Australian community. I’m going to discuss the discourse in the

relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous people, by

deconstructing 2 poems by oodgeroo noonuccal. The first poem is called

“Assimilation – No!” The discourse of the poem is directed at racism in the Australian community, specifically how indigenous people are treated by non-indigenous Australians. Using nature to describe the discourse, a dominant line of the poem was, “a gum cannot change and be trained into an oak.” Just as a coloured person cannot change their appearance to fit in with the Australian community. The text favours Aboriginal Australians attitudes with the exception of the other Australians and

The second poem is similar to the first, it is also by Oodgeroo Noonuccal “A song of hope.” Its purpose was to expose a discourse to the reader. No longer will colour degrade the Australian community. As readers we are positioned to feel, compassion, sympathy and guilt towards the Indigenous people. In the text it leaves out the feelings and emotions of non-indigenous people, it is a one sided poem based on the feelings of the Aboriginal Australians. Racism has always been present in our lives, the poem quotes “No longer is the bone pointed at a darker race” No longer are indigenous people outcastes to the Australian community for having their own character and identity. A dominate line in the poem was “to ours fathers’ fathers, the pain the sorrow; To our children’s children, the glad tomorrow.” The social rating is eliminated, and nothing will stop them followin

Some topics in this essay:
Aboriginal Australians, Australians Racism, English Semester, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Australians Using, australian community, indigenous people, , readers positioned feel, positioned feel compassion, pride race, line poem, non-indigenous people, australian culture, aboriginal australians, aboriginal community, feel compassion, white australians,