Robert Darroch commented on 2018-12-08 09:10
An absolutely outstanding piece of work, for which you must be congratulated skillfully written, cogently argued, well referenced, and admirably thought-provoking (not to say also being right), I ha (article 626889-11485)
Link back to commentAn absolutely outstanding piece of work, for which you must be congratulated
skillfully written, cogently argued, well referenced, and admirably thought-provoking
(not to say also being right),
I have one thing to add in support. Perhaps the most memorable example of an excess of identity politics was delivered in the 1970 by the indigenous advocate Faith Bandler (a Pacific islander). For decades she had railed against the practice of "blackbirding" (Pacific Islanders supposedly kidnapped - shanghaied - and brought to Queensland to work in the cane fields, allegedly for subsistence wages).
On the back of this campaign, she became of leader in aboriginal rights, receiving innumerable awards, etc, for her work championing her exploited Kanakas. She said it was tantamount to slavery (and reflected Australia's treatment of its own indigenous population) which it would have been, had it been true.
However, research into the Kanakas era by several unimpeachable Queensland academics showed that the islanders not only came willingly but queued up to be given the opportunity to leave their impoverished islands to work for good wages in the cane fields (especially so they could send money home to their families).
When this was pointed out to Bandler (and this is especially germane to your context) she did not deny it, but said "We must be allowed to keep our beliefs".
Keeping one's beliefs, no matter what the truth may be, is the sine qua non of identity politics.