Forgetting Aborigines

This book is original and confronting as it challenges the convenient way in which white Australians have often 'forgotten' indigenous people from the 1950s onwards. It combines historical and cultural analysis of key events of the recent past, and includes the author's own recollections. It talks about the work of many well-known Aboriginal artists, writers and performers, including Gordon Bennett, Destiny Deacon, Fiona Foley, Tracey Moffatt, Tony Birch, Kim Scott and Alexis Wright.""Forgetting Aborigines"" explores a central paradox in Australian history: Aborigines are often remembered as absent in the face of a continuing and actual indigenous historical presence. Chris Healy argues that in the ways we remember our history, Aborigines keep disappearing. They are present and central at certain moments but then fade from memory. Aboriginal issues can be on the front page for weeks prompting white Australians to ask questions like 'why weren't we told?' and then recede again. The book examines ways in which we can stop this dishonest and destructive cycle.