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Stolen Generation Analysis

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An analysis of the extent in which the Western Australian Indigenous ‘Stolen Generation’ between the period 1900-1940 can be classed as an ‘act of genocide’.
In recent Australian history, there has been a contentious public debate about identity, responsibility, and nationhood with regards to the practice of the forcible removal and assimilation of Australian Indigenous children between 1905 and 1970, which has come to be known as the Stolen Generation. This has been largely brought to the forefront of public attention by the ‘Bring Them Home’ report which declared that the ‘general public 's ignorance of the history of forcible removal was hindering the recognition of the needs of its victims and their families and the provision of services’ …show more content…

15). This has opened up a wide debate on whether the actions committed during this period constituted an act of genocide with this being extensively debated. The report (HREOC, 1997, p. 231) stated that the practice of child removal involved 'both systematic racial discrimination and genocide as defined by international law '; however, the UN and the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (1999) has stated that the child removal policies did not amount to genocide as they did not have specific intent to destroy. Clearly, acknowledgement of responsibility is a subject of great importance, particularly to the Australian Indigenous people in order for the necessary provisions to be made available, but also to the wider Australian nation, to be able to gain a full understanding of their country’s history. Therefore, the need for a definitive answer to the inquiry of genocide is imperative, although the need for this to be assessed in a scholarly manner is vital. Power (1999) notes that the term genocide is often branded into holocaustization and that whilst this ganders public attention, it is irrespective of true events. Milanovic (2006) has also stated that the moral and social stigma attached to the word genocide is one of the primary reasons why states and other political actors use it in international …show more content…

Following the atrocities committed in World War II, the term genocide was coined by Lemkin in 1944, who set the definition as ‘a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves’ (Lemkin, 1944, p. 79). However, the official definition, as classified by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), is ‘an act committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, such as: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another

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In chapter 5 of Genocide and Settler Society: Frontier Violence and Stolen Indigenous Children in Australian History, the author A. D. Moses uses gathered contributions from many Australian historians in this specific chapter this historian is the influential henry Reynolds, who argues the idea that genocide did exist in Tasmania. This chapter argues the idea that genocide was present in Tasmania and briefly discusses why Tasmania was seen as the perfect place for the thousands of prisoners that were brought over by the British colony. The chapter suggests that while Tasmania is and was an island in the middle of nowhere it was the perfect opportunity for such things (genocide) to occur, just like the Jews and the Nazi’s, a similar occurrence

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In 1944, a Polish-Jewish lawyer came up with the word, “genocide.” However, even seventy-five years later, many people still debate what factors go into making a genocide. Of course, there is mass murder, mistreatment of large groups of people, and difficult life conditions. Take the Cambodian Genocide, for example. People were tortured and killed so much during this genocide that at one of the death camps, “as few as 12 managed to survive” (Pierpaoli).

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Anthony Pfeiffer Mr. West Sophomore English 1/21/16 Genocide in the World Today The word genocide is the combination of the Greek word "geno" (meaning tribe or race) and “caedere” (the Latin word for to kill). When used the definition of the word means the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. This word has such a profound impact is due to it affecting millions of people 's lives because they don 't have the freedom to believe in what they want, however, if they do they can and will be punished or killed by the leaders in their country. Many countries are still facing the problem of genocide because it directly relates to people 's beliefs and ideas, where they think that

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In 1945 not along after World War II, Australia’s immigration minister Arthur Calwell, came to the conclusion that Australia’s economy was in need of expansion. He believed that in order to do this, Australia needed a larger population, implementing the need of higher birth and immigration rates. Historian James Jupp provides a relatively accurate statement to an extent describing Australia’s long immigration history as typically xenophobic, racist and insular. In 1947, the ‘Displacement Persons scheme’ was introduced specifically for European immigrants. On the other hand, there were still many other immigrants such as the O’Keefes who did not receive the same treatment as Europeans and instead experienced much racism and many difficulties.

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A genocide is the the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation, the Holocaust and the Cambodian Genocide are examples of this. After the Holocaust, in 1945 the United Nations realized that genocides were a continuously happening. They realized they needed to prevent genocides and global conflict in general. The Holocaust began on January 30, 1933 when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany and ended May 8, 1945 when the war officially ended.

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Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic, racial, religious or national group that has brought many losses for human population through the whole history of the world. First cases of genocide had such reasons as territorial, competing and religious arguments. For instance, one of the first genocides is thought to be the Roman destruction of Carthage in 146 BCE that occurred due to religious reason and the competitiveness of these two superpowers. The history has seen many cases of genocide, but this social problem especially spread worldwide during the twentieth century which was even claimed to be the “century of genocide”.

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