Whitefella Jump Up: The Shortest Way To Nationhood

Quarterly Essay #11

by Germaine Greer

Although racism is a problem almost everywhere in the world, it is most acute with displaced indigenous people. White Australia, with its terrible treatment of Aborigines, is an extreme case study. In this incisive essay, Germaine Greer shows how it could, should, and must be different. The problem is not the Aborigines but the “settler society” and what it has done to the country. By extension, her line of reasoning applies to race relations throughout the world, and she argues with wit, anger, passion, and supremely memorable prose. Germaine Greer's many books include The Beautiful Boy, The Obstacle Race, The Whole Woman, and the feminist classic, The Female Eunuch, one of the most widely read books of its day.

Genres: Australia, Nonfiction, Politics, Essays

232 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2003

About the author

Germaine Greer is an Australian born writer, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century.

Greer's ideas have created controversy ever since her ground-breaking The Female Eunuch became an international best-seller in 1970, turning her overnight into a household name and bringing her both adulation and criticism. She is also the author of Sex and Destiny: The Politics of Human Fertility (1984), The Change: Women, Ageing and the Menopause (1991), and most recently Shakespeare's Wife (2007).

Reviews

[Emer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Germaine Greer invites you (yes, that's YOU, whitefella!) to come sit on the ground, deeply acknowledge how you're sitting on Aboriginal land, and look closely at how many parts of you stem from that fact. Greer argues that the very things you love about your nation and your identity as a so-called Australian, are Aboriginal. Written before our nation's Apology, with points that still resonate two decades later.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great primer on Australia. A provocative essay on the need to awaken our spiritual self and attend to the world at hand, from the blackfella vs whitefella perspectives.

Jump up, from Kriol, of cattle, to leap up to a higher level; hence, of people, to be resurrected or reborn.


"Germs' was always crazy and this no more than the latest manifestation of her ratbaggery. Above all I'm not trying to be right at the cost of proving everyone else wrong. I'm offering a suggestion for consideration, discussion and modification, in the hope of bouncing a tired and rancorous discourse onto new tracks. Where it goes after that is not up to me.

There is only one way to escape from an impasse, that is, to turn back to the point where you went wrong,sit down on the ground and have a think about it.

My white countrymen appear to me afflicted by a kind of emotional paralysis, a pathological indifference.

Whitefella spiritual desolation is seldom admitted, let alone discussed.

Always remember that what makes you all Australians is the fact that you live on this land, with our ancestral spirits and with our creation stories... - Pamela Croft (2000)

The Aboriginal way is not to confront or interrogate anyone, whether a first acquaintance or an old friend. Blackfellas never put themselves in a position where they are asking to be lied to; what they want to tell you tell, and what you are silent about remains unspoken. The reticence that is intrinsic to Aboriginal relationships is also a governing principle in the Australian concept of mateship. Traditionally, mates don't pry into each other's affairs. Mates give each other space, allow each other to come and go, and to retain a measure of privacy, especially about their past and about intimate relationships. Whatever name they choose to give is good enough. As Mitchell says in Lawson's story, "The Man Who Forgot," ... as for a name, that's nothing. I don't know mine, and I've had eight."

Though self-revelation is unwelcome and uninvited by Australians of all hues, yarning is a social duty.

James McAuley wrote a poem about his parents called "Because"

Cold comfort perhaps...

Judgment is simply trying to reject
A part of what we are because it hurts.
The living cannot call the dead collect;
They won't accept the charge, and it reverts.

It's my own judgment day that I draw near,
Descending in the past without a clue,
Down to that central deadness: the despair
Older than any hope I ever knew.

Disagree with me by all means, dear reader, but don't dismiss me out of hand. Sit on the ground with me. Think.

Sit on the ground, damn you, and think, think about salination, desertification, dieback, deforestation, species extinction, erosion, suburbanisation, complacency, greed and stupidity. As if. June 2004

[Ushore · Rating 3 out of 5]

While a lot is known about American Indians and their fate at the hands of white settlers thanks, in part, to Hollywood, the fate of Australian Aborigines has never aroused much interest outside that most distant of continents. Though some wrongs are being righted there, feelings of resentment are still fairly tangible and these add nothing to the happiness of either group. Greer’s thesis is that had the settlers turned to the Aborigines for help and advice in the first place, and maintained some sort of true loyalty towards them, New Australians would, by today, have learned how to cope better with this beautiful yet indomitable country.
As usual Greer doesn’t beat about the bush but goes into the issue, hammer and tongs, and this much to the annoyance of a goodly number of her compatriots who then want to have their say. That is why the last part of the book is dedicated to their essays – ranting and all – the outcome being a sort of general discussion which is enthralling.
Definitely worth a read, especially as the world is shrinking, and Australia – and her problems and glories – are getting nearer the rest of us by the day.

[Nick Mahony · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're after an entirely different perspectives on ideas of Aboriginal and Australian identity give this a whirl. Germaine Greer reaffirms her place a a power house of kick arse ideas that are just so darn well constructed and executed. Greer's purposeful use of language makes you want to cry, it is so darn good.

The last paragraph packs a punch, topping of the most exciting and thought provoking Quarterly Essay's I've read.

[Benjamin Cronshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting essay about embracing 'aboriginality' as a unifying identity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. It did not feel political to me, it just seemed to make sense. One of my favourite Quarterly Essays. Also interesting to compare with the following essay "Made in England." A coherent Australian identity would combine elements of Indigenous culture, British history and the contributions of other migrants as well.

[Steven Spector · Rating 4 out of 5]

Germaine Greer attempts to goad all of Australia into believing that there's a bit of Aborigine in all of "us." It's a provocative and intriguing essay published in book form followed by mostly none-so-kind reviews, some from Murdoch-owned publications. Reading this has encouraged (provoked?) me into seeking out other works on Aboriginal and Australian history. Thanks Germaine!