“How have settler constructions of aboriginal people affected aboriginal peoples?”
The settler voice towards aboriginal peoples, has ingrained constructs i.e. stereotypes, into society. These stereotypes have inflicted harm and severely affected aboriginal people throughout history and to this day, but in what ways and through which medians do these coloniser interpretations express themselves in society? And what are the responses of the aboriginal peoples who are concerned? To inspect and scrutinise this settler construct of stereotypes, the aspects of society such as history and education, government and policies, and the media itself will be considered and explored.
Stereotypes, as settler constructs of Indigenous Australians, have twisted and distorted how settlers view Aboriginal peoples, and these fashioned perspectives are prevalent throughout Australian history. One of the overarching stereotypes regarding aboriginal peoples is that they are ‘lesser’ than the white man, as seen in this scientific report by a Cambridge university professor,
“…evidence points to their lowly status, because of the frequent occurrence of characters very rare to the white races of mankind, but at the same time normal in the ape tribes.” (Duckworth).
This scientific racial discrimination was abused frequently to propagandise the settler …show more content…
Comparing some of Australia’s first definitions of aboriginal peoples, to the classifications used by countries all over the world, the audience can see that there are some overarching themes to these constructs. It is shown that aboriginal peoples were seen as ‘underdeveloped’, ‘backwards’ or ‘inferior’ than the colonisers which were concerned, in such representations as from