White and wrong.
White and wrong.
The issue of Bolt’s recent conviction regarding his outburst against so-called ‘white’ aboriginals is indicative of a deep confusion that exists within ‘multicultural’ Australia. Heritage is the keystone of a resilient culture.
I am the son of predominantly German and Irish heritage. I call myself ‘Australian’, but I don’t identify with what Bolts Australia looks like. A country where any identification with heritage and tradition is seen as being watered down cultural fanfare.
My mothers side of the family are Irish Second Fleeters, what most people call ‘convicts’. They came over to work in the ship building industry of Darling Harbour in early Sydney. There is a street called ‘Bunn’ street in the CBD. Supposedly my Great Great Great Grandfather was Sioux Indian, who was a orphan who grew up on the Northern Californian Gold Fields to come over to Australia during the gold rushes. This part of my background is a little mixed-up, confusing and a heritage which reeks of cultural displacement and class divide.
My father’s German family migrated in 1870 to South Australia and gradually made there way up through to the Riverina district around Albury and settled in a town called Walla Walla. They were still fully functioning German Lutheran culture, until the First World War. This moment in history caused a massive distrust of the German people of Australia. They were ostracised, ridiculed, and forced to assimilate. Names like Gotleib, Hans, and Franz were no longer used, names like Ken, Doreen and Cheryl became common place. Why? Because to identify as being from that European background meant that you were the ‘enemy’.
During the Second World War relatives of mine were taken in for questioning by government officials. They still spoke German and were looked upon as spies. In the recent film ‘Kokoda’ in one of the opening scenes, one of the ‘Australian’ soldiers was called a ‘Kraut’, this is indicative of a deep mistrust of people from this heritage. This racism continued until the 80′s, so much so that even when I was in Primary school, kids from German backgrounds were called ‘Nazis’.
Ok. So although , I am not German, there is a part of me that still wants to think that I have a cultural heritage. I was never brought up learning the language. I did attend church. I have a deep sense of loss and remorse for not being exposed to what I think may be a direct link to my ancestry. I feel sometimes embarrassed that it’s such a mongrel mix, part German, Irish, Sioux possibly some other mixes. Who knows?
We identify with a part of our heritage because it helps us distinguish ourselves as having a narrative of place. Just because I am white, does not mean that I automatically mean that I like bbq’s. So much of what is pushed as being ‘Australian’ disgusts me. It is this mainstream view of Australia that I despise, that I long to connect to a tradition. We all like to feel as if out heritage has some sense of strength. I believe that my longing for a ‘tradition’ is tied to longing for a culture that is frugal, resourceful and earthy. Something more sustainable than the mass-produced, commodified culture that we currently exist in.
This brings me to the ‘Bolt’ verdict. I believe that Bolts article was written out of jealousy. I personally long to connect with sustainable traditions, and Aboriginal Australia still has the myths, the understanding and culture connected to a country and land that I admire. My tradition in this country is imported, and not part of the ongoing connection between ecology, cultural practice and ceremony. When I watch the ‘Bungal’s’ of the Top End of Australia, I feel a deep sense of remorse, for my own heritage is not attached to the environment. It is imported, and foreign. It is not in tune with the seasonal changes in country, it is not part of the story of land, the birds and animals. It is like a 20 second fairy-tale sitting on top of a ‘Mahabharata’ of cultural practice that I see in Aboriginal Australia.
Likewise, if people reconnect and try to create new representations of culture that is lost then this enriches the connection to country, and identity. This is a deep human need, and one that Bolt has unfairly attacked.
In his recent article he talks about his journey from Europe. He talks about him having to discard his heritage. Thats his prerogative. That doesn’t mean that he has to forget about it. His ‘Australia’ is one of conformity, not diversity , one which is hurtling into the future without any regards for the traditions of the past.
For what Bolt has said smacks of a attitude which is unrelenting in this country. That to identify with a group that is permanently chained to a bbq’s and watches football is ‘Australian’. His attack on peoples connection to their heritage, is bluntly offensive and disregards the pure fact. Peoples connection to their heritage is a vital part of the narrative of this country, regardless of what percentage of heritage they identify with.
If more people connect to their ‘traditional’ heritage, when life did not revolve around the mass-consumption of goods, and people connected to the practices that were resourceful, frugal and disciplined, then this ‘multicultural’ country would be the better for it.
Yes. I am not a German peasant, but the stories that exist within me, make me stronger person, because its all I have. My heritage, the mixed-up crazy hybrid that it is, is the core of me, and makes me who I am. Lest we forget.
