MY Australian DREAM
BENJAMIN LAW
WRITER AND BROADCASTER
George Floyd’s brutal killing at the hands of police – and the wave of Black Lives Matter protests in its wake – have made us all re-examine police brutality against black people in the US and Australia. Here, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people represent roughly three per cent of the population, yet almost 30 per cent of the prison population. Since the 1990s, hundreds of black people have been killed – and continue to be killed – in police custody in similar ways to Floyd. In 2015, David Dungay even said the same words as Floyd – “I can’t breathe” – as he was held face-down by police officers before he died. What happens to black kids and adults in Australian detention is a national stain.
It also forces us to look at all our institutions with critical eyes. The arts and media govern whose stories are told, and who gets to tell them. And although we live in a country with the oldest continuing human civilisation on Earth, where half of us are first- or second-generation migrants … where are non-white people in the national conversation? Off the top of your head, can you name 10 Australian TV shows starring or hosted by a non-white person? Or even five?
Conversations about “diversity” in 2020 shouldn’t make us feel good. They should make us look at our leaders and propel us into action. May 2020 be the year we get
