Australia, the date is only the first thing that needs to change
Imagine a bunch of people invaded the place you and your family had been peacefully living for generations.
They gaslit you by telling you your treasured practices and traditions were ‘primitive’.
They made you sick.
They killed or imprisoned the pillars of your community.
They stole your children.
They destroyed your sacred sites and diminished your agricultural practices.
They created a financial system based on their values — and punished you for not perfectly falling in line.
They created a prison system designed to over-police, over-sentence, and under-support your community.
They created a medical system in which members of your community had drastically lower health outcomes.
They created a school system that barely acknowledged your community’s experience — and the generational trauma you carry off the back of it.
They worked to eradicate your people from the face of the earth.
Imagine those people chose the anniversary of the invasion as the day to celebrate ‘all Australians’.
Imagine you said ‘Please. Any day but that one,’ and they told you to get over it.
For peace’s sake. For respect’s sake. For reconciliation’s sake.
Change the date.