It was our ignorance and our prejudice. And our failure to imagine these things being done to us. With some noble exceptions, we failed to make the most basic human response and enter into their hearts and minds. As a consequence, we failed to see that what we were doing degraded all of us. Honest and open reflection is constructive.
Reflection takes time.
And it requires information. I recommend, as a useful starting point, Chapter 10 'The Legacy of History' and Chapter 11 'Some Aspects of Aboriginal Society Today' of the National Report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. The direct voices of our people are being increasingly heard in biographies and other publications. It is my belief that when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander story of Australia is heard and understood then there will be a true reconciliation. The abstract language of human rights and justice will settle down on the realities of the lives and aspirations of individual men, women and children who wish simply to have their humanity respected and their distinctive identity recognised.