Anthony Dillon is one of those Aboriginal people that the left-media don’t like. You’ll rarely see Dillon on The Project. You won’t see Jacinta Price or Warren Mundine, either.
It would be merely churlish to suggest that that’s because Price, Mundine and Dillon are distinctively Aboriginal, unlike the pasty, inner-city Fauxborigines so beloved of the latte set. In fact, the main reason the left-elite despise them is because they refuse to buy into the “poor-fella-me” narrative of eternal victimhood.
In fact, Dillon argues, the victim narrative hurts rather than helps Aboriginal people. Especially the Big Three of right-on Aboriginal politics.
As you might have guessed, these ideas are promoted as unquestionable truths by the culture vultures.
You know what I mean when I talk about culture vultures: that man who discovers he has some Aboriginal ancestry and then decides to learn a few Aboriginal words, and then when filling out a form with the question, “Other languages spoken at home?” ticks ‘yes’.
Or that person who isn’t quite sure what cultural safety means, but is sure that his has been violated and wants everyone to know.
Or maybe that person who when they get on social media, chant “Sovereignty never ceded” or, “Treaty now.”
BFD readers would be familiar with their similar, home-grown pustules: the Anglo-European journalist who sprinkles their prose with Te Reo. The “my-great-grandmother-was-one-quarter-Maori” types sporting mokos.
BFD readers will also recognise Anthony Dillon’s “three killer ideas” right away.
“Blaming the Victim”
Mention a problem experienced by an individual or community and you are sure to be accused of ‘blaming the victim.’ Of course, this one isn’t just restricted to Aboriginal affairs; this is a favourite amongst keyboard warriors. Suggest how a person could avoid being the victim of a crime, like say not walking in a particular location after dark, and you will be accused of ‘blaming the victim.’
In Aboriginal affairs, simply mention that a person needs to play their part in improving their circumstances and you are sure to be accused of ‘blaming the victim.’ Mention that they can play a part to reduce community dysfunction and you will be accused of blaming the victim. The implied message in accusations of blaming the victim is generally, “it’s the white man’s fault.”
Not even implied: for some Maori activists, blaming “colonialism” is saying “it’s the white man’s fault”. Yes, it’s the white man’s fault you bash your missus and hospitalise (or worse) your precious tamariki, while the rest of the whanau do nothing.
Dillon uses a simple parable to illustrate the fallacy of this attitude. Supposing a car driver knocks him off his bike and speeds off. Should he just lie there and wait for the offending driver to come back and help – which he knows perfectly well they never will?
Suggesting, “Anthony, mate: instead of lying there, how about you call an ambulance?” is not “victim blaming”. It’s practical good advice.
“We Can’t Move Forward until We Acknowledge…”
This is definitely one of the deadliest myths holding Aboriginal people back. When I hear this claim, I want to reach for the bucket. Usually it’s the past that the culture vultures believe must be acknowledged.
When do we not acknowledge the past? We don’t just “acknowledge” it, we wallow in it, we hair-shirt ourselves with it. Schoolchildren are browbeaten endlessly about it.
This idea that some acknowledgement is needed is clearly a myth as many Aboriginal people today are not only moving forward, they are doing so in huge leaps. To suggest to them that the past or some ‘truth’ must be acknowledged in order to move forward is a smack in the face to the many fine Aboriginal people who make this country a better place. They don’t need any acknowledgement, they just want to get on with life.
If your great great grandfather hurt or even killed my great great grandfather, I don’t need you to acknowledge it in order for us to be friends. The only reason I would need you to acknowledge it would be if I wanted you to feel guilty.
Finally, we get to the big one. This is the One Big Idea of the race-hustling left.
“Racism against Aboriginal People Is Rampant.”
This claim is rampant, but not the racism. I am not saying racism against Aboriginal people does not exist, I am just saying that it is not the big culprit holding Aboriginal people back.
The Good Sauce
Not just any old racism, of course. The left wore out racism through overuse, a decade ago. So they’ve had to up the hit in order to get the same high. Now, it’s “systemic racism” and “institutionalised racism”.
Of course, race-hustlers never offer any actual evidence of this. Why should they? Everyone they know, knows it’s true.
The American left claim that disproportionate black crime rates are because of “racist over-policing”. The rest of us are pretty sure that all the policing is directly related to all the shootings.
But, what would we know? We’re just racist.
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