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There is also the possibility of the minority group offering
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an identity which complements that offered by the wider society. 1
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A scanning of Aboriginal writings allows the discernment of"
a number of different identities which Aboriginal people believe
are offered to them, either by the dominant group or by Aboriginal
society. .-
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23.2 Identity in rejection
Berger and Luckmann posit that individuals interact with identities
offered by society. However, identity is not only a matter of choice,
but also of ascription. The identials that serve to anchor identity
for one group may serve to socialize another not merely into an inferior
identity, but into non-identity.
Throughout the literature, one encounters- continually the perception
of the Aborigine that he is not a person. The history of the race
has been a saga of dehumanization. The Aborigine is stereotyped
as a non-person. ,Jacky, is a generic, depersonalizing term.
In general, theories projected by the dominant society build
identity with a positive strength for the white person. This is
not true for the Aboriginal person, whether he locates himself within
white society or Aboriginal society. Until the seventies, the identities
which were offered by both societies were negative. Identity was
formed through an interaction with a process of rejection from mainstream
society.
23.3 Dual identity
Bullivant (1973:22) speaks of the possibility of a dual choice
for the migrant child who becomes Italian at a certain fence paling on his
way home from school. Such choices between assimilation, integration,
and multi-culturalism are choices open to the migrant child and adult.
They are not open to the Aboriginal child, because his colour, as
an idential, locates him within a group that is nihilated by mainstream
society.
