I passed by Hyde Park this week in the heart of Sydney and looked again on the statue of Captain James Cook. It has pride of place, a monument to the man who in 1770 claimed this continent for the British crown.
On the base of the statue is an inscription in bold letters:
DISCOVERED THIS TERRITORY
1770
It has stood since 1879. When it was unveiled more than 60,000 people turned out. The procession at the time was the largest ever seen in Sydney.
No-one present then questioned that this was the man who founded the nation.
But think about that today. Think of those words: “Discovered this territory.”
My ancestors were here when Cook dropped anchor. We know now that the first peoples of this continent had been here for at least 65,000 years, for us the beginning of human time.
Yet this statue speaks to emptiness, it speaks to our invisibility; it says that nothing truly mattered, nothing truly counted until a white sailor first walked on these shores.
The statue speaks still to terra nullius and the violent rupture of Aboriginal society and a legacy of pain and suffering that endures today.
Read the whole article at http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-18/america-tears-down-its-racist-history-we-ignore-ours-stan-grant/8821662
1/ Do you agree with the sentiments of Stan Grant in the article above? If so why? If not why not?I undoubtedly agree with the sentiments that were expressed by Stan Grant in the article.
I undoubtedly agree with the sentiments that were expressed by Stan Grant in the article. The Captain Cook statue in Hyde Park represents an utter disrespect to Indigenous Australians. Whilst we can never erase our shameful history, we can instead do something right now in the present. Specifically, as Stan Grant subtly suggest, “tear down (our) racist history”. To me, a statue is symbolic of achievement and it represents something to be proud of. I am definitely not proud of Australia’s dark history, but I am more disappointed that we have not done anything about it. I think this statue should be taken down, and in its place, will be another statue. A statue that will honour the existence of Indigenous Australians before 1770. We as a nation have taken the first step to building reconciliation with Indigenous Australians through Kevin Rudd’s apology speech, what’s next?
Image Sourced From
http://www.retireearlyhomepage.com/IMG_4083a.JPG
LOST IN LITERATURE 
