My five cents worth on the apology



I'm mulling over whether to go to Martin Place or Redfern to be part of the public event of the apology tomorrow morning, or to watch it at home with the people now inhabiting our back flat in office hours. But as an OzBlogger, I feel compelled to write something.

On the weekend, with characteristic purpleness, Bob Ellis was reported as describing the task of drafting the apology as 'beyond language ... beyond Shakespeare'. Well, maybe. In fact, one of the seldom acknowledged positive results of John winston Howard's refusal to apologise to the stolen generations and their families is that thousands of Australians had an opportunity to write their own apologies. The Sorry Books are described like this on the AIATSIS website:
The Sorry Books were an initiative of the group, Australians for Native Title (ANT), which was formed in June 1997. They were seen as an opportunity for ordinary Australians who wanted to do something in response to the Federal Government's refusal to make a formal apology to the Stolen Generations.

I had a little bit to do with the project. I saw what happened to one of the books that was on display at Manly, just down the road from One Nation headquarters: someone who these days online would be called a troll wrote some disgusting abusive comments, and then a number of people who would be called something like troll-biters got distracted from their purpose by writing abuse of the trolls. I laid hands on the copy of the book that had been signed at an event in London, by a number of expatriates, including Germaine Greer, whose inscription I've grabbed from the web:



Practically speaking, I was in the Bob Ellis camp and just signed my name, which meant I was subscribing to the general words printed at the front of each book (drafted by the brilliant and unassuming Geoffrey Atherden):
By signing our name to this book we are recording our regret for the injustice suffered by Indigenous Australians as a result of European settlement; In particular the effect of government policy on the human dignity and spirit of Indigenous Australians.
We are recording our desire for reconciliation and for a better future for all our peoples.
By signing this book we are demonstrating a commitment to a united Australia, which values Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, and provides justice and equity for all.

There, that wasn't so hard, was it?

But I started out to write about something that happened when I was staffing a Sorry Book stall at an ANTaR (Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation) event at Bondi Beach. It was a beautiful day, and a steady stream of people came to ask about the Sorry Books, most of them stopping to sign, some of them indulging in a bit of Howard-bashing, one or two engaging in debate. Generally, it was a very upbeat occasion. But having seen what had happened to the Books left unsupervised at Manly, I was not entirely relaxed. When one man stepped up the counter looking slightly grim, picked up a pen without acknowledging any of us on the stall, and wrote for perhaps a minute before walking away looking if anything even grimmer, still without meeting anyone's eyes, I was a bit worried. I grabbed the book, ready if necessary to decommission it. What he'd written took my breath away. This is not verbatim, but it went something like this:
Last night I stood beside my three-year-old daughter's cot and watched her sleeping. When I reached down and stroked her hair, she smiled and squirmed a little. I thought about the great joy she is in my life. And I thought what a terrible loss it would be to have her snatched away from me with no explanation and no of getting her back. My people have done that to your people. I'm sorry.

Actually, what he wrote was better than that. AIATSIS have posted on their website samples of what was written in the Sorry Books -- by children, people speaking very personally, prominent people, migrants & international visitors, special interest groups and others. There's a lot of wonderful, open-hearted communication there.

I don't care if Kevin Rudd's apology has the oratorical splendour of a meat pie. This isn't about wordcraft.

Posted: Tue - February 12, 2008 at 10:30 AM           |

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