Insights into Practice Rationale (Essay Sample)

Insights into Practice rationale
Name
Institution
Abstract
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are amongst the oppressed indigenous communities in Australia. They bear a history of oppression from the series social injustice of genocide, forced introduction into new cultures and eviction from their lands. The injustices remain intact, especially because the constitution developed in the year 1901 does not give them a benefit of human rights in Australia. Further, the society suffers privilege-based oppression as compared to the mainstream communities. They fail to access necessary life demands such as education, housing, and health among other social rights. The essay includes an outline of principle and strategies that I intend to inculcate in response the indigenous people complains. These strategies revolve around restoring the cultural pride and economic stability of the indigenous people amongst other demands. The strategies are expected to serve a long-run benefit in a bid to reduce the social injustices faced by the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.
Introduction
The Australian society is divided by differences in origin, culture, and even economic status. However, it is quite unfortunate that the indigenous people are highly victimized against expectations of any other society. The indigenous people in Australia in include the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Hollinsworth, 2010). The most immediate illustration of how despised and underprivileged the indigenous people are is that a great percentage of them reside in remote and rural areas. Further, there are a series of historical, social injustices that are affiliated with the indigenous people being deprived of their lands and resources. As a social justice operative, the aspect of people being deprived of their rights and property is an absolute issue that is worth fighting. From a historical point of understanding, Australia was occupied by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. These people comprised different communicates which had different cultures and languages. For instance, there were about 700 spoken languages. The estimated population of the indigenous people was approximately 750, 000 (Mooney, 2013). However, the statistics are not the same today. Instead, there are about 410, 000 indigenous people in Australia, making them 2 percent of the entire population.
Of course, there are adverse situations and reasons behind a retardation in the population growth rate amongst the indigenous people in Australia. However, the most immediate cause was the removal or eviction of the people from their traditional lands and resources. Further, the expansive initiation of cities and towns into the lands of the indigenous people was a cause of reduced populations amongst them (Hollinsworth, 2010). However, the series of activities encroached in the spirit of violence have led to today’s situation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Australian society. They no longer trust the government and the services rendered by it. The essay depicts a detailed analysis of the oppression faced by the indigenous people. Further, it addresses the privileges that contribute to the oppression of the indigenous people. Ultimately, I will provide a personal counter to these issues from a personal, cultural and structural level.
An overview of oppressions faced by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
Frequent discussions concerning social injustices in Australia revolve around the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The issue of oppression to these people is not only a historical issue but also a contemporary issue (De Schutter, 2009). The initial entity that influenced the oppression of the indigenous people was the Constitution that was established in the year 1901 (Hollinsworth, 2010). From a historical point of understanding, the background of social injustices commenced when the children and women of the indigenous people got carried away from their homes. These injustices include the acts of genocide, eviction and dispossession of lands, social and cultural disintegration and evolved racism. These social discrepancies got introduced after the occupation of the British in Australia (Jahangir, 2008). These injustices created a historical account of sociological and economical sense of neglecting. That implies that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders experience intensive oppression especially with regards to social and economic amenities.
The indigenous people continue to suffer oppression and racial discrimination from all walks of life. For instance, the constitution does not consider them to have inherent rights or equal rights with the rest of mainstream communities in Australia (Aboriginal Rights in Australia, 2012). That means that the indigenous inhabitants of the country do not possess any form of protection and constitutional recognition with regards to the federal government (Jahangir, 2008). Therefore, most of these people remain in the reserve areas. Further, they still suffer prohibition from practising their culture. However, they suffer regulated marriages, social contact and managed labour.
Prior to consideration of the upcoming privileges that are accompanied by civilisation, there are several categories of oppression that the indigenous people in Australia are facing. For instance, the constitution does not still stipulate the real intention of inculcating and respecting the spiritual and cultural traditions (Dudgeon, Wright, Paradies, Garney & Walker, 2010). The justification for this argument is that the mainstream communities, as well as, the government have not made a decisive approach towards the restoration of the lands and resources acquired from the indigenous people. Instead, they are continually being forced to participate in the European culture and values. That means that they are still encountering the spiritual destruction, which is against the wish of a culture that was profound and rich.
Today, there are a series of oppression aspects that are related to the historical injustices transgressed towards the indigenous people. They may not benefit from government initiated infrastructural development. Additionally, the indigenous people in the Australian remote areas are suffering continued poor health, poverty and the high level of illiteracy (Dudgeon, 2010). These are aspects that are associated with the historical injustices of neglecting the rights of the indigenous people. Today, there is a very high rate of deaths amongst the indigenous people. Some of the deaths are associated with suicide due to the distress experienced in the remote areas. Further, they rarely get opportunities such as health care and education. That makes the life very hard resulting in deaths and a reduction in the entire population.
Ways privilege reinforces ATSI peoples’ oppression
Prior to the development of practice principles and strategies to change the social injustices, it is essential to determine the different problems and oppressions that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. These people have not yet recovered from the genocide history and the eviction struggles. However, they still face discrimination when it comes to acquisition of civilisation. The poverty situation has led to cases of lateral violence (Lateral violence, 2012). That is where the indigenous people fight amongst themselves. Examples of the privileges that reinforce the oppression of the indigenous people include health, education, employment and income and housing amongst others.
First, the indigenous people or the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders suffer inadequate health care in Australia. In fact, I affirmed that indigenous Australians experience the worst health care than any other identifiable cultural group in Australia (Anderson et.al, 2010). The life-expectancy difference between the indigenous and the mainstream community in Australia rates to approximately 17 years. It is stipulated that the continued inadequacy in cultural adaptation with regards to the delivery of health services is a persistent cause or barrier to enjoyment of health rights for the indigenous people. These challenges face the indigenous people while those citizens that belong to the mainstream society continue to live in healthy conditions.
Another privilege associated category of oppression against the aboriginals is education. First, the curriculum does not teach any form of aboriginal traditions and beliefs (Dudgeon, 2010). That is despite the fact that the community comprises the longest-living group in the Australian history. Further, education is not taught in any indigenous language. Instead, all these privileges are accrued to the mainstream society. English is the dominant language in education. Further, very few children amongst the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders get a chance to go to school. Very few get a chance to start or even achieve commendable academic levels considering that most indigenous people still live in the remote areas (Kruske, Kildea & Barclay, 2006). Thus, the level of illiteracy both in education and normal management of resources is a challenge to them.
Another privilege associated oppression towards the indigenous people in Australia is that of employment and income. The non-indigenous people are assumed to take the largest proportion of jobs both in the private and public sector (Hollinsworth, 2010). Further, there is a contemporary initiative termed as the welfare reforms that has come to cut off the level of income and jobs for the indigenous people. I identified that one Yarrabah community in Queensland reported a loss of 7 million Australian dollars after a similar exercise deprived the indigenous and influenced employment of the mainstream communities (Dudgeon, 2010)...