A tarnished declaration.
With its proclamation on July 4, 1776 of the rights of nations and of individuals, the American Declaration of Independence, claimed :“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
This Declaration, one of the highpoints of the European Enlightenment, is tarnished.
It was written by slave owners who counted their slaves as less than a full human, and who railed at King George for using the help of “merciless savages” to suppress them.
The dark side of the Enlightenment gave us Galton’s scientific racism, with the normal curve used to categorise the identified races from classic white Athenians and the closely similar British gentlemen, through the various categories down to the “negroes” and the Australians who were rated at the lower end.
In early Australia, the notion of equality did not extend beyond white people.
In his account of Australian society, Lyng stated that Nordics were superior to the Mediterranean and Alpine white varieties.
Social and political progress was attributed to the prominence of the Nordics and the prevention of non-whites from gaining naturalisation. [ Jens Sorensen: Lyng Britishers in Australia 1935]
We still get echoes of this venom from conservative politicians, who since the failed referendum, erroneously assume that the 61% negative vote is an index of racism.
The former Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton, displayed his assumptions with his walking out on the National Apology to the Stolen Generation, his warnings about African gangs in Melbourne and his sympathy for white South African farmers, his amusement at the idea of rising sea levels in the Pacific and his “If you don’t know Vote NO” in the referendum campaign, were what resulted in the absolute annihilation of the Liberal party in the recent federal election.
Since the Israeli assault on Gaza, purportedly against Hamas, the statement that all lives are equal has become as controversial as the All Black Lives Matter became in the USA.
All lives are equal after October 7
When Usman Khawaja dared to wear “all lives are equal” on his shoes for a Test Match he was forbidden by the ICC from making such a political statement.
“The ICC have told me that I can’t wear my shoes on-field because they believe it’s a political statement under their guidelines,” an emotional Khawaja said. (ABC News, 13 December 2023]
Since then there have been many attacks upon individuals who have expressed such sentiments, including opponents of the Gaza genocide, as former Western supporters of human rights portray Palestinians as perpetrators of terror while convicted terrorists like Ben Gvir in the Israeli Cabinet are funded and welcomed.
Pianists, writers, PhD candidates, public supporter s of the rights of Palestinians are being vilified and deported from the US and put on trial here in Australia.
It is disturbing that even the usual supporters of human rights, the progressive wing of the Labor Party, have buckled to the Israeli lobby.
Despite its huge victory against the racist and Trumpist LNP the Australian government has not joined Canada France and the hopeless British Labour government in threatening Israel with sanctions for its denial of food water and medical supplies to Gaza.
Even baby formula is blocked.
We did not have to wait for the Enlightenment
Muslim Votes Matter did show that in this first stage of marshalling the Muslim vote we ruffled the Labor feathers.
We can add substantially to the independent vote and encourage even the most arrogant members to listen a little more carefully to our concerns.
We did not have to wait for the Enlightenment to understand that all lives are equal.
We have the Last Sermon of Prophet Muhammad (s) as evidence, that ethnicity and race have no relevance but people are differentiated by piety, which is known to Allah.
The Quran is quite clear:
“O humanity! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other (not that you may despise each other). Truly the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (the one who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).” Quran 49: 13)
“…and among His signs is the creation of the heavens, and the earth, and variation in your languages and your colours, verily in that are signs for those who know.” (Quran 30: 22)
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