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Examples Of Racism In My Place

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Explore how Sally Morgan represents racism and discrimination, and its impact on the main characters in My Place.

Australian Literature is often considered a commentary on Australian society and gives the reader a snapshot of different perspectives and cultures within it. An example of this is Sally Morgan’s autobiographical novel, My Place, which is a first person account through three generations given from an Aboriginal perspective. This period of history in Australia was marked with racism and discrimination towards the Aboriginal people. The racism they faced came from a commonly held belief that the Aboriginal people were a lesser people, and this attitude led to acts of discrimination towards them. Throughout the novel, these beliefs …show more content…

Sally’s grandmother, Daisy, experienced racism which impacted negatively on her, so much so that she tried to bleach her skin. “I wanted to be white” (p382). She was taken from her mother, under the lie of going to school to get an education, when really she was being made to work for a white family. She was treated quite poorly by some of them, “ ‘Cause you’re black, they treat you like dirt…. In those days we was owned, like a cow or a horse. I even heard some people say we not the same as whites” (p419). This reflects the attitude that the white people in society held at that time, treating the Aboriginal people as less than themselves. Daisy also had her half-caste children removed from her because of these same societal attitudes, “They took the white ones (children) off you ‘cause you weren’t considered fit to raise a child with white blood.” (p420). All of these experiences influenced the way Daisy concealed her heritage from Sally in an attempt to protect her from the injustice and discrimination she had faced, thereby robbing each generation of her family from knowing the truth of their

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