Although the Aborigine people were the indigenous people of Australia, they were highly mistreated. Throughout history, a common pattern has been the mistreatment of native people at the hands of explorers or ‘superior’ people. This was a very frequent thing in Australia where indigenous people, the Aborigines, experienced mistreatment at that fault of white Australians. The Stolen Generation was a time period in Australia between 1910-1970 in which various government policies, such as a policy of Assimilation, forced children out of their homes to work as child slaves and make them more ‘civilized’ (Marlow). The practice of taking children first began when Aborigine children were used as guide servants, and for manual labor jobs, such as farmers for European settlers (Marlow). Although Australia's government did have justifications for these oppressive laws, this subject was very controversial because of the different views on the topic.
As the idea of white supremacy spread throughout Australia, the government had several unfair reasons to justify forcing children out of their homes and away from their families. One common justification the government had was that the Aboriginal children were unsafe and neglected in their own communities, and by taking them away they could be protected. The law to justify this action was called the South Australian Aborigines Act, which allowed the Chief Protector to become the legal guardian of any Aborigine under the age of 21. This meant that they could control what the Aborigines did, and where they lived (Wilkie). The government also believed that the Aborigines were of lower status and had to be civilized. This idea was used as one of their main justifications, as they believed their European ways were superior to anyone else. In order to ‘civilize’ the Aborigines, they weren't allowed to speak their native language or be exposed to cultural activities (Sorry Day and the Stolen Generations). The idea of all this was to push ‘white ways’ onto the children so they could “develop a European work ethic and European religious beliefs.” (Bielefeld 197). Europeans also believed that taking away children would have little effect on the parents, as mothers would only grieve [spelling] for a short amount of time. The Chief Protector in Western Australia, C.F. Gale] wrote in 1909 that “I would not hesitate for one moment to separate any half-caste from its Aboriginal mother, no matter how frantic her momentary grief might be at the time. They soon forget their offspring” (Bielefeld 198) This quote proves that the government didn't care about the children or even the effects that the parents would suffer. The government would try to sell these ideas to the people of Australia through lots of racist propaganda showing negative stereotypes about the Aborigines. While the government used these justifications to prove that taking the children was ‘right’ their overall goal wasn't to help the Aborigines, but instead to control and reduce their population.
On the other hand, the Aborigine people were strongly opposed to these government rules. The Aborigines believed that what the government was doing was cruel and unfair. Families often experienced separation and deaths of loved ones because of it. In a testimony by Val Linnow, a victim of the Stolen Generations she talks about her life and memories of the kidnappings. Linnow reflects on the time when she was taken and a police “grabbed the whole lot of us and just taken us and separated us.” Val also describes not just separation from family, but separation from her childhood. “I always remember I had a doll… And the next minute the dolls were taken off us. We weren’t allowed to have dolls. So I cried all night for that doll, I never got the doll back” Her doll that was taken away represents her childhood, which the government just took away and the children were never able to get it back. Linnow's testimony proves that when the government was trying to help and save the Aboriginal children all they were really doing was destroying their childhoods and lives.
As a result of this of this unfortunate time, many children suffer psychological and emotional trauma (Marlow). And although the Stolen Generation impacted everyone, the children suffered the greatest. The Australian government focused their assimilation policies mainly on the children, as they were the ones forced out of their homes and away from their families. The reason for this was that children were believed to be able to adapt faster to the ideas of white society compared to the adults. The children lived in institutions with conditions “more like a concentration camp than a residential school for Aboriginal children” according to Doris Pilkington, and this caused very serious health problems for the children (The Stolen Generations). Children were also told that their parents had died or abandoned them and didn't realize that they were taken away. This caused many long-term effects on the children. Since these children didn't know their parents and were not parented by the officials who took them when they grew up and had kids of their own they did not have appropriate parenting skills to properly care for their children (Wilkie). Very little to no education was also given to these children, as it was expected for aboriginal children to work as manual laborers or domestic servants (The Stolen Generations). This minimal education given to the children had a devastating effect on generations of aborigines to come, as it was hard for them to move up the social later because of working as manual laborers and domestic servants for so long. Based on this evidence, it is obvious to see that the government was doing everything but helping the Aboriginal people.
After almost sixty years of harsh policies, the government finally realized what they were doing was wrong and made an effort to apologize for all their wrongdoings. In 1995, the Australian government released a report titled “Bringing Them Home” to acknowledge the policies of the time period and to conclude that removing children from their homes was indeed wrong (Wilkie). Another way in which people tried to fix the mistakes that were made was by establishing a family tracing and reunion agency called Link-Up (NSW) Aboriginal Corporation in 1980. This organization helps families and individuals who have been affected by past government policies; like those that occurred during the Stolen Generations (Sorry Day and the Stolen Generations). There is also an event called Sorry Day, which takes place every year on May 26 since the year 1998. Sorry Day is a day in which people take part in activities that help remember the mistreatment of the Aboriginal people. From these examples, it is clear to see that the views of the government changed over time and that they eventually apologized for their mistreatment.
Although the Australian government did have reasons to justify taking the children, it was still a very wrong thing to do and was unfair to the Aborigine Australians. At first, the government really did believe that what they were doing was right, and tried to justify their wrongdoings by saying that taking the children would benefit everyone. In contrast, the Aborigines knew what was happening was wrong and were highly against the government’s actions. Fortunately, the government did eventually realize that what they were doing was wrong, but unfortunately, this was almost sixty years later. To try to fix the damage that had been done the government banished all the oppressive policies, created a day to remember what had happened, and even established organizations to try to help separated families reunite. Throughout history, a common theme has been the mistreatment of people from a ‘superior’ race or group. From Columbus and the Native Americans to the mistreatment of blacks and people of color in the US, this pattern can be seen all around the world. Just like the government of Australia, who finally realized what they were doing was wrong, all kinds of people no matter skin color, race, religion, or any other factor should ever try to control another group because of superiority and they should realize that everyone is equal.