Not an end, but a beginning

The Australian Parliament today, by way of the Prime Minister, apologised officially for the mistreatment of the Australian Aboriginal Peoples. (BBC story here.)

Looked at from one perspective, this might be an end, a balm to troubled consciences, a way for the oppressor to move on and forget, to say to himself 'well, that's fixed, no more worries there': a way for nothing to change.

Or it can actually be the beginning of something much bigger, much messier, less manageable, and more troubling. It might not be a balm (in the short to midterm) for consciences, but actually stir up more trouble; it might be the occasion for more stories to be told, more uncomfortable truth to come to light. Any apology, by dint of coming clean about what one has done, always contains the risk of encountering more fully the depth and nature of one's offense

But maybe, just maybe, it will be the beginning of healing and reconciliation - ultimately, for all involved (for the oppressor often forgets how his oppression distorts his own humanity). And that would begin to change everything.

And maybe - just maybe - my own people in America might take a cue.

Jason Goroncy, an acquaintance who is a PhD student at the University of St. Andrews, and an Antipodean native himself, blogs on this new development here (with the text of the official apology) and here (with an extended reflection on guilt and forgiveness - good stuff).