Institutionalized Racism Shortens Aboriginal Lives

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Aborigines given ownership of Perth by judge

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In a report released by the Australian Medical Association, in an article submitted by Reuters, the organization states that:
 
".... geographic and cultural barriers prevented many Aborigines from accessing proper health care.

"Some (barriers) are due to Institutionalized racism -- a systematic and often unconscious, discrimination by services that results in indigenous patients receiving lesser treatment," AMA president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal said on Tuesday.

The article also states that the Aboriginal population of Australia, the original caretakers of the land, is numbered at 460,000, which is two percent of the total 20 million people in Australia. However, this two percent suffer higher rates of unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse and domestic violence than the rest of the population.

It is implied, by the position attributed to Prime Minister John Howard in the article, that land claims centering around European land grabs, that occurred upon the Europeans' arrival in 1788, are wasting time that could be spent finding practical solutions for Aboriginal people's issues.

It seems to me owning land and having sovereignty over those lands would be a major component of creating solutions.

www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSSYD14316020070522