Slander, vitriol against the late Queen Elizabeth is not the way to progress Indigenous rights

Zak Kirkup Published September 24, 2022 at 1.28pm (AWST)

opinion

"I have a dream that one day... the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

These were the inimitable words of Martin Luther King Jnr who gave his enduring speech I have a dream in 1963 as part of the movement for civil rights.

The point of what MLK was making is that there is no point trying to divide the United States on their march towards equality.

He knew that while there was undoubtedly pain borne by those who were an enslaved people, to yield anger would not just be unfruitful but it would threaten the very progress that the Civil Rights Movement was trying to achieve.

For many we look to MLK as not only instructive but a roadmap to how we can heal.

In our own country there would be few Indigenous people who have not shared the deep cuts of intergenerational trauma, systemic racism and inherent bias against our own progress.

Yet as we witnessed the 'Crush the Crown' protests in Naarm this week, it seems the words of Dr King have been lost on some.

Indigenous Australians have every right to be angry and upset.

The continuation of injustice only serves to rub salt into wounds that have only just begun to heal.

However in the expression of our pain, we must not fall into the trap of extreme language and imagery in order to attempt change.

MLK knew that he couldn't force the country into change by denigrating protest.

For the vast majority of Australians, they revere Queen Elizabeth II.

The language recently of some calling our late Queen a "dumb dog", to paint fake blood over her images and call for a "crushing" of the Crown does nothing to advance progress.

As a country, we are about to embark on a referendum for Indigenous constitutional recognition.

Soon every single Australian is going to have a vote to decide the future of the Indigenous constitutional recognition and a Voice to Parliament.

Those who want to see this reform and progress made, must understand that we cannot expect to 'shock' Australia into change.

Instead we should look to the path of our own elders who in the 1970s agreed to a path of diligent and meaningful reconciliation.

That simply cannot occur if protestors decide to denigrate an institution - indeed a person in the Queen - who many Australians felt an affection towards.

I appreciate that those who do not feel this warmth towards the Crown would have found the past two weeks suffocating.

As if we all had to have the universal opinion of reverence, particularly for an Empire which has been the source of much injustice.

The trouble is that the temperature around this conversation is going to turn up a lot more over the coming years.

As we start on the campaign towards a national referendum, it will be confronting, and many may feel a sense that we're fighting for our place to be recognised as equals and how dare progress not yet be made.

We must not yield to the militancy which resulted in these protests this week.

Instead we would be wise to look towards a path that brings all Australians together as one people on one journey towards a better, brighter world.

MLK encouraged activists in the civil rights movement to move to the 'high plane of dignity and discipline'.

These are the words we should all remember both now and in the lead up to the referendum.

We cannot seek to divide our country against itself or those advocates for change will fail.

MLK and many of our Elders past had a dream of one journey together, but we're barely going to take a step if the protests of this week become the norm.