Yvette Holt Primary Education Poem

The Poem “Primary Education” written by Yvette Holt contains a number of deeper messages. One of the most prevalent themes is stereotyping and preconceived opinions of aboriginal people, addressed by the author in the lines “But you look so clean”, “You sure don’t sound Koori because you speak English very well” and “Is it because she’s BLACK?”. Through the title of the poem “Primary Education” the author addresses the fact that racism is ingrained in children from a young age and how Australian children are “taught” to believe certain things about Aboriginal people. The title addresses how little the education system does to teach Australian children at their most impressionable about Aboriginal Australian culture. The mood created in this

One recurring figure is the image of the Aboriginal Flag, which begins as a “whitewashed” ghost of the flag. As the author grows into herself and her identity as she ages, the colours of the flag deepen and become less “whitewashed”. The fading of the darkness into the sky of the Aboriginal flag was done so to show how even at the darkest of times, after being broken down by others, the Australian Aboriginal people can return to their heritage and stay strong to their morals and beliefs. . The flag is shown in full colour, after being repeated in white washed variations for the entire video. This implies that the author has finally been able to find her identity and stand by her heritage. The image of the monkey shown as the narrator says “But you look so clean” is shown as a reference to the derogatory slur in which Aboriginal Australians and other people of colour have been called “monkeys”, ‘“apes” or “animals”. When the author states “Two years later, the friendly coloured girl”, an image of a brown pen being crushed is shown. This image is a metaphor for the pressure the author was put under from such a young age based on her skin colour. It shows that even from a young age, the authors dreams were crushed based solely on her skin colour. The image of the black paint was shown to contrast the black and the white as a visual metaphor to the authors focus on skin