Let's face it though, in my eyes I don't have much of respect for the man who slams his right-wing agenda down the throats of the Australian public and delivers hypocrisy tenfold. He is a liar and an unprofessional journalist, but, Bolt appears to have a large following.
For many years I have been listening, learning and researching about the absolute atrocities committed against Indigneous Australian people since the time of European settlement. I have a reasonable understanding of the past actions committed against Australian Indigenous people, which has personally been recounted to me by various Indigenous elders I have met since studying Aboriginal Studies at high school. It is not only these reflections that have given me an insight into the horrible actions of the past, but various media articles, books and films. Since becoming interested in the plight of the Australian Indigenous people and the ramifications of the horrible way in which these people were and are treated, I have been reading, watching and following many Indigenous stories within the media.
So, I don't think it was much of a surprise to me to see that Andrew Bolt had been taken to court for racial offence. It appears that Pat Eatock an Indigenous campaigner, who brought the case on behalf of nine-fair skinned members of the Indigenous people, is and was the perfect woman to make history and 'compund career carnage for Australia's most popular columnist'.
What is exactly is it that Bolt wrote and had published I hear you asking? Well, one article titled: 'It's so Hip to be Black' and 'White Fellas in the Black'...need I say anymore. Bolt writes:
'Not yet convinced that for many of these fair Aborigines, the choice to be Aboriginal can be considered almost arbitrary and intensely political, given how many of their ancestors are in fact Caucasian?
Then meet Tara June Winch, who is just 26 and has written only one book, Swallow The Air, yet is already an ambassador for the Australia Council's Indigenous Literacy Project. Yes, indeed, because despite her auburn hair and charmingly freckled face, she, too, is an Aborigine, who claims her "country is Wiradjuri".
Yet her mother, who raised her in industrial Wollongong, is in fact boringly English, and her father has both Afghan and Aboriginal heritage. She could call herself English, Afghan, Aboriginal, Australian or just a take-me-as-I-am human being called Tara June Winch. Race irrelevant.
Instead, she's an official Aboriginal, and hired as such in a nation which now institutionalises even racial differences you cannot detect with a naked eye.
Larissa Behrendt has also worked as a professional Aborigine ever since leaving Harvard Law School, despite looking almost as German as her father'.
Do I hear you say idiot! I can personally say that I have met Larissa Behrendt. She attended a Reconciliation Assembly I held at my high school and spoke about what it means to identify as an Indigenous person today. I have never met anybody who is so proud to be an Indigenous woman. However, Behrendt is also proud to be of German descent too.
Bolt has clearly missed the point here and it relates to country and place. Indigenous people have a strong link to culture and country. The place or land in which their people live (there are hundreds off Indigenous languages and groups within Australia), is of great significance and importance to these people. I understand from hearing Larissa Behrendt speak, that the importance of her Indigenous culture was passed down from her mother. How can Bolt question these individuals (and many others), if he doesn't know a thing about them! Sloppy sloppy journalism! Do some research for once Andrew! I believe we need to educate the rest of the Australian public on the importance of establishing a treaty and try and move further forward towards reconciliation! Articles like this only serve to reinforce an uneducated society and deliver a stereotypical message to Australian 'lefties' that all 'right wings' are of this opinion. Well, it appears that many are now!
To sweeten the deal for me personally Bolt was found guilty of destruction of racial tolerance! Bolt's articles were also found to contain errors of fact and distortions of truth. To put it plainly though, he is a deceptive and manipulative man, pushing and pushing his own agenda. I particularly liked blogger Gohan451's description of the man in question: 'his support for our illegal wars and his opposition to social welfare programs that don't help rich people should say all thay is needed. Yet he has a following, this man who represents everything that is vicious and cruel about the Australian character'.
*Bolts first article: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/its-so-hip-to-be-black/story-e6freal3-1225698790774
*http://gohan451.wordpress.com/2011/03/27/andrew-bolt-the-fuckheads-choice-since-1999/
*Bolts second article: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/its-so-hip-to-be-black/story-e6freal3-1225698790774 (this is pretty much the same article! Couldn't think of anything else to write that day Andrew?)
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