Politically correct ?

It seems that the need to be " politically correct " whenever we make a speech now requires some form of Aboriginal mention to be part of all and every address we make.    A patron of the one hundred and fifty year old St John's College at the University of Sydney seems to have insulted the Aboriginal community because he failed to mention them when he lauded this institution.

Jeffrey Phillips SC paid tribute to the " Traditional custodians of this place "  who he went on to add were " Benedictines who came from the great English nation ".    This was said in the great hall of the university, before an audience that contained some Aboriginal students.  At least one of whom has complained and feels " deeply traumatised ".

It is hard to determine exactly what is so offensive to members of the Aboriginal community in that audience.
When the first fleet arrived in 1788 there was no university in Sydney.   There were not even any schools teaching the " three R's ".    The ships of the first fleet carried convicts, guards and free citizens from the British Isles and one of the first things they did was farm the land, build houses and set up schools to educate their children.  The original inhabitants of Australia were not involved in this activity and it is hard to see where their omission from Phillips statement is a sin.

Building a university was a natural extension of the establishment of primary schooling and the divisions within the Christian religion contributed colleges.   Benedictine Catholics were the moving force behind the establishment of St John' college, and hence Phillips statement was simply a confirmation of fact.

The rights and wrongs of the first fleet's arrival - unannounced and uninvited - is an event sanctioned by people who are not alive today.  They were simply following the custom of that time which stipulated that the nations of Europe had devised ships, trade and force of arms to settle and command new lands found by their explorers.   The wishes of any indigenous people were not considered and those people were summarily ordered to obey the laws of the invaders.

It is too late to undo any injustices from that time.   All we can do - and have done - is to apologise and make sure that the ancestors of those original inhabitants are given equal rights.  Some Aboriginal people have chosen to continue to live a tribal life in remote areas while others have integrated into non-Aboriginal Australian society.  Various schemes and quotas are in place to  assist that integration.

It does not help when the Aboriginal people have a massive chip on their shoulders and examine every aspect of life for a hidden agenda of insult.  Just as Aboriginal people are proud of their folklore and the achievements of their people, other Australians are equally proud of the society they have built in this country, and that in no way disparages Aboriginal achievements.

It would be interesting to know in what way Jeffrey Phillips comments delivered " trauma " to the Aboriginal student who complained about his speech.  Precisely what did he think was missing ?   In what way did the founding of St John's College by Benedictine priests cast some sort of slight on this students Aboriginality ?

Used in the right way, " Political Correctness " can be a measure of mending relations between the disparate groups that make up our society.   When it is used as a " weapon of war " it drives those groups further apart  - and delivers "irrationality " !