Racism and Nursing Care

This paper analyzes the racism faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia and its implications for nursing care, using the movie 'Rabbit-Proof Fence' as a lens. It explores themes of racism, discrimination, and oppression depicted in the movie and discusses personal learning and implications for nursing care.

Running head: RACISM AND NURSING CARE
RACISM AND NURSING CARE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Country Acknowledgement
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are the people who have inhabited the land of Australia
for more than 60,000 years and thus I would like to begin my paper by paying the respects
that they deserve because of their long history as well as the traditions that they have
followed in the concerned nation. More importantly, I would also like to acknowledge the
fighting that the non-indigenous people of Australia are putting up to ensure that the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people get the respect as well as the kind of rights that
is rightfully theirs.

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Introduction
As opined by Martin et al. (2019), racism and discrimination are the two most
important wicked problems that the individuals with the societal framework had to face over
the years because of the societal ideas held by the people regarding race, ethnicities and
others. Carey and McDermott (2017) are of the viewpoint that the problems of racism and
discrimination greatly affected the quality of life that the people lead and also hindered the
effective fulfilment of their basic psychosocial needs as well. In this regard, mention needs to
be made of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia who despite having
lived in the concerned nation for more than 60,000 had to face a significant amount of racism
and discrimination on the score of their ethnicity and skin-colour (Funston & Herring, 2016).
More importantly, as the history of the nation of Australia reveals they were even deprived of
their basic human rights as well as the lands which legally belonged to them and were thereby
forced to lead a nomadic tribal life (Dudgeon, Watson & Holland, 2017). Furthermore, it had
also been seen that these people over the years had very limited access to different kinds of
healthcare or nursing facilities and this in turn had greatly affected the quality of life that they
had been leading (Paradies, 2016). In this context, the movie “Rabbit-Proof Fence” since it in
a succinct manner highlights the racism, discrimination and other kinds of evils faced by the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia and its implications for them. This
paper will undertake an analysis of the racism that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people of Australia had to face and its implications for the nursing care through the specific
lens of the movie “Rabbit-Proof Fence”.
Rabbit-Proof Fence and its key themes
The movie “Rabbit-Proof Fence” (2002), directed by Phillip Noyce, is one of the most
important Australian movies which is based on the lives of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait

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Islander people of Australia and the different kinds of problems like racism, discrimination,
oppression and other kinds of evils that they have face over the years in the concerned nation
(IMDb.com, 2019). The movie under discussion here is based on the novel “Follow the
Rabbit-Proof Fence” of Doris Pilkington Garimara which in turn is a semi-biographical work
on the life of the author’s mother Molly and her two companions or friends, named, Daisy
Kadibil and Gracie (Hermannová, 2018). The film in a succinct manner depicts the plight of
the aboriginal people of Australia at the hands of the European settlers and also the
unjustness of the rules, regulations, legislations and others which were formulated by them to
safeguard their own interests in the nation of Australia (Alber, 2016). The movie under
discussion here thus centres around the journey that the three aboriginal girls had to
undertake on foot, a journey of more than 1500 miles for nine weeks to get reunited with their
family (Rabbitprooffencewalk.org, 2019). In this regard, it needs to be said that Grace, one of
the three aboriginal girls is being recaptured by the European settlers is sent back to the
Moore River Native Settlement wherein she will grow up and in the latte part of her life
would have to serve as the household maid of European settlers (Abc.net.au, 2019).
The entire plot of the movie under discussion here revolves around the escape of the
aboriginal girls, named, Molly, Daisy and Gracie from the hands of the official Protector of
Western Australian Aborigines, A. O. Neville on their journey to the Moore River Native
Settlement which is located in the city of Perth in the Western Australia (George, 2016). The
primary intention of these three girls is to reach their native village of Jigalong. However,
after escaping from the hands of Neville they are being chased by different individuals who
hope to get a significant amount of money from their return and although Molly and Daisy
succeed in reaching to their mother and native village whereas Gracie is recaptured and sent
to the Moore River Native Settlement. It is pertinent to note that the epilogue of the movie
states that whereas Molly and Daisy lead a peaceful life in their native village, on the other

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hand, Gracie dies in captivity and thus never returns to her native village. The movie under
discussion here is not only known for the story of the three girls that it depicts but at the same
time the underlying themes that it represents in the subtle manner (Power & Somerville,
2015). In this regard, it needs to be said that some of the most important themes that the
movie depicts are racism, the oppression that the aboriginal people in Australia had to face
over the years, the deprivation of the basic rights of these people, the manner in which
coercive rules or legislations were created or formulated by the European settlers to safeguard
their own interests and others through the journey as well as the plight faced by the three girls
(Alber, 2016). These themes of the concerned movie become apparent from the suffering or
the pain that the three girls had to face in the nation at the hands of the European settlers
wherein their ancestors had lived for more than 60,000. It is pertinent to note that because of
these aspects that the aboriginal people had to face in the nation of Australia the quality of
life that they lead significantly deteriorated and they were treated as the masters would treat
their cattle or livestock.
Racism depicted in the movie
Racism forms one of the most important themes of the movie “Rabbit-Proof Fence”
and as a matter of fact the concerned movie is redolent with various scenes in which the
theme of racism is being manifested in an explicit manner (Power & Somerville, 2015). For
example, the three girls in the movie are being called by the name of “half-castes” because of
the fact that they are the offspring of a white and an aboriginal parent (Hermannová, 2018).
More importantly, the primary intention of Neville is to take the three girls to the Moore
River Native Settlement wherein they would be taught the European style of life so that they
can in the later part of their life work in the European homes and marry a European settler
and their children would be completely white. Furthermore, the movie under discussion here
in a succinct manner represents the idea that the entire law or regulations of the Australian

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society was devised from the perspective of the white settlers on the basis of the factor of
race so as to safeguard their interests (Abc.net.au, 2019). In this regard, the lines of the movie
“The Nyungar people, and indeed the entire Aboriginal population….it was the destruction of
their traditional society and the dispossession of their lands” are important to note
(IMDb.com, 2019). Moreover, it is seen that because of the race or the ethnic background to
which the aboriginal people of Australia they were not only deprived of their land but also of
basic human rights as well and all the benefits or the leverages in the land of Australia were
being enjoyed by the white settlers (George, 2016). This becomes apparent from the lines of
the movie “The white settlers were a protected species; they were safe with their own laws
and had police and soldiers to enforce these rules” (IMDb.com, 2019).
The movie “Rabbit-Proof Fence” in a subtle manner conveys the idea that because of
the evil of racism the condition of the aboriginal people in the nation of Australia was
reduced to the status of household animals. For example, it is seen that the three girls are
about to be sent to the Moore River Native Settlement although they do not want to go there
and wish to return to their family and village yet they are carted away and also chased like
animals (Power & Somerville, 2015). Thus, it can be said that the aboriginal people because
of the arrival of the European settlers had to not only part with their lands that they possessed
but also the basic human rights that all the human beings are entitled. As a matter of fact, the
condition or the plight that these aboriginal people had to face in the nation of Australia was
no different from the plight that the African slaves faced at the hands of American masters in
the nation of USA (Alber, 2016). More importantly, the movie also reveals the fact that the
aboriginal people were being punished by the European settlers for following the customs or
the traditions that they had been used to following since the traditional times. The lines of the
movie “The Nyungar people were hurt and confused when they were punished for carrying
out their own traditional laws, handed down to them by the Dreamtime spirit beings”

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(IMDb.com, 2019). On the score of these aspects, it can be said that the theme of racism is
one of the most important ones used in the concerned movie.
Personal learning and its implications for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
nursing care
I would like to say that the movie was an educational one and also enabled me to gain
an effective understanding of the evils or the issues that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people had to face over the years in the nation of Australia. I would at the same time
like to say that I hold white privilege in the concerned nation and naturally without watching
the movie it would have been very difficult for me to effectively understand the problems
faced by them. For example, the movie in a succinct manner shows how trauma adversely
affected not only the physical as well as mental well-being of these people but at the same
time the quality of life that they lead (Power & Somerville, 2015). In this regard, it needs to
be said that the incident of three girls being forcefully taken to a house wherein they would
be made to forget the aspects of their own culture and thereby get assimilated into the cultural
practices of a totally alien one is a very traumatic one for the individuals and likely to scar
them for the entire duration of their lives. This is important because of the fact that recent
studies have clearly indicated that trauma can be transmitted through generation and thereby
although the present-day aboriginals have not faced such trauma yet at the same time they
can significant get affected by the trauma that their ancestors faced (Sullivan et al., 2019).
Thus, it can be said that the incidents of racism, oppression and others that the ancestors of
the aboriginals faced is likely to wield a significant influence on the life of the modern
aboriginals.
I, as a nurse, have a broader perspective on the concept of cultures and am a fairly
culturally competent person and I intend to use these attributes for delivering non-judgmental
as well as unbiased treatment services to the aboriginals. More importantly, I would also like

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to say that I have a fair idea about the impact that the evils of transgenerational trauma, stolen
generation have made on the aboriginals and while offering healthcare services to these
people I would take into account these factors. Furthermore, I would also try to create
“aboriginal friendly’ environment within the hospital wherein the aboriginals would feel
comfortable to share the healthcare problems faced by them and also seek effective treatment
for the same. In addition to these, while delivering treatment to them I would also try to take
into account their cultural perspectives, traditions, customs and others so as to deliver
adequate treatment services to them.
Thoughts and feelings after the completion of the movie
The movie had a profound impact on me and made me think regarding the injustices
that the aboriginal people had to face in the nation of Australia. More importantly, the
resilience of these people, the manner in which they have dealt with issues like
transgenerational trauma, structural racism, stole generation and other generations is
important to note (Clark, Augoustinos & Malin, 2016). In addition to these, the ability of
these people to embrace the present culture of the nation of Australia as a way to survive and
also continue their life in a normal manner despite the deprivation of their property, human
rights and others really is also important to note (Atkinson, 2019). It is true that the national
government of Australia had taken the help of different legislations like the anti-
discrimination law, equality law and others for the improvement of the condition of these
people yet at the same time it needs to be said that the situation is far from ideal for these
people (Somerville et al., 2017). For example, I personally believe that the different nurses
and also the healthcare firms while offering them healthcare services need to take into
account their culture, traditions, practices and others and thereby offer them healthcare
services on the basis of these aspects.

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Conclusion
To conclude, the aboriginal people in Australia over the years had to face a significant
amount of racism, trauma and other forms of evils. Furthermore, these evils that they have
suffered in the past have been transmitted to the present generation from the generations and
are wielding a significant amount of influence on their physical and mental well-being. Thus,
the nurses or the healthcare firms need to take into account not only the evils that these
people have been subjected to over the years but also their cultural factors for delivering
adequate healthcare services to them.

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