29 January 2015 | General Interest
Indigenous education expert Chris Sarra has described the high incarceration rate of Indigenous Australians as “a stain on our society”. Writing in The Guardian newspaper, Mr Sarra pointed out that Indigenous Australians are among the most incarcerated peoples in the world.
“As a society,” Mr Sarra writes, “Australia does better at keeping a young Aboriginal person in prison than in school or university. The Aboriginal re-imprisonment rate is actually higher than the Aboriginal school retention rate from year 7 to year 12.”
In the article Mr Sarra makes a plea for a common humanity, highlighting it as the only way forward.
“If mainstream Australia can acknowledge and embrace the humanity of Indigenous Australians, and understand and appreciate that cultural layer, then we could no longer be silent about the dreadful statistics that are a stain on our society. It also offers a fundamental key to seriously addressing the challenges we face together,” Mr Sarra wrote.
The opinion piece from Chris Sarra can be viewed online through The Guardian website. SNAICC thanks The Guardian for allowing us to use quotes from the article.
