National Sorry Day
Today is a very important day for Indigenous Australians. National Sorry Day is a day which aims to give recognition for the mistreatment suffered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Particularly the Stolen Generation and the parliament act which allowed the government to forcibly remove children from their families, is something which had an extremely negative impact on Aboriginal communities. Beyond that, any government policy which exerted control over Aboriginal people also had negative impacts on all Indigenous Austalians.
Moving forward to 1998, Australia stood tall and recognised the effect that these government policies had on Indigenous Australians by saying sorry, and pushing for reconciliation. Today's commemoration is one among many actions which are being taken towards restoring Aboriginal communities and empowering Indigenous Australians.
What does National Sorry Day mean to you?
See our RAP thread for more discussion on how ReachOut is helping to contribute towards Reconciliation.
Comments
For me, National Sorry Day is a chance to acknowledge the wrong doing which occured in the past and any still occuring. To make a conscious decision to help correct mistakes, where possible, especially by ensuring to learn from them so they do not happen again. For the things which cannot change it is the public recognition that what happened was wrong and sincerely apologising.
@ClCl I agree, saying sorry can be incredibly powerful. There is a common misonception that what happened, happened in the past, and therefore there is no need to say sorry or to give recognition for what happened. What most people don't understand is how what happened before has impacted generation after generation. The land we stand on today is rightfully the land of Indigenous Australians, and I think by acknowledging how it was forcefully taken from them and that they were severely mistreated goes a long way towards respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and where they stand within the community.
To me Sorry Day is one of a steps needed to recognise what happened in the past in order to change the future.
1. Recognise what happened
2. Apologise for the past and educate, don't brush it under the carpet.
3. Decide on how these changes will be made
4. Make it happen
