International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination

The 21st of March is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

This date was chosen as it is the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa. Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations states:

Each year we mark this Day on the anniversary of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre. We can never forget the 69 unarmed and peaceful demonstrators who were killed by South African police as they protested the country’s unjust apartheid laws. Apartheid has long since been dismantled and there have been other important advances in the struggle against racism. These include treaties and declarations, the development of an international framework to combat racism, and national protection systems by numerous States. Despite much progress, racism remains a pervasive menace to individuals and ethnic and religious groups worldwide. It is a threat to stability and a grave violation of human rights. We must join forces to end racism, and sport can help reach this goal. On this International Day, let us recommit to ending racial discrimination and realizing our vision of justice, equality and freedom from fear for all.

It is my personal experience that Australian's do not have a sophisticated understanding nor an ability to identify, talk about and/or critically reflect on their own racism - individual, institutional and systemic. "I'm not racist" is frequently heard in the media as a defence. I would argue that probably all of us are racist to some degree or another. It doesn't make it okay of course. But it does mean that when you attempt to defend yourself with "I'm not racist", you look, sound and probably are being absurd, and un-productive. It takes a long time to grapple with one's own racism - to be able to self-identify it, to challenge it. It's an ongoing journey of reflection and personal challenge.

Here are some links that may assist you on your journey to better understanding racism -

• All Together Now - is a not-for-profit foundation set up to directly challenge and combat racism in Australia
• It Stops With me - campaign to challenge racism from the Human Rights Commission
• Racism: No Way - education campaign to challenge racism from NSW Government, Department of Education and Training

It's good to also share individual experiences of racism, so I've "mined" the Deadly Bloggers list for some personal reflections on racism -

• "Nigger" does not belong in the school yard from Not Quite Cooked
• I wonder what Johnny's mum was up to today from Not Quite Cooked
• White Privilege is Totes a thing from Sarah's World of Procrastination
• Response to racism in Rugby League from Dr Chris Sarra
• Am I White enough for you? from Clouds on a distant horizon
• The Racism post: I'm calling you all out from Black thoughts live here

I'll end with this poem by the very very deadly Murri poet Steven Oliver....

In Australia, other commemorations are also held on the 21st of March. These include Harmony Day and Closing The Gap.

If you know of any other deadly posts on racism, let me know so I can add update the list above ...

Cheers, Leesa

A quick craft activity idea

One of the downfalls of using Blogger is that there is no space to upload files and documents. I have to upload them somewhere else and then link them here. When The Critical Classroom is a bit bigger, we'll move over to a self-hosted site with loads of space. But til then, we'll have to stick to linking.

I've uploaded the craft activity we gave to visitors to our QEDREX earlier this month. You can download the file from either the SlideShare or Google Docs.

Teacher Activity: Create a jigsaw

View more documents from Leesa Watego

More to come soon ....

Leesa Watego

Special Days Calendar - March events now added

New Events added for Feb/March -
24 February 2010 - Putsch by proppaNOW Aboriginal Artist's Collective

Their first group exhibition outside of Queensland and as part of the Adelaide Festival, Putsch opened on February 24th 2010 at Tandanya Cultural Centre.

16 March 1995 - The High Court decides against Western Australia's constitutional challenge to the Commonwealth Native Title Act in Western Australia v Commonwealth [1995]

The Native Title Tribunal provides a range of resources about Native Title Law, determinations and issues.

20 March 1969 - The Aboriginal Welfare Board abolished

This website contains detailed history of Aboriginal affairs in New South Wales.

22nd March 2003 - Linda Burney, first Aboriginal woman elected to New South Wales State Parliament.

Linda Burney was elected on the 22nd March 2003, and has since been promoted to various ministerial positions.

28th March 1922 - Neville Bonner, the first Aboriginal person elected to Federal Parliament is born

Neville Bonner was born on Ukerabagh Island on the Tweed River. He was elected to the Senate in 1971. He passed away in 1999.

29 March 1984 - Charles Perkins is appointed Head of the Federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs


29 March 1995 - ATSIC (Indigenous Land Funds) Amendement Act passed.

This amendment created the Indigenous Land Corporation.

30 March 1962 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Qld, NT and NSW are given the right to vote at Federal elections.

The Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 (Cth) denied Aboriginal people the right to vote unless they were covered under s41 (allows for those who are already enrolled in State electoral rolls). The Commonwealth Electoral Act was amended in 1962 to allow Aboriginal people to vote if they wished (though it was not compulsory).

NB: This is a Google Calendar that we've created as a public calendar. We're uploading events month-by-month. If you know of any other events that we don't have and you would like to include, please send us an email. You can embed this calendar into your own website/blog by clicking here:
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=c0uruhv7tm38vof0n2ib73jta0%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=Australia/Brisbane

(Originally posted on criticalclassroom on TypePad on 03/02/2010)

Celebrating Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander culture in the classroom

We have created a different type of worksheet for celebrating in the classroom. We think that no celebration or special day is complete without decorations. These to bunting worksheets (one triangle and one rectangle) give the students an opportunity to create both individually & as a class. There are 2 to choose from so far, with different shapes (triangle or rectangle); different patterns; and different spaces to create (some have the full bunting shape to colour, while others have only the trim). The patterns are also great for fine motor skill development.

(Originally posted on criticalclassroom on TypePad on 02/07/2010)

Indigenous special days calendar

A new resource for teachers - A calendar of special days for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Australians. I've created it as a Google Calendar so everyone can access it. I'll be uploading a month at a time at this stage.



Here is a run down of February events in the calendar (with some links). I've not included wikipedia links in this post.
6 February 1976 - Pat O'Shane becomes first Aboriginal barrister in New South Wales.

An image of Pat O'Shane with information about her early career.

8 February 1868 - Aboriginal Cricket Team leaves Sydney for England.

An image of the team from 1868 is held in National Museum of Australia.

8 February 1939 - Cummerangunja Walk Off

Mission Voices is a website that contains information, resources and timelines about the history of missions and reserves in Victoria, including Cummerangunja Walk Off.

12 February 1965 - Freedom rides begin with Charles Perkins.

The Freedom Rides were designed to protest as well as draw attention to racism and discrimination in New South Wales communities.

13 February 2010 - First Indigenous All Stars "Dreamteam" Rugby League Game

Most Murris & Kooris will be watching this one!

27 February 1968 - Lionel Rose defeats Fighting Harada

Lionel Rose defeated Fighting Harada in Japan to win the WBC bantamweight title and the WBA World bantamweight title.

28 February 1995 Aboriginal Embassy included on register of the National Estate

Links from Australian Heritage Database about the Tent Embassy

* Notes on this calendar - I've found its easy to access information about the YEAR events happened, but not the actual DAYS/DATES. I'll slowly add to this calendar as I find more information & evidence of the actual dates. Look forward to any feedback & additions people can add!

(Originally posted on criticalclassroom on TypePad on 01/23/10)