Origins Inc wishes to caution against a racially divisive umbrella known as the White
Stolen Generation.
While Australians separated by forced adoption have predominantly
been white, those of other ethnic and racial groups within Australia have also lost children to adoption; hence, Origins Inc
supports Australians Separated by Forced Adoption (ASFA). As the mission of Origins
is therefore inclusive of all Australians separated by forced adoption, it continues to reject the exclusive and divisive,
‘White Stolen Generation’ (WSG) umbrella.
Origins is concerned that such a banner implies a pitting of white
against black, reflecting ignorance or denial of the racist impetus inherent in past assimilation policies which led to the
systematic removal of our indigenous people from their families of origins (the Stolen Generations):
The removal of vast
numbers of children on the grounds of their race was the unique experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
No other Australians were subject to discriminatory assimilation policies from the moment they were born.
In contrast, members of ASFA were separated by forced adoption on
the grounds of marital status. In substantiation of this claim, Human Rights Commission paper No. 5 found grounds for
class action due to the same:
…discrimination against a single mother on
the grounds of her unmarried status may under the Sex Discrimination Act be an infringement of her rights (see paragraphs
61-2), which should be the same as those of any other patient, and specifically those of married mothers.
She has the
right to name her child and the right to see her child with no more restrictions than any other patient in the hospital, and
even those restrictions are subject to her final decision. She can sign herself out of the hospital as can any other patient
not subject to a committal for psychiatric reasons. She has the right to see anyone she wishes, including the putative father,
and he has the right to see the child as much as any other father has the right.
Many of these
rights are not being recognised, apparently on the grounds that restrictions are in the interest of the mother or her child.
Not only is there no evidence to support restrictions on such grounds but there is an abundance of evidence that this type
of repression is damaging to mother and child and can seriously jeopardise the realism of the decision that the mother is
endeavouring to make about whether or not she should surrender her child for adoption.
There is clearly a need for those helping disadvantaged people – and single mothers are frequently disadvantaged
people – to critically examine their motivation and their way of dealing with those they are intended to assist.
Origins Inc therefore wishes to officially disassociate itself from
the White Stolen Generation umbrella once and for all, in the interests of racial harmony and the Australians it seeks to
represent. We would urge all
governments and organizations purporting adoption involvement in this country to do likewise.
Origins Committee
Definitions:
Forgotten Australians
Stolen Generations
Australians Separated by Forced Adoption
Australian Human Rights
Commission, Discussion Paper No. 5, Rights of Relinquishing Mothers to Access to Information Concerning Their Adopted Children,
1984, LQ.KN176.1. M1 1,
<http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1592710>