25.15(ii)
TABLE 46
25,15(ii)
Conroarison of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal response to
Statement 50 - nicknames as a derogatory idential
Statement
Agree
.strongly Agree
Not Disagree Majority
Sure Disagree strongly support
50. I had a nickname but I'd
rather not tell it. I'd
be ashamed of it
Aboriginal response (N=93)
Non-Aboriginal response (N=289)
38.1
25.4 12.7 14.1
19.1 11.8 18.6
30.9
(disagree)
19.7 28.2 47.9
19.1 31.4 50.5
25.15 (iii) Discussion
While 38.1 per cent of Aborigines were ashamed of their nicknames,
47.9 per cent were not. In the case of Hon-Aborigines, 30.9 per cent
♦
were ashamed of their nicknames and 50.5 per cent were not.
There was some support for the hypothesis that more Aborigines
would, feel ashamed of their nicknames than non-Aborigines.
It should be noted that nicknames are 'bestowed' by others.
It is therefore an imposition from without, which gives cause for
shame. It must be remembered that Aborigines are not ashamed of their
*
looks, their families, those 'plurels' which cannot be changed.
25.16 Summary
Despite the nihilation of Aboriginal people by exclusion
conceptually from mainstream society, for the majority of Aboriginal
students in the study, the rudimentary theorizing directed at
locating the self in mainstream society, particularly in the
school situation, was positive.
The negative identity offered to Aborigines by mainstream
society in the stereotyping of Aborigines was not the identity
accepted.