Indigenous Australian Senator Urges End to Racism

(MENAFN) An Indigenous Australian senator issued a powerful plea on Monday to eliminate discrimination targeting Aboriginal youth, as the nation observed its annual Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day.

"Today is National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day and I want to celebrate the strength, pride and Truth-Telling of our Young People as they lead the way to Blak justice," declared Senator Lidia Thorpe, a self-described independent Aboriginal lawmaker, through a sequence of statements on X.

This year’s central message, ‘Little Footsteps, Big Futures’, emphasizes the determination and intention exhibited by Indigenous youth as they follow the footsteps of their ancestors.

"But we can’t celebrate our kids without naming their resistance - against a state that still wages genocide," Thorpe stated, underscoring ongoing systemic issues.

Since the establishment of British colonies in Australia in 1788, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have endured numerous forms of adversity, including the destruction of their ancestral lands and traditions, the separation of children from families, and the stripping away of basic civil rights, as noted by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Between 1910 and the 1970s, approximately 50,000 Aboriginal children were taken from their families under government-sanctioned programs.

"Our children are still being demonised, stolen from their families, and locked in cages. There are 24,000 Blak kids in out-of-home care, and child jailing is rising," Thorpe added, drawing attention to the persistent struggles Indigenous communities continue to face.

"Racism kills our children - in their homes, on the streets and on their way home from school," she insisted, calling for urgent action to dismantle systemic inequality and protect the well-being of Indigenous youth.

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