This week sees the 40th anniversary of Aboriginals being given the vote and actually counted as Australians due to the passing of a 1967 referendum that changed the constitution and gave the Commonwealth (federal govt) power to legislate for indigenous people.

Some facts from the 2001 and 2006 census ...

An Aboriginal male born today has a life expectancy of about 59 years, if he'd been born in a remote region, his life expectancy would have been under 50 years of age. (Average 'white' Australian is 78 men 83 women)

His father, on average, is probably already dead, with 45 percent of Aboriginal men dying before the age of 45.

Nationally, the average indigenous Australian is about 15 times more likely to go to prison than a non-indigenous Australian

Our average Aboriginal's sister - if she marries - is 25 times more likely to suffer domestic violence than a non-Indigenous woman.

It all adds up to our average Aboriginal being about five times more likely to commit suicide than a white Australian, with 108 indigenous male suicides per 100,000 population, compared to 21 for white Australians.


SO are these figures the same for Native Americans? What can be done? Is this just a natural result of hundreds of years of neglect and abuse? Is it wrong to expect major changes until several more generations have passed by?

I don't know about figures, but I do know that in America, people of color are more likely to go to prison and be victims of domestic violence. Don't know about the suicide rate, though (the only statistic that comes to mind is that LGBT teens are more likely to commit suicide than heterosexual teens. No surprise there.)

I do think that it's the natural result of hundreds of years of neglect and abuse. Really, one couldn't expect anything else. And one certainly can't expect major changes now, I'm afraid. Sometimes, you need to wait a while to see improvement. I believe it'll be a gradual thing, bit by bit, and not something drastic.

The stat that really gets me is the 30% odd child sexual abuse before the age of 5 in some communities. It gets higher as they get older too. What hope is there for someone growing up in a community like that?

A culmination of many causes no doubt, but IMO, chief among them is alcohol. What hope did a race ever have after being dropped in the deep end with alcohol?

its really depressing. The aboriginals were granted nearly equal rights but not many are taking that advantage of that opporutnity. Reminds me of the Indians in the US where they were given the right for the casinos but they werent doing anything except booze and gamble. Same with the aboriginals in australia, many get allowances from the govt but all they do is drink all day.

True enough for your comments Illumina.. We could only hope but it would be better if we could educate the youth better.

Nearly equal be true. It's the one's who deny their nearly equal right of zero responsibility who make something of themselves. I wish i was paid to go to school, drop out and do nothing but drink. Not really, but you get the idea. A nearly equal free house and car would also be nice.

If they waste their lives on booze and nothingness then they deserve what they get. No one is forceing them to spend all day drinking instead of working. They need to get jobs and point the finger squarely at themselves, because they are to blame for all of their problems.

So we blame them. Now what? Do we stop caring? Does it affect no one else?

I can't see stats like those (and they at least have been comparable to Native Americans at some point) and not see the effects of history as a mitigating influence. Call it contingency: in the chaos of every second of every day upon which we each must act, the effects of conditions like this multiply and echo throughout time and space. The ultimate free will Havock alluded to is the product of simplified social economic analysis - only meant to serve analytical purposes. It does not exist outside of theory, ideology, and fantasy. That we are not affected by the social, historical, economic (the list goes on) terrain around us is as impossible as being wholly consumed by them. Blame whoever you want, but fail to recognize social forces - the very context of these stats - and shoot ourselves in the foot. Repeatedly.

You have to decide to either accept the pattern or break the pattern. The result is up to you...

Long-term, however, I believe that anyone in the pattern must decide that they themselves want out. No one on the outside can make them want out... it has to be their own choice and decision, or else it will soon fail and they will revert back to the pattern.

I feel bad for people that are forced into bad situations. That's a fact. However, when you have a choice, and choose the bad situation, that's your problem. Should I feel bad for every person here that gets themselves thrown in prison? No, they made the choice that put them in a position to be thrown in prison. Now, if somebody can show me somebody standing there with a gun telling them to drink, molest their children, and beat their wives, I'll change my view. Initially, they had it bad, I'm sure. However, what they have now are the direct results of their actions, and I don't feel responsible, nor do I believe that I should, for what they consciously choose to do. Change has to start somewhere, and as Bungleau said, nobody outside can start that process. We can lend a hand up, but we can't make them change. It has to be a desired thing, and an effort must be made, by them, to change. Otherwise it's a wasted effort.

I was wondering who would say it first [img]smile.gif[/img]