#voteno — Public Fediverse posts

Very, VERY important things for my fellow whites in #Australia to consider when you vote today ~ https://www.facebook.com/keiran.stewart/posts/pfbid06WMBj5oQPXrsFnhZ2yrferPNujT1zrSJP49BB18EnP4JU4wAh7GThr5LMytqUETMl

Have you actually been listening to First Nations people and their history, or are you listening to propaganda funded by the same mining giants and centrist-conservative politicians who have been undermining First Nations (and other racialised people such as Palestinians and asylum seekers) rights for years, if not decades?

The #VoiceToParliament was NOT made by Indigenous people, it was prescribed to them in a false ultimatum, both at the conventions in 2017 and especially now during the referendum. There was, and there continues to be, major Indigenous protest to the proposals, claims of near-unanimous Indigenous support are blatantly false.

We should NOT keep boiling this down to a racism litmus test. Yes =/= not-racist, especially if you use that to talk down on Indigenous people who are undecided or opposed to the Voice (white paternalism is still racism, we need to let go of the myth that racism only exists as overt hatred). No =/= racist, especially when Indigenous people are saying No or abstaining in favour of stronger, more self-determined measures.

The Voice isn't the only, let alone best, solution. This #referendum isn't an ultimatum, so why do we insist on treating it like it is? If you're voting Yes to not "let the racists win" despite being aware of Indigenous trepidation regarding the subject, you are centering your own white guilt and Australia's international reputation over the racism itself... it doesn't absolve the more normalised, "benevolent" forms of racism on display there. Ignoring undecided and oppositional Indigenous voices erases the self-determination you claim to be advocating for.

A single vote won't dismantle systemic racism, even if the Voice had been as self-empowering and productive in the process of its creation as its expensive, sensationalised advertising has claimed. We are ALL racist, as racism is an inherent part of the white-centred sociopolitical power structures we exist in. The sooner we can come to terms with that and start centering the voices that actually matter, the better.

#VoteYES #VoteNO #SovereignNO #TreatyBeforeVoice #BlakSovereignMovement #Referendum2023 #VoiceTreatyTruth #TreatyBeforeVoice #BlackPeoplesUnion