Palaexpo - Roma © Antonio Politano

Is ‘Sorry’ enough? On our way southwards, our plane takes us back to Alice Springs, the little metropolis in the desert of the Red Centre - on an important day for Aboriginal people. A multiracial and multicolour crowd, in which the black, yellow and red colours of the Aboriginal flag prevail, marches through the streets interrupting the habitual calm of the city. Shay, the daughter of a black man and a white woman, stands behind the flag. She teaches at the nursery school of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, a health and welfare organization. «We are strong people and will always defend our rights», she passionately says, «and we are waiting for the new government to do something really different for us». After winning the elections last November, the new Australian government led by the Labour leader Kevin Rudd had made a symbolic gesture that the first Australians had been waiting for and requiring for long. They had in fact organized a special day dedicated to the “Sorry”, which had been celebrated for years. Rudd had solemnly “apologized” to the Natives for the violence and abuses committed by the white people. This was a gesture of reconciliation that the previous conservative Prime Minister, John Howard, had always refused to make. Rudd, anyway, has continued the policy of “intervention” of the previous federal government to fight abuse and violence in the Northern Territory communities. The Aboriginal associations consider this policy an “invasion”, whose aim is to isolate, normalize and reintegrate Aboriginal people into society. Lisa, another demonstrator, tells us that «here you can experience history, there are still people who have met the white man for the first time». The history made up by the white people is only a small part of Australian history, an open parenthesis. Which is not going to be closed. Some people think that the only chance for the Aborigines is to integrate into the ruling system. Others think that a culture which has been able to adapt for 40-50,000 years can be able to defend its own identity. In the middle of all this, the big dilemma of those who look for a way to coexist, to share things, to make a synthesis

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	Basta un Sorry? Sulla strada verso sud, l’aereo riporta ad Alice Springs - la piccola metropoli nel deserto del Red Centre - in un giorno importante per gli aborigeni. Un corteo multirazziale e multicolore, dove prevalgono il nero, il giallo e il rosso della loro bandiera, attraversa la città, sconvolgendone l’abituale placidità. Dietro la bandiera c’è Shay, figlia di un bianco e di una nera, maestra all’asilo del Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, un’organizzazione di assistenza sociale e sanitaria. «Noi siamo forti e difenderemo sempre i nostri diritti», dice appassionata, «e stiamo aspettando che i nuovi governanti facciano per noi qualcosa di veramente diverso». Dopo la vittoria alle elezioni dello scorso novembre, il nuovo governo australiano guidato dal laburista Kevin Rudd aveva compiuto un gesto simbolico che i first australians aspettavano e richiedevano da tempo, tanto da avere celebrato per anni una giornata di mobilitazione dedicata al “Sorry”. Rudd aveva chiesto solennemente “scusa” agli abitanti originari del continente per le violenze e i soprusi di chi era venuto da fuori, atto di riconciliazione che il precedente primo ministro conservatore, John Howard, si era sempre rifiutato di compiere. Rudd ha comunque proseguito nella politica di “intervento” del precedente governo federale per combattere abusi e violenze nelle comunità del Northern Territory, che le associazioni aborigene hanno bollato come “invasione” che tende a fare degli aborigeni cittadini da isolare, normalizzare, reinserire. Racconta Lisa, altra manifestante, che «qui si respira la Storia, ci sono ancora persone che hanno visto per la prima volta l’uomo bianco». Quella fatta dai bianchi è una piccola porzione della storia australiana, una parentesi aperta. Che non si chiuderà. C’è chi pensa che l’unica possibilità sia che gli aborigeni si integrino nel sistema dominante. Altri che una cultura che si è adattata per 40-50 mila anni possa riuscire a difendere la propria identità. In mezzo c’è il grande dilemma di chi cerca una strada per convivere, condividere, operare sintesi	Is ‘Sorry’ enough? On our way southwards, our plane takes us back to Alice Springs, the little metropolis in the desert of the Red Centre - on an important day for Aboriginal people. A multiracial and multicolour crowd, in which the black, yellow and red colours of the Aboriginal flag prevail, marches through the streets interrupting the habitual calm of the city. Shay, the daughter of a black man and a white woman, stands behind the flag. She teaches at the nursery school of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, a health and welfare organization. «We are strong people and will always defend our rights», she passionately says, «and we are waiting for the new government to do something really different for us». After winning the elections last November, the new Australian government led by the Labour leader Kevin Rudd had made a symbolic gesture that the first Australians had been waiting for and requiring for long. They had in fact organized a special day dedicated to the “Sorry”, which had been celebrated for years. Rudd had solemnly “apologized” to the Natives for the violence and abuses committed by the white people. This was a gesture of reconciliation that the previous conservative Prime Minister, John Howard, had always refused to make. Rudd, anyway, has continued the policy of “intervention” of the previous federal government to fight abuse and violence in the Northern Territory communities. The Aboriginal associations consider this policy an “invasion”, whose aim is to isolate, normalize and reintegrate Aboriginal people into society. Lisa, another demonstrator, tells us that «here you can experience history, there are still people who have met the white man for the first time». The history made up by the white people is only a small part of Australian history, an open parenthesis. Which is not going to be closed. Some people think that the only chance for the Aborigines is to integrate into the ruling system. Others think that a culture which has been able to adapt for 40-50,000 years can be able to defend its own identity. In the middle of all this, the big dilemma of those who look for a way to coexist, to share things, to make a synthesis