Australia and America: A Shared Hope and Changed Attitude

We are at a fateful moment in history. The global markets are in turmoil, unemployment is rising around the globe, civil unrest is spreading, and the world watches with baited breath, stunned and fearful for the future.

And yet, at this defining moment, extraordinary and positive things are also happening. Approximately 200 of Turkey's leading intellectuals just weeks ago issued an apology on the Internet for the World War I-era massacres of Armenians in Turkey. And several months ago, while my film Australia was in post-production, the Australian government issued a formal apology to the indigenous Aboriginal people of Australia for past wrongs caused by successive governments. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd singled out for mention the "Stolen Generations" -- thousands of mixed-race children who were forcibly removed from their families in a policy of assimilation which lasted from the 19th century to the late 1960s.

This apology was particularly meaningful for all who were working on the film as my film deals closely with the Aboriginal peoples, and stars dozens of Aboriginal actors (many of whom were stolen, are direct descendants of the stolen, or have close relatives who were stolen). One of the main characters, the extraordinary 11-year-old mixed-race actor, Brandon Walters, is Aboriginal, as is our assistant director and script consultant, Steve McGregor -- their first-hand knowledge and insight into the material was essential and critical to the film.

Already I see Australia, my much-loved homeland, as reaping the benefits of a psychological shift in attitude towards a stain that has marked our country's history for so long. The long-awaited government apology to the Aborigines is a positive message of hope. This apology is about acknowledging past transgressions and expressing heartfelt remorse for the mistakes of the past. As such, it represents crossing a divide, and will serve, I hope, as the first step toward a much-needed reconciliation. I believe such steps have particular resonance now in the United States, when President-elect Barack Obama is about to assume the leadership of this country.

One of the things that struck me about Obama was his stated willingness to reach across the partisan divide, to work with the people 'across the aisle' to forge solutions to the many enormous challenges his administration faces. President-elect Obama understands the importance of healing so we can do the important work of dealing with the issues that confront us as a strong, united front. Indeed, the problems facing the United States -- and countries around the world right now -- are so towering that our only hope is in reaching out to our neighbors, building bridges, and moving on from old wounds.

While I am not so naïve as to believe that apologies such as the ones issued by the Turkish intellectuals or the Australian government mean an end to the rancor, heartbreak, distrust and anger that surround so many of the historical events which prompted them, I do believe that they are a first step forward in the process of healing. I hold out great hope -- one that often serves as the inspiration for my filmmaking -- that the human spirit is strong, resilient, and persevering, and that with a willingness to acknowledge old wounds, and apologize for them when necessary, we can face the future with courage and strength.

Comments

[kapo]

Got carried away there. One set should have been the beneficiaries of oppression. The ultimate irony is where heirs of oppression turn out to be beneficiaries themselves, so your slum is located on what were the happy hunting grounds of another people. Way of the world.

[kapo]

It is wonderful that the heirs of oppression are able to acknowledge the wrongs of their ancestors and ask forgiveness. They can shuck off the psychic burden of sin and sail off into a brave new world. The heirs of oppression have a harder task. The poor and disenfranchised must accept that it was just a toss of the coin that put them where they are, offer a cheerful smile to their successful betters, and completely reorient their psychic markers. It is quite doable, but you guys need to acknowledge that it is easier to accept that you own land that was sequestered by questionable means than that your heritage involoves land lost by questionable means. If go back far enough though, you usually find someone getting shafted.

[vegas9999]

Yeah, those apologies will tear you up every time.

[MC in LV]

Good on ya mate!

[easarsfield]

Thank you for this wonderful piece, Baz!

Apologies do not make amends for wrongs, but they are definitely a powerful means to assist the healing that needs to happen.

I would like to point out that Obama"s pick for HHS Secretary, Tom Daschle, hails from South Dakota, a state that is home to many American Indians. Tom has many strong ties to their community, I hope that he will use these wisely to bring the many issues facing the native community to the attention of Obama.

I firmly believe that Obama will be able to help heal many wounds, both internationally and internally. And after the past 8 years of the Bush presidency, there's a whole lot of gaping holes that need to be stiched up.

[billbb]

Good one, Mate!

We all struggle to make our countries better, and to avoid repeating past mistakes in modern guise. The mess is huge, of course, but we cannot be overwhelmed. We just have to start cleaning in our own corner and keep working.

[rock2casbah]

Let's hope you are right Baz. It will be possible when we clean the decks of this terrible stain of the Bush administration. The adminsitration that keeps spreading rancor up to the very last second of his presidency.

His last and latest swipe is alllowing your ex PM Smith? to visit and receive a high level award along with Tony Blair as his partners in crime. Then to add insult to injury, for some reason giving Smith the run of Blair House a 115 room guest house for foreign dignitaries, that is traditionally made avilable every 4 years to the President elect and family.

Petty slights are never going to go away with Bush and cronies muddying up the process. Just 5 more days.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

I had an Australian nanny for years and she was just a wonderful woman I will always remember. She was not a full time nanny but my mother was a travel agent so my parents use to travel often but I digress.

I have always thought that Australia and America share somewhat of a similar history because both countries where established with many people who were considered undesirables from the British Empire and both countries have a tainted past as well for how we both treated indigenous peoples beyond poorly.

Hopefully both nations are in the final stages of healing from our original sins.

[SiberianRat]

Thanks, Baz. I agree. If Obama gets up there and apologizes for all of America's misdeeds, especially the ones in the last 8 years, we're gonna need a lot of coffee and really comfortable chairs for the length of time needed for that.

[wagthedog1001]

One of the most sensitive and thoughtful posts on this site in a long time, thank-you. The great and powerful USA could learn a little from the precedents set in Turkey and Australia.

When will the U.S. government formally apologize to our Native-Americans? And more importantly fund a reconstruction of their lives by building homes, schools, commercial areas, etc... Of course that would cost a lot of money that is currently needed on Wall Street.

What Americans do and have done to our natives is unconscionable.

[LeftCoastIowan]

I had heard about the Australian government apology but not about the Turkish intellectuals. What a good sign! Also wanted to let you know that the group of six of us who went to see your move Australia on Thanksgiving weekend really liked it.

[CFSM]

indigenous Australians established an essential working harmony with the environment that endured over many millenia; something perhaps one can learn from as global temperatures start to crank up

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

From your lips to Arab and Israeli ears.

[Pete2069]

Why then are the citizens of this world falling farther into poverty and lack of food and medical help..

The leaders of the world are reaching out to one another to build their Global Empire...

[terramartom]

Yes, positive speak, honest dialogue, are the ways to bring about change and new choices for all of Humanity. A debate about anything must be the truth to move ahead. Leave emotion out, speak about what did happen in the past, and not what one "wants" to believe happened. Knowledge will empower us all. Believing with no facts gives us intolerance, religious terrorism, bigotry and racism. Choice, consequence, and responsibility should guide the human race forward from here on!