Dr. John A. King dismantles the racist myth that Aboriginal Australians are unintelligent by listing concrete achievements: his sister-in-law works in caregiving and retail management, his brother spent nine years as a chef in Japan, another preserves oral history in multiple languages, and his wife holds a master's in economics and art. Most Australians never spend time with Indigenous people, who make up only 3-4% of the population, so the stereotype persists from ignorance.
Chapters
All abos are stupid. Myth number whatever you want to call it. Yeah, I thought you'd like that throwback racial term. Probably haven't heard that for a while, have you? Well, I did in Sydney just recently, so obviously it's on the rise again. So all abos are stupid, eh? Well, that's funny because my sister-in-law, you know, she's a registered caregiver for aged and people with different abilities. Also an administrative, uh, you know, whiz apparently in retail stuff. My brother, he's a chef, 9 years in Japan. Now you think being a chef in France is hard, try bloody Japan. Also run major catering businesses, inventor of catering technology. Other brother, I think English is his 3rd or his 4th language, plus he's also the custodian for oral history. Now you try remembering the history of your entire people group. Now that takes some stretch. And my wife, you know, Melissa, she's a master's in economics and art, and myself, I've got a doctorate in theology. So, you know, I don't know, out of one small, you know, sample group, I don't know if we're particularly stupid. Then, uh, you look around at, uh, what my brother's built. Yeah, we've got homes, we've got Facilities. Oh, look, stupid blackfellas are just getting 4 batteries together and working out a solar system so we can run not only one house but 2 whole houses on it. I think with myths or misunderstanding and even prejudice, to prejudge something is this looking at someone or a people group and passing a judgment without any real knowledge of them. The fact that Imbrani Aboriginals make up 3 or 4% statistically at the moment, be that accurate or not, of the Australian population means that probably, I don't know, 90-95% of people have never really spent time with Umbrani. So, so all these judgments and these actions, they— conclusions they come to, they're just erroneous. They're not based on anything. So my challenge is, you know, and I'll go through a few more myths over the next couple of days, but my challenge is get to know someone. Take some time, spend some time, and you'll be surprised, you know. Cheers.
