices occurred in our past.
I live in the Pilbara region of WA and as such I see many different sides of the aboriginal people. I see some (primarily elders) who are proud, confident people trying to retain their traditional way of life. I see (and work with) many who are living life like the rest of us, working hard to give them and their families a better life. These are some of the most inspirational people I know.
Unfortunately the vast majority of aboriginals that I see are listless, sad people. They live in squalid conditions in government housing, spending much of their time drinking or waiting for their dole cheque so that they can get their next drink. Physical violence is a daily occurence, most commonly between people who were friendly five minutes before and will be tomorrow. They have almost no interraction with the "white" community and on the rare occasions that they do my personal experience is that they are almost apologetic in their mannersim.
I must say that I do not pity these people. Having seen what others are doing with their lives I know that they have a choice in life like all of us. Their road may be much harder (and I believe it is) but they can make that decision and take action. The ones that I feel sorry for are the children. They know only what they see and act accordingly. Their futures will be shaped (not dictated but certainly influenced) by their experiences. The actions and words of their parents and family tell them that they don't deserve any better.
That is what I feel is holding back this group of aboriginal people. They don't believe that they deserve any better and frankly we don't do anything to convince them otherwise. As a society we are happy to let this continue, perhaps for fear of it becoming our problem, because we don't know what to do or just glad it's not us.
Over the years it seems that we have gone from a situation of being completely intolerant to one of complete tolerance. Neither is a good situation. We have "positive discrimination" ocurring throughout society where exceptions and allowances are being made based on a person's race, upbringing, medical conditions (yes I mean addiction), etc. By our actions we say that we do not think they are capable of living to these standards and therefore should not be held to them. I believe that we do this not just for aboriginals but also for many others within society.
If you tell a child that they are useless (as I hear being said everyday up here) and society reinforces this by not expecting them to be anything but useless it is no surprise that they grow into adults who believe that they do not deserve anything better than they have.
I hope beyond reason that this apology tells them that we believe that they deserve better. That they need to believe that they deserve better. That we apolgise for holding them to standards different to that of other members of society, both by removing children who weren't in danger and by returning those that are. I hope that the apology means that we no longer hold our heads in shame (us for our past actions and they for their shame at being what they are) and instead can all lift our heads high and believe we have the right to expect better for and from ourselves as well as others.
Sorry for the rant folks.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
Travis
PS - Inspirational story to start this discussion Darryl. I hope that you have all the luck, love and life that you deserve.