Numbarlie Marlu Men's Business
Aboriginal Activist Sam Watson Responds To Media Attacks On Men's Business
An open letter to all Aboriginal men, talking back to the slander of recent anti-Indigenous propaganda.
It's hard to be an Aboriginal man on my continent at the moment. The media has painted us as monsters, and portrayed our most sacred traditions as the primitive customs of paedophiles and rapists. Check out this link to some of my articles about this propaganda campaign.
Sam Watson, of the Numbarlie Marlu Men's Business group, has written us an open letter in response to the slander. Here are some excerpts from that letter:
Open Letter to all Aboriginal Men: 7 July 06
"... We are the solution not the problem that the white system is trying to paint us as.
We have been meeting regularly as men and talking up our Men's Business and we have been very concerned about the political witch hunt that has been orchestrated by politicians both black and white, to attack Aboriginal men and marginilise us even further.
We accept that the violence and dysfunction that are features of many Aboriginal communities, are not part of our custom or lore and must be stopped immediately...
We accept that much of the violence has been carried out by men against women and children. We also accept that alcohol is a contributing factor in many of these
situations. But we also must recognise that the greater violence is coming from the white system and it is designed to complete the Final Solution that began with the first fleet and wipe us from the face of our land.
We say that the root causes of this violence and dysfunction that is in our community, cannot be found within the makeup of Aboriginal men. That business was just not there in that scale, before 1788. The root causes of much of this current business are part of a calculated pattern of attacks against us, by white agencies and the white economic and political systems that are committed to our destruction as a people and as a culture. It is the white system that is crushing us and placing enormous pressure on our men...
We do not have any power anymore, no role or place or rights to be men. Our men are attacked and condemned in every newspaper and two bob media commentator in the land. Our men are fair game for every talk back - shock jock on the commercial networks. And we are even ripped apart by those self-appointed, 'Jacky Jacky' leaders who are acting as attack dogs for their white masters.
Our men are hunted on the streets of this racist country and our men are hunted and murdered by racist Police, who then walk free. Too many of our men are behind bars and away from their families, where is the justice?!
The Brisbane central Aboriginal community has established this men's group (Numbarlie Marlu - "Us Men Together") to combat domestic violence, define and reinforce our role as men and to support our women and our community. True Aboriginal men do not bash women or terrorize children...
As Aboriginal men we have the power to do this and we challenge all other Aboriginal men to stand with us. We have to be strong for our brothers, for our women, for our families, for our communities. We are the husbands, the fathers, the uncles. We are the brothers, the nephews and the grandfathers.
The future of our people is very much in our hands.
Reject the calls by white politicians who want to storm into our communities and steal another generation of our children away. Reject the calls by white politicians to close down selected remote communities and establish yet another network of poverty stricken fringe dwellers.
This entire furore is a blatant attack on the Aboriginal nations. It is the latest and most deadly way of trying to break us down as a people. The white system is trying to take our balls away from us. The white system is trying to steal our children away from us, yet again. The white system is trying to steal away the men from the
Aboriginal family.
Just pause for a moment and work out the 'why.'
Have a look at the land that we are standing upon and work out what that land means to the white Australian economy. Work out why political thugs and criminals like Howard want to break down and discredit the Aboriginal political leadership. This is not about Aboriginal men, it is about the faceless white men who hide behind the white system and plot and plan against us.
White man wants our land; white man will not get our land. Aboriginal men were once great warrior kings, let us be warrior kings again!!"
