How to learn from history while letting go of the past

Renowned sociologist, Kelly Oliver , describes how all nations like to imagine a smooth history. Each one only looks smooth because we work so hard at covering up the cracks. Like a cheap renovation, however, the cracks will always become visible. In conversations about the history and memory of our various nations, both the Germans and the Dutch I was keeping company with stated that at least as an Australian I did not have to deal with such an uncomfortable history. To their surprise I rattled off a number of difficult aspects of Australia’s history: our betrayal of East Timor in the 1970s, the appalling role we played in the Bougainville conflict, the illegal invasion of Iraq, the ‘children overboard’ fiasco, the refusal to accept the genuine refugees picked up by the MV Tampa and of course, and the clincher, the long history of mistreatment of Australia’s Aboriginal population. Such a discussion of any country’s chequered history raises two invariable questions: why should I feel any responsibility of a past that had nothing to do with me? And, are not the recounting of such details disrespectful to a nation that has served you well?