Why I am sorry

I am puzzled by the frequency of either of the following statements (or variations of them): 'I'm happy to support an apology to the stolen generations but I certainly take no personal responsibility.' Or, 'I do not support such an apology; I didn't do anything to them.'

Well, I'd like to place on record my sincere apologies for what I did to the Aborigines for much of my life. I'm 63, born and bred here. Fortunate — not proud — to be an Australian. I have never felt proud because, for one thing, I never earnt the privilege of being Australian. It was just luck. The same kind of luck that sees some people sail though life with good health while others suffer simply because they inherited a malfunctioning gene.

So why do I want to apologise to my black brothers and sisters? Because, especially in my early adulthood, I did not make any effort to understand what had happened more than 200 years ago when my ancestors arrogantly assumed control of someone else's country.

I lived for much of my life comfortably ignorant, until two decades ago when I pulled my head out of the sand, opened my eyes and, above all, opened my mind. I learnt to appreciate what it means to be Aboriginal. I learnt to respect their culture, their beliefs. I stopped making assumptions. I felt true shame for the role I had played if by no other means than my passivity. Sins of omission are as grave as the other kind.

To those who might respond that my generation was taught precious little Aboriginal history at school I would say that fact does not exonerate me. My youthful ignorance may have been excusable — the more so as the media of those days did nothing to dispel our prejudices — but I had no right to remain uneducated.

It is true that I had long felt anger and shame for the actions of those involved in taking Aboriginal children from their families. I would have killed, yes killed, had someone attempted to steal one of my own children. But I know a part of me back then would, on occasion, have tried to justify those thefts. I too would have said: 'The children will be better off, they will be educated like us (!), they will be away from the alcohol, the disease, the filth.' All the while conveniently forgetting who had introduced the alcohol, the disease and therefore the filthy living conditions. For I have long since learnt there were none of these before the ignorant and arrogant white man arrived.

I am not naïve. Today's Aborigines have, and rightly so, the same responsibilities the rest of us have to society and especially to their families, their children. And some, repeat some, have forfeited the right to remain parents. Temporarily at least. But in addressing these issues we must remember the root causes started more than 200 years ago. We whites have the greater responsibility to make things right by working with the Aborigines. It is about cooperation, not coercion.

So I thank all the Aborigines who graciously accepted Parliament's and my apology on 13 February. To those who were unable to accept Parliament's apology I say again I am truly sorry.

And lest some readers think I hate my ancestors, I don't. I admire their industry but I condemn their cruel, selfish, lazy racism. Just as I condemn my own.