VG Webber Dear Connor

Sept 2013

Thank you for the opportunity to speak at your first Torque Forum on Indigenous Health. I consider this a great honour and joy to be asked and to be involved in sharing a message of change with our future doctors. It was thrilling to see such a wonderful turnout of the students on a Sunday, this shows me their dedication and drive to be the best they can be and to be armed with all the information being offered to them. I spent some time over the last few days pondering a question that was posed to me re White Guilt, I regret that I did not take the opportunity to respond to this question as I let my esteemed co speakers take the chair. I did however speak to the lady who bravely asked me and upon reflection feel that it would be valuable for everyone to hear my response. This is a statement that I was not familiar with until recently and it is a statement that I feel very passionate about and would appreciate if you could circulate this email to all the Torque members and the other speakers. As everyone could see through the snippet of my life that was exposed on the powerpoint that I presented, my family has been very affected by matters of the past history of Australia. With some members of my community and family these scars can still be clearly observed through drug and alcohol issues and mental illness and anchoring attitudes. My life has been fraught with its own difficulties but I have spent many an hour rehashing my pain and from it I recognise the need for us all to do our own healing and move forward with a Can Do and Change perspective on life. I believe if we live in pain that is what life will deliver us. I also recognise that containing the past will not create a good future. In my view it is important to acknowledge the awful past within Australian History, and the atrocities to my people, the Aboriginal people. We should not cover it up but embrace it, use these suppressed years as a vehicle to drive us forward to be the best we can. Society cant change what has happened and we cant blame the people around us today for the past, it was not them. In fact I see with such gratitude the support from people just in my workplace alone who have the desire to propel Aboriginal Health forward and I am sure this applies to many sectors within Australia. Negative statements, and I view the white guilt catch phrase (that is apparently being bandied around) as one of them; do not create cohesion or coherence to a common cause of moving forward for a positive life change. Statements like this create shame and keep the division wedged apart between our national and settled cultures. I personally do not use this term, I have suggested to someone recently that it wasnt a good way to speak and I hope anybody that attended on Sunday will champion my desire to create unity and healing and think about his or her own personal use of the term. (I request this with the highest intentions.)

VG Webber

Sept 2013

A prime of example of the cause and effect of such words is within my family alone. Our extended group is made up of many people. My ex husband was Non Indigenous, my grand-daughter Phillipino /Aboriginal, Non Indigenous husbands and wives to my close family members, a beautiful family made up of 3 children, two are twins whos dad is a White Australian and so many more Non Indigenous members to our family. In this family there is unity and support and this phrase would be a personal insult to anyone of them. Thank you again for your time in educating your fellow students and I wish you well in your future Torque sessions, I appreciate you passing this on. Kindest regards Vera Webber