Daily Atlas Wisdom: Australia

MrsBini10

"Australia is divided into five colonies, and forms a part of the British Empire. The native inhabitants are of the Negroid type, and are lower in the scale of humanity than the Negroes of Africa. They are only a small part of the present population, and are decreasing."

ETA: for the record, that is a quote from an atlas from 1895 that my parents have. It in no way reflects the opinions of myself or my family!

bluegirl2006

W.T.F.? What year was that written? 1900?

MrsBini10

Haha, yes, very close to that. See my post from Tuesday, "quote from 1895 atlas."

stever

Cantia

I read your previous atlas wisdom post about Ethiopia. It's funny and sad at the same time, I can't believe that was acceptable a mere 100 years ago. 

azure_azure

OMG. That's horrible. 

Unfortunately quite a few Australians that I've met have made "jokes" about aboriginals. Please tell me this isn't the majority. 

Bini, where was the Atlas published? 

MrsBini10

azure_azure:

OMG. That's horrible. 

Unfortunately quite a few Australians that I've met have made "jokes" about aboriginals. Please tell me this isn't the majority. 

Bini, where was the Atlas published? 

In the US, specifically Rand McNally, Topeka, Kansas.

aMrsin09

azure_azure:

OMG. That's horrible. 

Unfortunately quite a few Australians that I've met have made "jokes" about aboriginals. Please tell me this isn't the majority. 

azure, up here in FNQ, at best the attitude is ambivalence towards the Aboriginals and the worst is outright hatred. BUT (if there can really be a but) it doesn't seem to be based on the fact that they are Aboriginals or their skin color.  It seems to be based more on the Gov't assistance/priority they get over everyone else and that Aboriginals don't always use that assistance to make their lives better. 

It comes across as more of a resentment attitude than a racial attitude.

BlushingMama

Thanks for sharing.

Publius

I have an 1895 map of the US that came out of a German atlas.  It's fascinating to look at.  Oklahoma is marked as "Indian territory" and there are a whole bunch of reservations marked off on it.  On the back is an interesting paragraph discussing the native peoples of the US.  Once our shipment comes I can post a translation if anyone is interested.

myblueangel19

wow. I would like to see the scale of humanity and what criteria were used to determine the level of humanity.

ooolalalolo

This is fascinating. Thank you for posting more Atlas wisdom! 

In a weird way, it gives me hope that things really can change, and that quite a lot of progress can be made in 100 years. 

bail229

Wow, that is shocking.  My DH is Aboriginal and he told me Aboriginals were not considered humans until the 1970's (or maybe it was the late 60's, I can't exactly remember and he is not home for me to ask).  Before that they were considered flora and fauna.  

Tofumonkey

What does it say about Canada?

Oooh, what does it say about China?

Wait wait wait - what does it say about America!

aMrsin09

bail229:

Wow, that is shocking.  My DH is Aboriginal and he told me Aboriginals were not considered humans until the 1970's (or maybe it was the late 60's, I can't exactly remember and he is not home for me to ask).  Before that they were considered flora and fauna.  

Shut.Up!

Although I do now remember the cross country drive from Perth to Cairns. There were several "towns" (I use that term so loosely) that H wouldn't even let me get out of the car because of the locals.  There were also two very discriminatory places that I remember.  Both were petrol stations.  Both had signs up that the restrooms were closed for maintenance.  The one, I just grumbled and held it.  The 2nd one, I made loudly made the comment "What, are every single XX stations bathrooms under construction at the same time?!"  The guy then proceeded to make us wait to be the very last customers to be waited on.  I figured it was to punish the loud mouth American who was now doing the potty dance.  Nope.  Once we were the last people in the store he handed me the key to the bathrooms.  Told me he couldn't while other people were in the store.  Guess who the other people were. 

bail229

aMrsin09:

bail229:

Wow, that is shocking.  My DH is Aboriginal and he told me Aboriginals were not considered humans until the 1970's (or maybe it was the late 60's, I can't exactly remember and he is not home for me to ask).  Before that they were considered flora and fauna.  

Shut.Up!

Although I do now remember the cross country drive from Perth to Cairns. There were several "towns" (I use that term so loosely) that H wouldn't even let me get out of the car because of the locals.  There were also two very discriminatory places that I remember.  Both were petrol stations.  Both had signs up that the restrooms were closed for maintenance.  The one, I just grumbled and held it.  The 2nd one, I made loudly made the comment "What, are every single XX stations bathrooms under construction at the same time?!"  The guy then proceeded to make us wait to be the very last customers to be waited on.  I figured it was to punish the loud mouth American who was now doing the potty dance.  Nope.  Once we were the last people in the store he handed me the key to the bathrooms.  Told me he couldn't while other people were in the store.  Guess who the other people were. 

Oh my gosh! That is terrible.  Most people who meet DH have no idea he is Aboriginal (neither did I when I met him) because he looks more Greek or Maltese.  Its certainly not as bad here although there are definite stereotypes.  DH does not fall into any of those stereotypes by any means.  Just a few months ago someone at his work said something really racist to him and I know he was really upset about it.  I was so mad at that person for say it, because DH works hard to break the stereotypes.  DH took action against it but nothing really happened to the guy, just a slap on the wrist and say sorry kinda thing.  

aMrsin09

Bali, I agree it is terrible, but I always wondered if it was just because they were Aboriginals (like the south in the 1950's) or was it because of the violence, drug use, alcoholism, and petrol sniffing that is prevalent in the REALLY rural Aboriginal communities and they just didn't want any of that taking place in their bathrooms.

And when I say rural, I mean RURAL.  There were times that there were 600+ km between dots on the map, and even then the dot was only a single roadhouse,  with nothing around it for another 600+ km.

bail229

aMrsin09:

Bali, I agree it is terrible, but I always wondered if it was just because they were Aboriginals (like the south in the 1950's) or was it because of the violence, drug use, alcoholism, and petrol sniffing that is prevalent in the REALLY rural Aboriginal communities and they just didn't want any of that taking place in their bathrooms.

And when I say rural, I mean RURAL.  There were times that there were 600+ km between dots on the map, and even then the dot was only a single roadhouse,  with nothing around it for another 600+ km.

Yeah, you make a good point.  I understand they type of area you mean.  I have never been there but I can imagine.   

mrs_p2b

I'm Australian and I would never make a joke about Aboriginals. I don't find those jokes funny, just racist. I grew up in the country where I heard a lot of jokes growing up and my father has had bad experience with the Aboriginals living on the missions so he tends to have a less than accepting view.

That said, all the problems that Aboriginals face are because of what white people introduced to the country. It's very sad. They are not genetically pre-disposed to handle alcohol and intrinsically have never put much importance in accumulation of goods - 40,000 years of existance and very little material goods to show for it. Which is fine, but you can't and shouldn't expect them all to magically change and want to be like white folk. The Stolen Generation is Australia's greatest embarassment and tragedy. I recomment people watch Rabbit Proof Fence if they are interested in the topic.

MrsBini10

mrs_p2b:

I'm Australian and I would never make a joke about Aboriginals. I don't find those jokes funny, just racist. I grew up in the country where I heard a lot of jokes growing up and my father has had bad experience with the Aboriginals living on the missions so he tends to have a less than accepting view.

That said, all the problems that Aboriginals face are because of what white people introduced to the country. It's very sad. They are not genetically pre-disposed to handle alcohol and intrinsically have never put much importance in accumulation of goods - 40,000 years of existance and very little material goods to show for it. Which is fine, but you can't and shouldn't expect them all to magically change and want to be like white folk. The Stolen Generation is Australia's greatest embarassment and tragedy. I recomment people watch Rabbit Proof Fence if they are interested in the topic.

This is largely what is said about American Indians/Native Americans too, and they face many of the same issues especially with alcoholism.

MrsBini10

Tofumonkey:

What does it say about Canada?

Oooh, what does it say about China?

Wait wait wait - what does it say about America!

It says a TON about America, it is very US-centric.  Half the book is about the US.  I'm sure Canada is in there too, although I haven't looked at the North America section yet.  China...stay tuned, there are some gems in there!

Knitty

aMrsin09:

azure_azure:

OMG. That's horrible. 

Unfortunately quite a few Australians that I've met have made "jokes" about aboriginals. Please tell me this isn't the majority. 

azure, up here in FNQ, at best the attitude is ambivalence towards the Aboriginals and the worst is outright hatred. BUT (if there can really be a but) it doesn't seem to be based on the fact that they are Aboriginals or their skin color.  It seems to be based more on the Gov't assistance/priority they get over everyone else and that Aboriginals don't always use that assistance to make their lives better. 

It comes across as more of a resentment attitude than a racial attitude.

Don't kid yourself. It's racist.

If I told you I wasn't racist but that indians had a sweet racket going with all those reservations and that gambling money and those blacks are just welfare queens popping out babies to get food stamps, but at least they weren't tight-fisted like those jewish bankers are would that be racist?

(Hint: the answer is yes)