I'm Aboriginal

How often do you hear the phrase "I am an Aboriginal" from someone that looks white, with perhaps a hint of something else.

The legal definition is 1/8th which means one great grandparent is a full blood or some similar combination. The other definition is some one accepted by the Aboriginal Council. This could be someone one 1/23 or even 1/64 which is about the limit for any descendants.

So thinking about this. The majority of the mix is abandoned or denied to declare oneself Aboriginal. Why? The cynic might suggest that since anyone from that group gets all kinds of benefits that it is for the money. There is for example a dog allowance, no I'm not making this up. Being Aboriginal also means less likelihood of being arrested for breaking the law.

Sadly the effect is to fragment society. Those not in the Aboriginal set consider them a protected and pampered class that are considered to give nothing substantive back to society and are not to be respected. The whole Stolen Generation Myth has seen not one single case (that fits within the definition) ratified in a court. Still the myth persists and this also causes fracturing.

Essentially there are only two ways to handle this in the future. Either everyone is Australian or we end up with a fractured society where there can be no Australia, no Australians just a mass of splinter groups. Treating one group as special out of some sense of guilt is no way to run a country. Sadly special interest groups have the decision makers tied up with their particular brand of flag waving that does nothing for the majority.