This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jan/24/stan-grants-speech-on-racism-and-the-australian-dream-goes-viral
The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Stan Grant's speech on racism and the Australian dream goes viral | Stan Grant's speech on racism and the Australian dream goes viral |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The veteran journalist and Wiradjuri man, Stan Grant, has told a Sydney audience that racism is “at the heart of the Australian dream,” as he delivered a sobering speech about the impact of colonisation and discrimination on Indigenous people and their ancestors. | The veteran journalist and Wiradjuri man, Stan Grant, has told a Sydney audience that racism is “at the heart of the Australian dream,” as he delivered a sobering speech about the impact of colonisation and discrimination on Indigenous people and their ancestors. |
| It has provoked a powerful reaction from Australians, going viral on Twitter, and has been watched almost 15,000 times on YouTube by Sunday morning. | It has provoked a powerful reaction from Australians, going viral on Twitter, and has been watched almost 15,000 times on YouTube by Sunday morning. |
| As part of the IQ2 debate series held by the Ethics Centre, Grant joined immigration lawyer Pallavi Sinha, Herald Sun columnist Rita Panahi and Australian actor Jack Thompson to argue for or against the topic “Racism is destroying the Australian dream”. | As part of the IQ2 debate series held by the Ethics Centre, Grant joined immigration lawyer Pallavi Sinha, Herald Sun columnist Rita Panahi and Australian actor Jack Thompson to argue for or against the topic “Racism is destroying the Australian dream”. |
| In his opening address, Grant, who is also Guardian Australia’s Indigenous editor, argued that racism was at “the foundation of the Australian dream”. | In his opening address, Grant, who is also Guardian Australia’s Indigenous editor, argued that racism was at “the foundation of the Australian dream”. |
| “The Australian dream,” Grant said. “We sing of it and we recite it in verse; ‘Australians all let us rejoice for we are young and free’. | “The Australian dream,” Grant said. “We sing of it and we recite it in verse; ‘Australians all let us rejoice for we are young and free’. |
| “My people die young in this country. We die 10 years younger than the average Australian, and we are far from free. We are fewer than 3% of the Australian population and yet we are 25% – one quarter – of those Australians locked up in our prisons. And if you’re a juvenile it is worse, it is 50%. An Indigenous child is more likely to be locked up in prison than they are to finish high school.” | “My people die young in this country. We die 10 years younger than the average Australian, and we are far from free. We are fewer than 3% of the Australian population and yet we are 25% – one quarter – of those Australians locked up in our prisons. And if you’re a juvenile it is worse, it is 50%. An Indigenous child is more likely to be locked up in prison than they are to finish high school.” |
| He spoke of his Indigenous ancestors, including his grandmother and great-grandmother, who were among those institutionalised in missions, where Indigenous people were forced into unpaid labour and abused. He referenced the “war of extermination” against his ancestors. | He spoke of his Indigenous ancestors, including his grandmother and great-grandmother, who were among those institutionalised in missions, where Indigenous people were forced into unpaid labour and abused. He referenced the “war of extermination” against his ancestors. |
| “I love a sunburned country, a land of sweeping plains, of rugged mountain ranges,” Grant said, referencing the famous poem, My Country, by the Australian writer Dorothea Mackellar. | |
| Related: Stan Grant: I can tell you how Adam Goodes feels. Every Indigenous person has felt it | Related: Stan Grant: I can tell you how Adam Goodes feels. Every Indigenous person has felt it |
| “It reminds me that my people were killed on those plains. We were shot on those plains, diseases ravaged us on those plains. | “It reminds me that my people were killed on those plains. We were shot on those plains, diseases ravaged us on those plains. |
| “Our rights were extinguished because we were not here according to British law, and when British people looked at us, they saw something subhuman. We were fly-blown, Stone-Age savages, and that was the language that was used. Captain Arthur Phillip, a man of enlightenment ... was sending out raiding parties with the instruction; ‘bring back the severed heads of the black trouble-makers’. | “Our rights were extinguished because we were not here according to British law, and when British people looked at us, they saw something subhuman. We were fly-blown, Stone-Age savages, and that was the language that was used. Captain Arthur Phillip, a man of enlightenment ... was sending out raiding parties with the instruction; ‘bring back the severed heads of the black trouble-makers’. |
| “By 1901 when we became a nation, we were nowhere, we were not in the constitution. Save for race provisions which allowed for laws to be made which would take our children that would invade out privacy, that would tell us who we could marry and where we could live. The Australian dream.” | “By 1901 when we became a nation, we were nowhere, we were not in the constitution. Save for race provisions which allowed for laws to be made which would take our children that would invade out privacy, that would tell us who we could marry and where we could live. The Australian dream.” |
| The media commentator and writer, Mike Carlton, described Grant’s address as Australia’s “Martin Luther King moment,” and “Stan Grant” was still trending on Twitter on Sunday morning. | The media commentator and writer, Mike Carlton, described Grant’s address as Australia’s “Martin Luther King moment,” and “Stan Grant” was still trending on Twitter on Sunday morning. |
| Grant won a prestigious Walkley award for journalism in December for his columns covering Indigenous affairs for Guardian Australia. | Grant won a prestigious Walkley award for journalism in December for his columns covering Indigenous affairs for Guardian Australia. |
| Honestly. I think this Stan Grant speech will one day be viewed as a Martin Luther King moment. https://t.co/bshxwKjBiX via @YouTube | Honestly. I think this Stan Grant speech will one day be viewed as a Martin Luther King moment. https://t.co/bshxwKjBiX via @YouTube |
| If there is 1 thing you watch today, it's this, from Stan Grant. Just 8mins of your time = perfect for the trip home https://t.co/3zkqnaywYK | If there is 1 thing you watch today, it's this, from Stan Grant. Just 8mins of your time = perfect for the trip home https://t.co/3zkqnaywYK |
| Everyone should watch Stan Grant: https://t.co/kkXAE0V7Ds | Everyone should watch Stan Grant: https://t.co/kkXAE0V7Ds |
| Wow. Stan Grant demolishes the myth of the Australian Dream. https://t.co/rsXa9Dr6dB | Wow. Stan Grant demolishes the myth of the Australian Dream. https://t.co/rsXa9Dr6dB |