A hashtag on Twitter pushing back against comments by Senator Pauline Hanson that there is no definition for being Aboriginal has exploded on social media, with hundreds of First Nations people weighing in to describe their experiences staring down racism in Australia.
The hashtag was started by the creator of the hit ABC television series Cleverman, Ryan Griffen, yesterday. It almost immediately began trending on Twitter and Facebook.
Miranda Tapsell, who starred in the film The Sapphires joined the movement writing, “Being told by a white boy from Tassie that that his people pushed my people off a cliff.”
Public health expert Dr Chelsea Bond wrote, “Never getting to live on Ramsay St or in Summer Bay.”
Australia’s first female Aboriginal member of the house of representatives, Linday Burney added her voice, writing “Being told by a school mate at my reunion that the day I was born was the darkest in my town’s history.”
On Monday night, Hanson told conservative commentator Andrew Bolt that there was no actual definition for Aboriginal people. In fact, the official definition, accepted by the broader Australian Aboriginal community for decades, is that in order to identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, a person must first identify as First Nations, they must have First Nations heritage, and they must be accepted by their First Nations community.
Being told to “get over it” and “let it go” as white Australia memorialises Gallipoli, WWI, WWII, Korea, etc. etc. #DefineAboriginal
— Jack Latimore (@LatimoreJack) November 29, 2016
Being called un Australian because I think we should change the date of Australia Day #DefineAboriginal
— Nathan Appo (@Elusive_Sausage) November 29, 2016
Longest living culture in the world #DefineAboriginal
— Banoky (@banoky) November 29, 2016
Being called racist for calling out racists. #DefineAboriginal
— Ryan Griffen (@RyanJGriffen) November 29, 2016
Calling police on a dude trying to run you over, then they end up chasing you down and putting you in the wagon.. #DefineAboriginal
— Tasman Keith (@TasmanKeith) November 29, 2016
