Well said Debbie!
Chris Hankel
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of brian fleming
Sent: Wednesday, 1 December 2010 1:31 PM
To: Debbie Lustig;
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Racism and parrots
Thank you Debbie, I agree with every word!
Anthea Fleming
On 1/12/2010 1:44 PM, Debbie Lustig wrote:
>
> I have been reading people's opinions about the money being charged to see
> Princess Parrots and can hold off no longer. There is an underlying racism
> that lurks, a nasty little secret, beneath the comments of many. How else to
> explain well-meaning discussions along these lines (and I paraphrase):
> 'If it teaches them - Indigenous people - to run birding tours then I
> approve' (for our - whitefellas' - benefit, of course);
> 'If they share the money among their community then I approve' (since when
> were Europeans called upon to share their profits with their communites?);
> 'They've been given enough money already so I don't approve'
> (over-simplifying an unbelievably complex situation); and
> 'If they can get that sort of money, let them try (but I don't approve)'.
> These sentiments imply a superiority and moral high ground we simply don't
> possess. They are more offensive for being subtle.
> People have also objected to the traditional owner's scruples about (white)
> birders running around on his land, when we don't have a clue what it means
> to be custodians of the land. To protect the animals, birds and plants; to
> have a spiritual connection; to be diminished when the land is trampled on
> and ignorantly invaded.
> Look at how we have managed custody of our own (stolen) lands, here in our
> cities and degraded, agricultural areas - we know only how to exploit.
> I am fed up with reading this correspondence, couched in economic terms but
> informed by ugly, masked racism. From now on, could it be limited to the
> facts?
>
>
>
>
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