
If you’ve been paying any kind of attention to the media recently, you’d know there’s been a great storm brewing over the past couple of weeks. There have been calls for change, there have been comments sections filled with death threats and pure rage.
You might think it was a news event of great significance causing such anger. Also, this was the response to the rebranding of a cheese company.
Now death threats over cheese?
Sure, I guess I understand to some degree as that was my reaction to being diagnosed as lactose intolerant but over the name of a cheese company? Is this the country we have become or is this the country we’ve always been?
I would say yes to both.
Watch author, Amanda Fotheringham explain the awkward questions she gets asked as a young Aboriginal woman. Post continues below.
Change is not often accepted easily by the best of us but time and time again, Australians reiterate their unwillingness to change, to become a more inclusive nation and it feels as though death threats over this renaming is a new low.
There are so many things that need to change in Australia for it to become a country where it is just as fair and equal for First Nations peoples. But how are we meant to make meaningful and impactful change if death threats are what you get for advocating for the renaming of a cheese brand?
There are so many things that need to change.
Of course, all of this happened in January which is when the furore begins to get louder each year as we inch closer to the January 26.
'Australia Day'. Invasion Day. Survival Day.
This is probably the most prominent First Nations issue if we’re measuring by the amount of times it appears in the media. More often than not, it is spun in a negative light by mainstream media to portray First Nations people as "angry and ungrateful".
As a Gamilaroi, Muruwari, Kooma and Gunggari woman, I’m not sure how to be happy or what there’s to be grateful for when Australians consistently attack First Nations people.
Top Comments
There probably will always be protests on a day of national celebration, given the inequality in this nation, but a good first step is acknowledging that this date is a ridiculous choice for a national celebration.