Indigenous academic, Anthony Dillon, says the Black Lives Matter protests were “ridiculous” and the “rent-a-crowds” did not care about the real issues.
Read this great article : https://www.news.com.au/national/black-lives-matter-protesters-in-australia-are-just-rentacrowds/news-story/9c06a20372ff0b828b18b1222324b659
THE LIVING GOD WHO MADE US SAYS:
ALL LIVES MATTER
UNBORN LIVES MATTER
YOUNG LIVES MATTER
ELDERLY LIVES MATTER
CHINESE LIVES MATTER
INDIGENOUS LIVES MATTER
Ian Thomson 
Ian, you talk about cherry picking statistics. What I wrote was based on the figures Dr Dillon himself presented (27% of prison pop. being indigenous) together with the fact that Indigenous people are only 3.3% of our population. He chose to not address this huge imbalance. The stats from the 90’s was only for additional reference from the ABS. The indigenous incarceration rate has only increased over the intervening years. In 1991 it was 14.3% and today it is 28.6% – slightly higher than Dr. Dillon’s figure, so the problem of excessive indigenous incarceration is much worse today, in fact it has doubled. This is what makes it so many more times likely that an indigenous person will die in custody.
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Sometimes peaceful protest is the only way to bring light on a situation that has been swept under the carpet for too long.
Ian, I agree with you that all lives matter, but when you point to that in the face of an issue that has become a running sore it only serves to dilute the voice of those who speak out, another way of once again sweeping it under the carpet. It’s a deflection tactic. I would say the same to those who use the same tactic to deflect and dilute the voice of Pro Life protesters.
And the BLM protests have (with a few exceptions) been peaceful. It serves some people in power to make them LOOK violent by bringing in the army, swat teams and teargas.
The systemic inequalities are here in Australia as well, though not as visible or as pronounced as in America. Repentance happens on two levels: individually, as we surrender ourselves to the Lord and allow Him to speak into our lives, and societally as we open our eyes to unaddressed injustice.
Who is your neighbour? Care.
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Beloved Daniel
I don’t know anyone who denies there are grave injustices towards black people. The Bible calls this sin. And the answer is to turn from sin and obey the Lord. Prayer actually changes all things. The causes of inequality are manifold and we need to pray for our government and especially for the PM and minister Ken Wyatt.
Everyone knows about the ‘Gap’. Millions of $s having been thrown at the problems with little success. But God will turn people’s hearts by our prayers according to His will and purposes.
Look, this guy in the video talks about the situation in USA. His remarks have nothing to do with issues here. My post was about a leading Australian indigenous leader addressing the Aussie scene. I stand with him and his courageous comments about the situation here in Australia among indigenous people. Please do not use my site to place videos.
I will refrain from commenting any further–I simply do not have the time. His long message bids us to care. Certainly.
Yes, and Anthony Dillon certainly cares and thousands more who did not march.
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Excellent article Ian – I think God said this first. “psychologists tell us that people do not make observations and then draw conclusions, rather, they select theories that are consistent with their personal values, attitudes, and prejudices (often hidden from consciousness) and then go out into the world to make observations to validate their theories.”
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Thanks Michael for this insightful comment. This is so true to what happens daily. I pray we will all learn to make the observations and then draw appropriate actions of love and peace and truth, Amen.
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Here is another article that sheds further light on this issue:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jun/06/aboriginal-deaths-in-custody-434-have-died-since-1991-new-data-shows
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Glad you mention that Daniel. This is a link to an updated survey from The Guardian and reports there have been at least 434 deaths since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody ended in 1991.”
But that’s over a period of about 29 or 30 years. Well, we ought to rejoice that there been some good changes when we compare this with Dr Dillon’s recent Government source.
I am sure my daughter-in-law who is very active in making gains in this issue deserves a lot of praise. I support what she is doing.
That’s not to say more change is needed. Dr Dillon was also courageously pointing out the hypocrisy. Go read his article again and also the many comments. He has a lot of support from good people.
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Ian,
Please check the facts before re-posting articles that debunk a movement that tries to address an issue that has been ignored and swept under the carpet for far too long.
The author in that article is cherry picking his statistics to make his argument. The extraordinary figure in his own statistics that he doesn’t reflect on at all is that indigenous people make up 27% of the prison population while they are only 3.3% of the overall Australian population! This is why on a per capita basis (not prison population, but total population) indigenous people are 15 times a likely to die in prison than Australians generally. 7.4/100 000 pop. vs 0.5/100 000 pop.
The ABS statistics in this article confirm this:
https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/indigenous-deaths-custody-chapter-3-comparison-indigenous-and-non-indigenous-deaths
Pointing the finger at protesters does nothing to promote compassion.
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Thanks Daniel for the reminder that we should check the facts before re-posting articles. There is nothing more important than truth.
So what are the facts? Deaths in custody is an issue that has not been ignored but has constantly been in the public domain for decades as I recall. Dillon’s statistics are from a much more recent Government survey (2015) which shows a completely different situation compared to the ABS article covering 1990 to 1995. (He ought to know wouldn’t you think?–being vitally concerned with the well-being of indigenous folk). So who is cherry-picking?
Dillon was identifying some of the protesters (not all) as agitators “an excuse to protest for the sake of protesting.” He was pointing the finger at those “protesters”, not those who genuinely were distressed at the killing of George Floyd.
I think Dr Dillon was promoting compassion and I commend his generous spirit when he ends with these words:“Maybe it’s time we band together and start looking for the good in each other? There are no winners with the race riots and protests”. Truth will win in the End.
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Yes, Ian, a good article by Dillon, which is why we need to bring all our thoughts & laws to the bar of scripture (as an absolute from our absolute authority, God).
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Thank you Brian for your comment
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There is truth with humility. And there is truth with arrogance.
I am sorry but too often your blog is the latter.
In Christ
Mary Fisher.
Sent from my iPhone
>
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Thank you for reading my blog post and commenting. I was disappointed that you expressed your feelings but did not appeal to any facts or critical analysis.
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A sensible article. mmmmmmmmmmmmm
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Thanks Kevin. God’s will be done in Australia, His ways not our reactionary ways.
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