Rabbit-proof fences
Last night, Amy, Lukas, and I went to Seattle Central Community College. Not to enroll or anything, but to sit in on a “community night” session of one of their integrated studies classes. It was a potluck followed by the movie “Rabbit-Proof Fences,” starring that guy from Harry Potter. It was about three half-aboriginal girls who were removed from their homes by force under white rule in Australia in the 1930’s. They were removed from their aboriginal mother (I think there’s a more PC term, but that’s what they used in the movie) to be raised as white and to marry white men, to “breed the savage out of them” or something similar.
The movie was great. But afterward, there was a discussion. I mentioned above that it was a community night, and the teachers had invited many native NW tribes to attend. There were probably 20 native Americans there, and many shared similar stories of identity loss and separation on reservations. Many of them had been removed by DHS from their severely alcoholic parents, never to return. It was sad to hear their tragic stories, which, like the movie, are true stories of hurt and loss. Tough one. I appreciated the relative lack of white-bashing; the natives were able to tell their stories of oppression and loss in a way that communicated to us, without blaming us. They wanted us to understand, not pay. I appreciate that, as I don’t hold myself personally responsible for the atrocities committed by whites in the past. I have been guilty of insensitivity, though, and the education I received last night will go a long way toward breeding it out of me.
