Am I Black Enough For You By Anita Heiss

Over time the concepts of identity are continually being challenged within Australian society as individuals question and struggle to fit into social groups and communities as they deal with how they see others, and how others see them. Regardless of whether the individual is black, white, Indigenous, non-Indigenous, Australian, and non-Australian this essay will look at the varying forms of identities that play a key role in social and political life. The identities that will be addressed relate to national, ethnic, and racial forms. To advocate for social change in the twenty-first century, Anita Heiss’s (2012) autobiography ‘Am I Black Enough for You?’ argues how identity for Aboriginal Australians has been portrayed through education

Since colonisation in 1788 Europeans believed the Aboriginal peoples to be a primitive race with no societal structures in place because their system did not resemble one that was recognizable or fit within it did not resemble a system that was recognizable by white settlers. National identity is believed to be a general concept that referred to a broad set of codes with a shared understanding within a nation, and the sense of belonging that is reinforced through myths, symbols, media activities, and everyday practices (Carter, 2006, p. 7; Van Krieken et al., 2017, pp. 234-244). Australia is now regarded as a diverse country with an identity that has evolved over time and will continue to do so. For Indigenous Australians to conform to this national identity, they had to assimilate and give up their values, beliefs, and cultural rights to become more like white Australia. However now that Australian society has become more diverse, identity amongst the Indigenous Australians still causes conflict as they struggle with the concept of belonging. Heiss (2012) identifies in the autobiography that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia still go unrecognized and do not have a sense of inclusion in the national identity as the government fails to

This however can cause conflict when there is a vast difference between how they see themselves and how others such as outsiders, white Australia or the government see them. This has led to the stereotyping of Indigenous Australians which has been perceived in positive and negative views. Negative views have consisted of portraying them as the most disadvantaged group within Australia due to inequalities in employment, income, education, and the over representation within the criminal system (Van Krieken et al., 2017, p. 230). Media representations of these negative views have also played a crucial role in how Indigenous Australians identify. Heiss (2012) writes throughout the autobiography the challenges she has faced with regards to how she identifies and how ‘the other’ thinks she should identify as she states that her identity is not about race. Identity is about her family history, the history of Aboriginal Australian, and about the way she has been raised since birth. It’s not even about blood quantum or the colour of her skin (Heiss, 2012, p. 80). Throughout Heiss’s (2012) autobiography about her career she has been astounded at the lack of understanding of Aboriginal identity nationally and internationally, especially through the various media